Sweden is the most generous nation in terms of developmental aid donations, the OECD said last week.
OECD officials said that recent figures show that the Swedes handed out SEK 36 billion (EUR 3.36 billion) in overseas development assistance (ODA) last year, amounting to 1.02 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product; a figure comparably higher than any other country in the world.
Sweden’s development aid minister Gunilla Carlsson told the TT news agency, “We’re keeping our aid promises at a time when a lot of other countries are breaking theirs. Sweden coped well with the economic downturn and, unlike many other countries, was able to maintain a high level of aid to poor countries. And now the DAC thinks we’re the best in the world”.
She added, “We’re not going to change the poverty situation in the world if we don’t work with companies. The major shift in the way of looking at development aid is the realisation that we must work more with the business world. On that point, we are also in agreement with the aid organisations”.
Meanwhile, the US and Germany topped the list for largest donations in terms of sheer volume in 2011, according to OECD figures.
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