Portugal is committed to the principle of leaving no one behind and the notions of inclusion, universality and equity it entails. Through its development co-operation, Portugal aims to eradicate poverty; promote the respect of human rights, democracy, the rule of law; and the social, economic and political inclusion of all. It also addresses the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable countries in policy areas that have transboundary impacts, such as trade, climate and migration.
For Portugal, applying a leave no one behind approach helps focus on the poorest, vulnerable and excluded segments of the population in all developing countries. It supports, for example, social protection for abandoned children and people with disabilities. Official development assistance (ODA) can be a relevant source of finance in the poorest countries and can catalyse other sources of finance and technical co-operation in all developing contexts. It sees a need, however, for better tools, instruments and partnerships for mainstreaming leave no one behind in development co-operation and to deliver real results for vulnerable people and groups.
Key challenges to success include finding the right balance between ODA allocations (that are still crucial for those countries that are lagging behind) and the use of ODA to mobilise other public and private sources of finance to catalyse investment in a more efficient and effective manner and to reach the furthest behind groups.
