In 1970, the General Assembly asked wealthy countries to devote 0.7% of their national income to development aid. More than fifty years on, only a handful of states keep their word. President Macky Sall wants that promise to become an obligation again, and he makes it one of the commitments of his candidacy for the office of UN Secretary-General.
A promise half a century old. The 0.7% commitment has been renewed at every major development summit. The real amount of aid hovers around 0.3%, and several large donors have announced cuts that push it lower still at the very moment needs peak.
The 2024 decline. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, global aid fell that year for the first time in five years. Each billion withdrawn translates into closed clinics and interrupted food programmes, in countries with no other recourse. In a district clinic, the news comes by letter, telling the nurse that the vaccination programme whose register she kept ends at the close of the quarter.
Aid that is more predictable and fairer. The quality of aid matters as much as its amount. Committed over several years and aligned with the recipient country's priorities, aid is worth more than a larger sum paid at the whim of announcements.
The record of promises. Aid budgets are voted in capitals. A Secretary-General, for his part, holds the record of the promises made before the General Assembly and of the sums actually paid. He can publish it every year donor by donor and lay it before the heads of state gathered in New York for the general debate in September. The OECD's statistics, closed each spring, supply the measure.
Obligation as a method. Turning a promise into an obligation takes experience of negotiation: that of twelve years as head of state and the chairmanship of the African Union in 2022. That experience explains why the vision statement filed with the United Nations frames its proposals as obligations: peace, security and development conceived together; a renewed multilateralism; stronger governance of the Organization.
Africa at its heart, the world in its sights.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's statistics on official development assistance and the 0.7% target are public. Read all public positions at www.mackysall.net