Why 80% of global aid goes missing

ONLY a fifth of global aid is reaching the world's poorest countries, it is revealed today. Poverty-stricken people are being short-changed because of red tape and overpriced goods and services, a new report alleges. Wealthy countries are failing to deliver on pledges to halve world poverty by 2015, the report says. Just half of aid is spent on health, education and basic services, it adds. Jointly authored by Oxfam and ActionAid, the study calls for wide-scale reforms of how the £30billion annual handouts are distributed. Billions of pounds are swallowed up by administration costs every year, the report says. About 80 official agencies handle distribution, generating huge amounts of red tape. Up to 40 per cent of aid is tied to overpriced goods and services, the report claims. And most recipient countries are given no say in how cash is .spent. 'Our report tells a sorry tale of muddle and hypocrisy, dithering and stalling,' ActionAid spokesman Patrick Watt said. The world's poor are cast unwittingly in the role of fall guys.' Oxfam policy adviser Max Lawson added: 'You hear a lot of talk about the need for good governance and accountability in developing countries.