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Matthew Vella
European and Maltese NGOs have taken Foreign Minister Michael Frendo to task for his statements on development aid, saying that the minister is pledging aid to developing countries on condition that migrants in Malta are repatriated or resettled.
“Conditionality of development aid is a major issue that Malta’s foreign minister is pushing in discussions with European institutions and in international meetings,” said the European Network on Debt and Development (Eurodad). “In particular, he wants Maltese aid to be conditional on the acceptance of the repatriation of migrants. The National Platform has serious reservations about this and considers that this undermines the rightful focus of Overseas Development Aid, namely tackling poverty.”
The NGOs lambasted Malta’s contributions to development aid, saying the figures were inflated by spending on student scholarships on migrants’ needs in Malta.
According to the European Commission’s April 2007 figures, Malta spent EUR7 million or 0.15 per cent of GNI on ODA in 2006 – less than what it contributed in 2004, when it spent 0.18 per cent in ODA. The figure was then inflated by over 40 per cent, according to claims by Eurodad.
The NGO claims Maltese aid has actually been decreasing proportionally since 2004, and is still inflated. It said it was “next to impossible” to say how much of this reported ODA is made up of genuine resources, due to a lack of transparency, and that Malta does not have an official development policy, meaning that the government is operating without clear priorities.
“Malta, despite its small size, made loans to Iraq. And like most other EU member states, Malta agreed to cancel most of its claims on Iraq (EUR6.43 million) in line with the Paris Club agreement. If some of this is reported as ODA in 2006, it will mean that Maltese aid will be inflated by up to EUR1.9 million.”
Eurodad lamented that money spent on refugees in Malta was being reported as ODA, when this was not actually helping any developing country to develop. It also said that Malta’s aid was being inflated with spending on a number of scholarships given each year to people from developing countries, “with no mechanism to indicate whether these are contributing to poverty alleviation.”
Eurodad called on the Maltese government to ensure greater government accountability of its aid programme. “We need a detailed report on where the money is going, how much is being spent and in which sector. Maltese NGOs are concerned about whether Maltese aid contributes to poverty eradication and how effective it is.”
In January, Frendo declared development would “emerge in stronger focus as an integral part” of Maltese foreign policy. In 2006, the government also launched an Overseas Development Policy that committed itself to the UN’s Millennium Development Goals.
But Eurodad claims Malta is unlikely to meet its EU target to commit 0.17 per cent of its GNI in 2010.
mvella@mediatoday.com.mt
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