Greece
Leaving no one behind: Greece’s approach and priorities
Greece is committed to the 2030 Agenda, which it sees as a transformative framework for a new sustainable development path where no one is left behind. It intends to revisit its overall development perspectives through the lens of the Sustainable Development Goals. The vision of “leaving no one behind” is also explicitly incorporated in the new European Consensus on Development to which Greece subscribes as an EU member state.
Through its foreign and security policy, Greece strives to promote peace, security, human rights, gender equality, the rule of law and good governance. It has adopted a pragmatic approach to its development assistance by focusing primarily on multilateral aid. It considers that its multilateral partners have adopted a leave no one behind approach by focusing, inter alia, on income inequalities, women and youth, or trying to promote an equitable multilateral trade system.
Greece believes that a leave no one behind approach to development co-operation should focus on the most vulnerable – women, persons with disabilities, the elderly, and children of refugees and migrants – and on basic services that promote inclusive development such as healthcare, primary education and vocational training. According to Greece, in order to address the issue of exclusion, donors need to overcome in particular cultural and political views that lead to discrimination and systematically monitor and evaluate the impact of their interventions on marginalised groups.
Financial flows from Greece to developing countries
Greece’s performance against commitments for effective development co-operation
Greece’s official development assistance
In 2017, Greece provided USD 317 million in net ODA (preliminary data), which represented 0.16% of gross national income (GNI) and a decrease of 15.8% in real terms from 2016 due to lower in-donor refugee costs. In 2017, in-donor refugee costs were USD 72 million and represented 22.7% of Greece’s total net ODA, compared to 39.8% in 2016.
Greece’s share of untied ODA (excluding administrative costs and in-donor refugee costs) was 90.3% in 2016, an important increase from 14.5% in 2015 and above the 2016 Development Assistance Committee (DAC) average of 81.2%. The grant element of total ODA was 100% in 2016.
In 2016, 43.2% of Greece’s ODA was provided bilaterally. Greece allocated 56.8% of total ODA as core contributions to multilateral organisations. Greece also channelled 5% of its bilateral ODA for specific projects implemented by multilateral organisations (multi-bi/non-core contributions).
In 2016, only 1.8% of Greece’s bilateral ODA was programmed with partner countries. Greece’s share of country programmable aid was low compared to the DAC country average (46.8%) in 2016. This is explained by its limited funding for grants, its high spending for refugees in Greece (92% of bilateral aid) and imputed student costs. “Scholarships/training in donor country” accounted for 61% of country programmable aid.
In 2016, USD 0.1 million of bilateral ODA was channelled to and through civil society organisations (CSOs), corresponding to 0.04% of bilateral aid (compared to 0.2% in 2015.
Bilateral ODA primarily focused on Eastern Europe. In 2016, USD 9.4 million was allocated to Eastern Europe, noting that 93% of bilateral ODA was unspecified by region.
In 2016, 6.3% of bilateral ODA went to Greece’s top 10 recipients. Greece has 18 priority partner countries. Seven of these priority countries featured on its list of top 10 recipients in 2016. Greece’s support to fragile contexts reached USD 0.6 million in 2016 (0.4% of gross bilateral ODA). Support to fragile contexts consisted mainly of scholarships (65%) and technical expertise (35%).
In 2016, 0.1% of bilateral ODA was allocated to least developed countries (LDCs), amounting to USD 0.1 million. This is a decrease from 1.6% in 2015 and is below the DAC average of 21.9% in 2016. Upper middle-income countries received the highest share of bilateral ODA in 2016 (6.1%), noting that 93.3% was unallocated by income group.
At 0.02% of GNI in 2016, total ODA to the LDCs was below the UN target of 0.15% of GNI.
Nearly all (92.9%) of Greece’s bilateral ODA was unallocated or unspecified in 2016. Greece committed 0.8% of bilateral aid (USD 1.3 million) to social infrastructure and services, focusing mainly on education (USD 1.1 million).
USD 2.9 million of bilateral ODA supported gender equality in 2016. In 2016, 25% of Greece’s bilateral allocable aid had gender equality and women’s empowerment as a principal or significant objective, compared to the DAC country average of 36.5%. This is down from 2015 when it stood at 71.6%.
USD 1 million of bilateral ODA supported the environment in 2016. The share of Greek bilateral allocable aid focusing on the environment was 8.5% in 2016, compared to a 2016 DAC country average of 33%. The share of its bilateral allocable aid focusing on climate change was 8.5% in 2016 (USD 1 million), compared to the DAC country average of 25.7%.
Note to reader: Annex B provides “Methodological notes on the profiles of Development Assistance Committee members”.