Development Co-operation Report 2018

Austria

Leaving no one behind: Austria’s approach and priorities

Austria believes that leaving no one behind has been a long-standing and integral part of its development co-operation. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development provides it with a fresh impetus to build on this experience and to make an explicit policy commitment to leaving no one behind.

One priority of Austrian development policy is to concentrate on people, their needs and rights, in particular those sections of the population that run the highest risk of poverty and live in particularly precarious circumstances, such as children, women, older people, persons with disabilities and other marginalised groups. Austrian development co-operation follows a human rights-based approach in all projects and programmes. It considers that development co-operation should target these groups from the outset. It also aims to reduce inequalities in all segments of society, which it considers to be a crucial precondition for sustainable economic, social and ecological development.

According to Austria, delivering on the principle to leave no one behind is challenging because of the focus on people and groups that are suffering entrenched discrimination and who are hard to reach, but also because long-term commitment and engagement are necessary to deliver positive change and to meet specific needs.

Financial flows from Austria to developing countries

Figure 15.1. Net resource flows to developing countries, 2006-16, Austria

Note: Data on private grants are not available for 2016.

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Figure 15.2. Net ODA: Trends in volume and as a share of GNI, 2006-17, Austria

P: preliminary data.

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Austria’s performance against commitments for effective development co-operation

Table 15.1. Results of the 2016 Global Partnership monitoring round (updated), Austria

Austria	Alignment and ownership by partner country (%)				Predictability (%)		Transparency
	Use of country-led results frameworks	Funding recorded in countries’ national budgets	Funding through countries’ systems	Untied ODA	Annual predictability	Medium-term predictability	Retrospective statistics (OECD CRS)	Information for forecasting (OECD FSS)	Publishing to IATI
2016	83.8%	62.3%	32.7%	51.8%	88.1%	58.1%	excellent	good	-
Baseline	-	76.7%	59.0%	36.4%	99.7%	73.2%	excellent	excellent	-
Trend	-	⇓	⇓	⇑	⇓	⇓	=	⇓

Note: Please refer to Annex B for details on the indicators. Data on untied ODA, retrospective statistics and publishing to the IATI have been updated according to the latest information available.

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Austria’s official development assistance

In 2017, Austria provided USD 1.2 billion in net ODA (preliminary data), which represented 0.3% of gross national income (GNI) and a 27.4% decrease in real terms from 2016, due to a decrease in in-donor refugee costs. Austria plans to increase its spending on bilateral co-operation by increasing the operating budget for the Austrian Development Cooperation Agency by EUR 10 million in 2019. In 2017, in-donor refugee costs were USD 153 million, and represented 12.5% of Austria’s total net official development assistance (ODA), compared to 36.4% in 2016.

Austria’s share of untied ODA (excluding administrative costs and in-donor refugee costs) was 51.8% in 2016 (up from 36.4% in 2015), while the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) average was 81.2%. The grant element of total ODA was 100% in 2016 and loans amounted to 0.4% of gross ODA.

In 2016, 60.5% of Austria’s ODA was provided bilaterally. Austria allocated 39.5% of total ODA as core contributions to multilateral organisations. In addition, it channelled 10.1% of its bilateral ODA for specific projects implemented by multilateral organisations (multi-bi/non-core).

Figure 15.3. ODA composition in 2010-16 and distribution of multilateral ODA in 2016, Austria

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In 2016, only 7.2% of Austria’s bilateral ODA was programmed with partner countries, making Austria’s share of country programmable aid lower than the DAC country average of 46.8% in 2016. Project-type interventions accounted for 53% of this aid. Sixty per cent of bilateral ODA was allocated to refugees in donor country.

Figure 15.4. Composition of bilateral ODA, 2016, gross disbursements, Austria

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In 2016, USD 68.8 million of bilateral ODA was channelled to and through civil society organisations (CSOs). ODA channelled to and through CSOs slightly increased as a share of bilateral ODA, from 6.3% in 2015 to 6.9% in 2016.

Figure 15.5. Gross bilateral ODA disbursements to and through CSOs by type of CSO, 2010-16, Austria

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In 2016, bilateral ODA was primarily focused on Eastern Europe, sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East. This represented USD 127.7 million to Eastern Europe, USD 55.5 million to sub-Saharan Africa and USD 46 million to the Middle East.

Figure 15.6. Share of bilateral ODA by region, 2016, gross disbursements, Austria

Note: Sixty-eight per cent of bilateral ODA allocated was unspecified by region in 2016. This share is not represented on the map.

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Austria allocated 13.9% of its bilateral ODA to its top 10 recipients in 2016. Three of its 11 priority partner countries and territories are among its top 10 recipients (Albania, Kosovo and Uganda). Austria’s support to fragile contexts reached USD 89.7 million in 2016 (9% of gross bilateral ODA). Support to fragile contexts was distributed mainly to project-type interventions (30%), contributions to pooled funds (30%) and scholarships (26%).

Figure 15.7. Bilateral ODA to top recipients, 2016, gross disbursements, Austria

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In 2016, 4.6% of Austria’s bilateral ODA (USD 45.9 million) was allocated to least developed countries (LDCs). This is a decrease from 5.6% in 2015 and is below the 2016 DAC average of 21.9%. Upper middle-income countries received the highest share of bilateral ODA in 2016 (13.1%), noting that 73.1% was unallocated by income group. The increase in international refugee flows and migration has resulted in a significant shift away from allocations to the LDCs, which represented 24.9% of bilateral ODA in 2014.

At 0.06% of GNI in 2016, Austria’s total ODA to the LDCs was lower than the UN target of 0.15% of GNI.

Figure 15.8. Bilateral ODA by income group, 2010-16, gross disbursements, Austria

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In 2016, 26% of bilateral ODA was allocated to social infrastructure and services. A total of USD 279.5 million of bilateral ODA was allocated to social sectors, with a strong focus on support to education (USD 145.2 million). Humanitarian aid amounted to USD 47 million. In 2016, Austria committed USD 75 million (23.2% of bilateral-allocable aid) to promote aid for trade and to improve developing countries’ trade performance and integration into the world economy.

Figure 15.9. Share of gross bilateral ODA by sector, 2015-16, commitments, Austria

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USD 95.9 million of bilateral ODA supported gender equality. In 2016, 44.8% of bilateral allocable aid had gender equality and women’s empowerment as a principal or significant objective, remaining stable compared with 44.9% in 2015. This share is higher than the DAC country average of 36.5% in 2016. A high share of Austria’s aid to health and government and civil society focuses on gender.

Figure 15.10. Share of bilateral allocable ODA in support of gender equality by sector, 2016, commitments, Austria

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USD 87.6 million of bilateral ODA supported the environment in 2016. In 2016, 27.1% of Austria’s bilateral allocable aid focused on the environment and 18.4% (USD 59.4 million) focused particularly on climate change, compared with the respective DAC country averages of 33% and 25.7%.

Figure 15.11. Bilateral allocable ODA in support of global and local environment objectives, 2010-16, commitments, Austria

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Note to reader: Annex B provides “Methodological notes on the profiles of Development Assistance Committee members”.