The European Union often goes to great lengths to tout its humanitarian work but a new report has revealed that a mere eight percent of the bloc’s aid reaches the world’s poorest countries.

The newly released study from Concord, the NGO network, shows that very little of the billions donated by EU member states gets to where it’s needed most.

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Last year saw a marginal rise in aid going to the least developed countries, rising from 0.11 percent to 0.12 percent, but 16 countries from among the world’s poorest received a mere eight percent of EU funding.

The report also reveals that EU aid went down for the second year in a row and currently represents only 0.47 percent of the union’s combined gross national income.

The EU is signed up to the United Nations target of spending 0.7 percent of combined gross national income on such aid but, at the present rate, it will not reach that target until 2061.

Currently only Sweden, Luxembourg, Denmark and [the soon-to-leave] United Kingdom are reaching the 0.7 percent commitment. The UK’s main political parties have pledged to retain the target after it exits the bloc.

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