33 Portugal “Because of an unusual 2010 year, with a national budget only approved in April, Portugal will have to accelerate its Development Aid effort in 2011 and 2012. […] Our International commitments did not evaporate just because we have a national context different from what we expected. We will have to intensify our efforts in the next two years.” João Gomes Cravinho, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation In 2009, Portugal cut development assistance to 0.23% of GNI, compared to 0.27% in 2008. In constant terms this implies a 16% drop in aid spending. In addition, our calculations show that Portugal still inflated its aid with almost €30m in student costs. This takes genuine aid levels down to 0.21% of GNI. Given the lack of progress recorded over the last few years, it is now clear that Portugal will fail to meet its 0.51% individual target in 2010. It is much more likely that, together with Italy and Greece, Portugal will remain among the worst performers in the EU-15. • Aid quality Over the last year, there has not been much progress on the role of gender equality and women empowerment in development assistance. Portugal still lacks a gender strategy for development cooperation and the existing gender-related indicators have little relevance in the overall framework. Information about Portugal’s ODA is only accessible through the Portuguese Development Cooperation Agency’s website, where the data available is the same as recorded in the OECD database. This means that more detailed data, such as country-specific information, is hard to find. In addition, part of the national ODA budget is difficult to monitor as it is allocated without regard for standard procedures and also based on criteria not always coherent with development policies. The Portuguese Government has not yet joined the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI), therefore missing an opportunity to improve transparency levels. More significant progress has been made in the implementation of the aid effectiveness agenda. Since 2006, Portugal has implemented a number of action plans based on the Paris Declaration and, subsequently, the Accra Agenda for Action. Since the first plan was approved, progress has been recorded in more than 50% of the foreseen measures, particularly on alignment and ownership. However, implementing the commitments on harmonisation with other donors and involving actors such as civil society in the definition and implementation of cooperation programmes has proved a challenge. On the latter issue, some steps have been taken in consulting CSOs, for example through a “Cooperation Forum”, and their capacity to make meaningful contributions to the elaboration of some strategies. Nonetheless, CSOs are not consulted in the elaboration and negotiation of the bilateral Portuguese Cooperation Programmes. Despite the international commitments to untie aid, this has become a major concern in recent years. A large share of Portuguese ODA is now tied. In 2008, untied aid only accounted for 29% of its bilateral aid, down from 58% in 2007. This problem is a result of an increased linkage between development cooperation and internationalisation of the national economy. Clear examples of this can be seen in development projects in countries such as Morocco and Cape Verde being awarded to Portuguese private companies. Very recently, these two countries were awarded concessional credit lines, of €400m and €200m respectively, to be spent on development projects. These credits lines were awarded on the condition that all projects are executed by Portuguese companies. Portuguese NGOs call on their government to: • Translate the internal discussions about gender issues into practice by mainstreaming gender in the external cooperation programmes. • Improve the transparency of Portuguese ODA. Join the International Aid Transparency Initiative. • Reinforce the instruments available to conduct independent assessments of development assistance. • Conduct consultation with national and local NGOs when defining Official Cooperation Programmes, building on the recognition of the role and autonomy of NGOs in development cooperation. • Undertake coherent and sustainable measures to eliminate tied aid. The Portuguese Government should not continue to mix national economic objectives, such as a strong and internationalised national economy, with the principles underlying ODA. Will Portugal achieve the 2010 target according to the budgeted aid levels? No Will Portugal achieve the 2010 target without inflating its aid? No Portugal's genuine and inflated aid t h e N e t h e r l a n d s / P o r t u g a l Organisations consulted: Portuguese NGDO Platform 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1 000 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 € m 2 0 0 7 c o n s t a n t Genuine aid Refugees in donor country Student costs Debt relief 2010 target, 0.51%