Target 8.C: Landlocked & small islands developing countries

I. Principles of action:

“Address the special needs of landlocked developing countries and Small Island developing States (through the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States and the outcome of the twenty second special session of the General Assembly).”

II. Criticisms:

Not much is said concerning this topic, probably because it refers to a very specific reality that does not comprehend a significant portion of the world’s population. What is more, it appears between two substantial issues that comprise development aid and debt relief and whose indicators are rather well defined. In the case of target 8.C, on the contrary, no specific aims are defined, which makes it difficult to assess the conditions of success or failure of the outcomes.

III. Progress: 

The existing indicators to evaluate this target’s progress are based on the proportion of ODA received by the countries in terms of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP). OECD data show that by 2007 small island developing countries were receiving some 2 to 2,5 billion dollars in ODA per year, amounting to approximately 3% of their GDP. On the other hand, the proportion of allocated ODA to landlocked states hasn’t changed much over time, accounting for 11,3 billion US dollars in 2007. What is more, the United Nations General Assembly has realized that most of the ODA reaching these landlocked states takes the form of emergency aid (whether humanitarian aid and food emergency supplies), while development aid invested in transport, infrastructures or communications has remained unchanged over the last five years. Besides the data, not much additional information is provided in UN reports, nor are there any further pledges for the undertaking of measures in order to meet the target, and no specific definitions are presented in terms of what is aimed.