CIVIL SOCIETY AID TRENDS 2015 Baobab Briefing No 3

Transcription

1 JANUARY 215 CIVIL SOCIETY AID TRENDS 215 Baobab Briefing No 3 INTRODUCTION Major international civil society organisations (ICSOs) are increasingly taking a global perspective on the potential sources of government funding for their programmes around the world, looking for the best match between their priorities and the evolving interests and priorities of bilateral and multilateral aid donors. However, until recently, it has been difficult to build up a coherent global picture of the major trends in the market for government funding of the work of civil society organisations. As a result of recent changes in aid reporting through the OECD, it is now possible to identify trends in this global market. This Baobab Briefing identifies the key global trends in government funding of civil society organisations, based on recently released data for 213. (Further details on scope and definitions are provided in the note at the end of this briefing.) Global aid funding for civil society reaches $21 billion Official aid channeled via civil society grew by 2% in real terms in 213, reaching a new high of $21. billion. This total has grown by 11% in real terms over the last 4 years (chart below left). The proportion of aid channeled via civil society has remained stable over the last few years, at c. 13% of the total (chart below right) GLOBAL AID VIA CIVIL SOCIETY Official Aid: Gross Disbursements: All Donors US$b: Constant 212 prices GLOBAL AID BY CHANNEL Official Aid: Gross Disbursements, 213, All Donors Current prices, 1% = US$166b 1% 4% 13% 18% 5 Public Sector Multilaterals Civil Society Other Undefined ABOUT BAOBAB Baobab is the online hub for sharing ideas and resources on leadership and governance in international civil society organisations. This is the third in a series of Baobab Briefings on global market trends for civil society organisations, and was produced by Ken Caldwell for Baobab. We welcome your feedback and ideas on how the analysis could be improved for the future. For further information, see our website at or contact us at info@baobab.org.uk. Information in this briefing may be reproduced with accreditation to Baobab.

2 Baobab Briefing Civil Society Aid Trends 215 CIVIL SOCIETY AID FUNDING BY DONOR There is a wide diversity between official donors in the proportion of their aid that is channeled through civil society. Amongst the major donors, this varies from 3% for the to 1% for France (see chart below left).,, and Australia provide a significant share of their funding to NGOs in the form of core funding. The channels a relatively high proportion of its aid through civil society, and funds almost one third of total global aid to civil society (see chart below right). With the and the, they fund over half the total. The,, and the all have higher rankings for aid via civil society than for total aid. SHARE OF AID VIA CIVIL SOCIETY Official Aid: Grosss Disbursements, 213 Australia Japan France Top 1 donors overall + % 1% 2% 3% 4% To Civil Society Through Civil Society 3% 4% AID VIA CIVIL SOCIETY BY DONOR Official Aid: Gross Disbursements, 213 1% = US$21.b 16% 6% 1% 31% 1% Switzerland Others becomes second largest donor to civil society Over the four years to 213, the and the both increased their funding for civil society by more than 6% in real terms (see chart below left) much faster than the rate of growth of their aid budgets overall. The has overtaken the to become the second largest donor to civil society. Despite cuts in aid, they remain the fourth largest donor via civil society. Aid from the for civil society fell by 1% over this period, primarily due to cutbacks in food aid, much of which had been channeled through NGOs. There are now eight donors funding more than US$1 billion via civil society, compared to four in 211 (see chart below right). GROWTH IN AID VIA CIVIL SOCIETY % Change in Gross Disbursements at constant 212 prices: top 1 donors via civil society TRENDS IN AID VIA CIVIL SOCIETY Official Aid: Gross Disbursements: US$ at constant 212 prices: Seven largest donors to civil society, excluding Switzerland -4% -2% % 2% 4% 6% 8%

3 Baobab Briefing Civil Society Aid Trends 215 CIVIL SOCIETY AID FUNDING BY RECIPIENT COUNTRY The proportion of official aid channeled through civil society varies widely from country to country (see chart below left), depending on whether the country has a stable governments trusted by donors and/or weak national civil society. In 213, Mynmar became the biggest recipient of aid funding globally, as donor support for the political transition kicked in, but NGOs are not yet attracting a significant share of this funding. With a higher share of funding channeled via NGOs in fragile countries, four of the top ten countries for aid via civil society are fragile countries (see chart below right). Three countries - Afghanistan, Congo, and Kenya received over $6m in funding via civil society in 213, with the scaling up of the humanitarian response in Syria making it the fourth largest. 1% 8% 6% 4% 2% % AID TO COUNTRIES BY CHANNEL Official Aid: Gross Disbursements 213; Top 1 countries Other Public Sector Multilaterals Civil Society TOP RECIPIENTS OF AID VIA CIVIL SOCIETY Official Aid: Gross Disbursements 213: US$m Funding of civil society shifting to Sub-Saharan Africa Over the four years to 213, official aid funding of civil society projects grew by 14% in Sub-Saharan Africa, and now makes up over half of the total funding of civil society allocated by region. There were significant declines in aid via civil society in most other developing regions (see chart below left). Afghanistan remains the biggest single recipient of aid via civil society, but has dropped by nearly 4% from its 21 peak, as the focus of donors shifts to more funding via government (see chart below right). Aid via civil society to Kenya has risen by over 6% in the last four years as part of a scaling up of overall aid to the country, while aid via civil society to DRC has risen by 4% to partially offset big cutbacks in aid to the DRC government. REGIONAL SHIFTS IN AID VIA CIVIL SOCIETY % Change in Gross Disbursements Regional figures exclude humanitarian SS Africa E & SE Asia S & C Asia MENA Americas Others -2% -1% % 1% 2% TRENDS IN AID VIA CIVIL SOCIETY Top 7 Recipient Countries: Official Aid, Gross Disbursements; US$m at constant 212 prices Afghanistan DRC Ethiopia Pakistan Kenya Tanzania Bangladesh 3

4 AID TRENDS COUNTRY PROFILES For civil society organisations seeking to strengthen their understanding of trends in aid for specific countries, Baobab produces a series of Aid Trends Country Profiles. These are designed to help busy NGO leaders working at country level to make more informed choices about which donors they should be talking to about which types of work. You can find further details of Country Profiles available and order online at CIVIL SOCIETY AID FUNDING BY SECTOR The proportion of official aid channeled through civil society varies widely by sector (see chart on right), depending on the perceived areas of expertise of civil society organisations, compared to other options. The highest proportion of aid channeled through civil society is for reproductive health, at 34%, followed by 31% of aid for humanitarian work. By contrast only of aid for economic development is channeled through civil society, and 6% of aid for water and sanitation. SHARE OF AID VIA CIVIL SOCIETY Official Aid: Gross Disbursements: 213 Reproductive Gov't & Civil Society % 1% 2% 3% 4% 1% 9% 4% 9% AID VIA CIVIL SOCIETY BY SECTOR Official Aid: Gross Disbursements, 213 1% = US$21.b 2% 3% 11% 2% 1 6% 2% Reproductive Gov't & Civil Society Food Aid Others/Unallocated The balance of aid between sectors therefore looks quite different for aid channeled through civil society than for total aid. Nearly 6% of aid for civil society is in the social sectors (first six sectors listed in the chart on the left), compared to less than 4% of total aid. aid accounts for 2% of aid through civil society, but only 8% of total aid. By contrast, aid for economic development accounts for 2 of total aid, but only 9% of aid channeled through civil society SECTORS EXPLAINED The sector definitions are those used by OECD DAC. In this profile: Economic Development includes Economic & Production Sectors (OECD Codes 2 and 3) Government & Civil Society is aid to strengthen the functioning of government and civil society, including conflict resolution and peacebuilding includes social welfare, employment and housing programmes is aid for cross-cutting programmes, mainly for urban and rural development, environmental protection, and research that is not sector specific

5 Baobab Briefing Civil Society Aid Trends 215 projects attracting rapid growth in funding for civil society Most of the growth in aid via civil society over the four years to 213 has been in the social sector, growing by 14% in real terms in this period (see chart on right). Within the social sector, the fastest growing sector is health, which has grown by 43% over this period, led by growth in funding from the,,, and UAE. By contrast, food aid channeled via civil society has dropped by 64% over this period, as the has scaled back its food aid programmes. GROWTH OF AID VIA CIVIL SOCIETY % Change in Gross Disbursements at constant prices Reproductive Total Social Govt & Civil Society Food Aid -8% -6% -4% -2% % 2% 4% 6% LARGEST DONORS TO CIVIL SOCIETY IN KEY SECTORS This table highlights the five largest donors to civil society in selected key sectors in 213. Figures are gross disbursements. RANK HEALTH REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH 1 ($73m) ($286m) 2 ($58m) ($497m) 3 ($295m) ($132m) 4 ($224m) ($82m) 5 UAE ($127m) ($67m) EDUCATION ($289m) ($117m) ($96m) Australia ($86m) ($78m) ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ($51m) ($236m) ($182m) ($18m) ($135m) HUMAN- ITARIAN ($1355m) ($99m) ($276m) ($244m) ($221m) EXPLANATORY NOTES: 1. The data used in this profile is drawn from the OECD Creditor Reporting System. It covers official aid only (ie not aid raised from the public, corporates, or other non-government sources), and all countries who participate in the OECD DAC reporting system (this covers all major established donors, but does not include emerging new donors such as China, Brazil, Russia, or India). 2. This data is based on the latest available data in 215, and covers gross disbursements by donors up to December 213. Details of 214 disbursements are expected to be available in January Channel means the type of organisation through which the official donor is channeling the funds. Most aid unallocated by sector is from the World Bank, which does not yet allocate its aid by sector, but is predominantly channeled to the public sector. Civil society covers all types of non-profit organisation, including local, national, and international non-governmental organisations, trade unions, industry associations, etc. Core funding to NGOs means funding not tied to specific projects. 4. All figures quoted are US$. Year on year comparisons in this profile are all provided at constant 212 prices and exchange rates. This removes the effects of inflation and exchange rate changes on the year on year comparisons 5