Underlines that increased complementarity between humanitarian and development aid is needed in order to address the issues of effectiveness and the humanitarian financing gaps, and should go hand in hand with increased development aid and humanitarian funding; calls on the EU, its Member States and other international donors to fully commit at the WHS to all proposed Core Commitments included in the Agenda for Humanity, which focuses on reducing the humanitarian impact of the conduct of hostilities and enabling humanitarian action.

6. Stresses that ODA remains a key instrument for financing development; urges the EU and its Member States to re-commit without delay to the 0,7 % of GNI target for ODA, with 50 % of ODA and at least 0,2 % of GNI being reserved for LDCs, and to present, taking into account budgetary constraints, multiannual budget timetables for the scale-up to these levels by 2020; welcomes the EU’s firm stance on focusing efforts on the quantity and quality of development aid; calls on other developed partners and on emerging countries to scale up their development assistance, and on the Commission and the Member States to persuade public and priva ...[+++]te donors around the world to honour their financial promises and to make new commitments; stresses that all donors should ensure that ODA represents genuine transfers to developing countries;

11. Points out that the EU is the world’s leading donor of development aid, accounting for almost 60 % of global official development aid; calls, nevertheless, on the Commission to provide clear and transparent data on the share of the overall budget dedicated to EU development aid so as to be able to assess the follow-up to the Monterrey Consensus by all European donors; also expresses its regret that the level of EU financial contributions to developing countries lacks visibility, and invites the Commission to develop appropriate and targeted communication and information tools to increase the visibility of EU development aid;

N. whereas the development agenda is becoming broader and it is therefore important to recognise and further incentivise the efforts that are being made above and beyond ODA; whereas despite challenging fiscal circumstances in many OECD countries, high levels of ODA were maintained and ODA reached an all-time high of USD 134,8 billion in 2013; whereas ODA can be a catalyst to attract private investment and the relevance of innovative financial instruments in this context should be noted;

109. Stresses the importance of strengthening the link between relief, rehabilitation and development in order to ensure the effectiveness of aid; reiterates the importance of allocating an appropriate share of Union overseas development assistance (ODA) to the agriculture sector; regrets that there has been a dramatic reduction in the level of development aid allocated to agriculture since the 1980s and calls on the Commission to prioritise agriculture in its development aid, including assistance to farmers in accessing markets; points out that development assistance is part of a larger scheme where trade, remittances and other sourc ...[+++]es of income are today more important than the total ODA payments for most developing countries, and that the common agricultural policy hinders a free and fair trade with emerging markets;

12. Notes with concern that the global economic crisis is jeopardising Official Development Aid spending by EU Member States; recalls that the costs of the global economic crisis are being borne disproportionately by poor countries, despite having originated in the richer countries; urges, therefore, the EU and its Member States to maintain and deliver on their existing bilateral and multilateral ODA commitments and on the targets identified in the UN Millennium Declaration, especially by addressing those areas which suffer from a lack of progress at present and to ensure efficient use of development aid in order to guarantee the best ...[+++]value for money and consistency between human rights and development policies; points out that, through their potential contribution to official development assistance, the emerging countries also have an important role to play;