Which G7 countries consider gender equality in their foreign aid?

Each year, the member countries of the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) report back to the organization the amount of Official Development Assistance (ODA) they have provided in the year. As part of this exercise, DAC members (including the seven G7 countries) are asked to indicate, for each project or program, whether it promotes or not gender equality, based on a three-value « marker »:

• Value 2: gender equality is the main objective of the project/program
• Value 1: gender equality is a significant objective of the project/program
• Value 0: the project/program does not target gender equality.

This data is published in n+2 for year n. In 2020-2021, DAC members allocated an average of USD 57.3 billion per year (44% of their allocable bilateral ODA screened against the gender marker) to gender equality and women’s empowerment as either a primary objective (USD 5.7 billion or 4% of bilateral ODA) or a significant objective (USD 51.7 billion or 40% of bilateral ODA).

Among DAC members, the G7 countries allocated more than USD 36 billion to these issues, representing an average of 52% of their allocable bilateral ODA.

However, between 2020 and 2021, ODA with gender equality as a significant objective (value 1) decreased by 7% and ODA with gender equality as a main objective (value 2) decreased by 10%. Six of the top eight donors of total ODA saw their share of ODA allocated to gender equality decline (Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, United Kingdom, United States). This slowdown occurred in the context of the 2021 Generation Equality Forum, organized by UN Women, which committed the international community to invest $40 billion in gender equality by 2026.