Humanitarian agencies today condemned "hypocritical" efforts to help the world's poorest nations and claimed they received only one-fifth of global aid.
A new report, published ahead of an international conference on aid in Paris, calls for widescale reforms of how the $58 billion in annual handouts are distributed.
Mr Max Lawson, Oxfam policy adviser
Jointly authored by Oxfam and ActionAid, the study accuses wealthy countries of failing to deliver on pledges to halve world poverty by 2015. It also claims only half of aid is spent on health, education and basic services.
Mr Patrick Watt, ActionAid policy officer, said: "Our report tells a sorry tale of muddle and hypocrisy, dithering and stalling. The world's poor are cast unwittingly in the role of fall guys.
"If ministers in Paris fail to take the steps needed to make aid more effective, the UN's anti-poverty targets may end up as museum pieces in the Louvre."
Those at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development conference will assess progress on the group's Millennium Development Goals, which aim to assist one billion people living in poverty.
However, the report claims up to 40 per cent of all aid is tied to overpriced goods or services from the donor country. It also reveals that around 80 official agencies handle distribution, generating a huge administrative burden.
"You hear a lot of talk about the need for good governance and accountability in developing countries," said Mr Max Lawson, Oxfam policy adviser. "It is time rich countries applied the same strict standards to themselves."
PA