The world’s biggest donors agreed on Friday to expand the definition of development aid to include limited forms of counter-terrorism measures and military activities or training, a move campaigners said could divert scarce funds away from the poorest people.

Funding towards activities aimed at preventing violent extremism can now be reported as development aid, provided they are “are led by donor countries and their primary purpose is developmental”, the Development Assistance Committee, a group that oversees what can be counted as aid, said in a statement.

Activities that can now be reported as aid include education, efforts to support the rule of law and work with charities to prevent radicalisation, the 29-member group, which is part of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), said after a two-day meeting in Paris.

Some limited forms of military training will also be eligible, provided they are done under civilian oversight, with civilian participation and have a clear purpose for the benefit of civilians, the communique said.

The committee stressed the financing of military equipment or services is “generally excluded” from aid reporting and that aid must not be used to promote donor countries’ security interests.

The committee also said it would start tracking private finance flows as aid to recognise the importance of strengthening private sector engagement in development.

Less money for the poor?

Campaigners had expressed concern earlier last week that aid meant to help poor people in developing countries would increasingly be used to pay for security costs and hosting migrants, in particular in light of the European refugee crisis.

“We’ve embarked on a very slippery slope,” Sara Tesorieri, deputy head of Oxfam’s EU office, said in response to Friday’s announcement.

“It is hugely disappointing to see governments taking steps to twist aid into a tool to advance their own security agendas.”

The committee said it had agreed to work on ways donor countries could better respond to the current refugee crisis, with the aim of ensuring the costs of looking after migrants do not eat into aid budgets.

Faced with the substantial cost of looking after a record one million migrants who arrived in Europe last year, several governments have already diverted money from their development aid budgets to pay for hosting the new arrivals.

“These decisions run the risk that aid will benefit rich countries in the future instead of going to poverty reduction in developing countries,” Jeroen Kwakkenbos, policy and advocacy manager at the European Network on Debt and Development.

Official development assistance (ODA) reached a record high of $137.2 billion in 2014, up 1.2 percent from 2013, but the poorest countries’ share dropped by 9.3 percent, leaving them with less than a third of overall aid.

Adrian Lovett, Europe executive director of advocacy organisation ONE, said donors had failed to ensure that vital resources for refugees arriving in Europe are not taken from existing commitments to the world’s poorest.

“By extending aid rules to include more peace and security costs, the OECD risks further eroding what is available for the poorest countries,” he said.

---

Better aid for more effective development

The members of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) met in Paris 18-19 February 2016 to modernise the way official development assistance (ODA) is measured and to incentivise better mobilisation of private investments for development. Reaffirming their commitment to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals, they stressed that in implementing these ambitious universal goals, ODA must encourage private investment strategically and effectively.

DAC members recognised the particular challenges of investing in poor countries and agreed that such efforts should be appropriately credited. They also reaffirmed their ODA commitments and agreed to reverse the declining trend of development assistance to the least developed countries.

DAC members agreed to update the definitions of when expenditures for peace and security may be reported as ODA. This includes making small adjustments to make development assistance work more efficiently in countries affected by fragility and conflict, for example the use of military aircraft for the delivery of medical help in health emergencies such as the recent Ebola crisis.

The multiple refugee crises in the world have applied pressure in countries and regions of origin, transit and destination. OECD and non-OECD countries at all income levels are struggling to address the resulting humanitarian, budgetary, security, political and development challenges. Over the long term, development will be key to addressing the root causes of these movements, and development efforts will have to play a central role. DAC member countries also agreed to work together towards a long-term solution that will improve the consistency, comparability, and transparency of the reporting of in-donor refugee costs as ODA.

Participants agreed to launch a process to transform the DAC, ensuring that it is representative and maximising its relevance and impact in supporting the 2030 Agenda. The participants in the High Level Meeting included representatives from the 29 DAC member countries, as well as many nonmember countries, international organisations, and civil society and private sector stakeholders. An important part of the discussion focused on how to open up the DAC to bring in new member countries, including recipients of development assistance.