Development aid
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Development aid (also development assistance, international aid, overseas aid or foreign aid) is aid given by developed countries to support economic development in developing countries. It is distinguished from humanitarian aid as being aimed at alleviating poverty in the long term, rather than alleviating suffering in the short term.
The term "development aid" is often used to refer specifically to Official Development Assistance (ODA), which is aid given by governments on certain concessional terms, usually as simple donations. It is given by governments through individual countries' international aid agencies and through multilateral institutions such as the World Bank, and by individuals through development NGOs such as Care International or Oxfam. Historically the term used for the donation of expertise has been technical assistance.
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Background
The offer to give development aid has to be understood in the context of the cold war. The speech in which Harry Truman announced the foundation of NATO is also a founding document of development policy. "In addition, we will provide military advice and equipment to free nations which will cooperate with us in the maintenance of peace and security. Fourth, we must embark on a bold new program for making the benefits of our scientific advances and industrial progress available for the improvement and growth of underdeveloped areas. More than half the people of the world are living in conditions approaching misery. Their food is inadequate. They are victims of disease. Their economic life is primitive and stagnant. Their poverty is a handicap and a threat both to them and to more prosperous areas. For the first time in history, humanity possesses the knowledge and skill to relieve the suffering of these people.“
Development aid wanted to offer technical solutions to social problems without altering basic social structures. Wherever even moderate changes in these social structures were undertaken, e.g. the land reforms in Guatemala in the early 1950ies, the United States usually fiercefully opposed these changes.
2004 Figures
The combined Official Development Assistance of OECD countries in 2004 was $78.6 billion. The United States is the world's largest contributor of ODA in absolute terms, $19 billion, but this figure should be compared to the combined European Union contribution that totaled $42.9 billion. Expressed as a percentage of GNI, Norway's contributions remained in the lead at 0.87%, with the combined EU at 0.36%. The United States remains the lowest contibutor as a percentage of the OECD, at 0.16%. [1]
External links
- OECD Development Co-operation Directorate (DAC)
- AiDA: Accessible Information on Development Activities
- Håkan Malmqvist (2000), "Development Aid, Humanitarian Assistance and Emergency Relief", Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Sweden [2]
- Andrew Rogerson with Adrian Hewitt and David Waldenberg (2004), "The International Aid System 2005–2010 Forces For and Against Change", ODI Working Paper 235 [3]
- Millions Saved A compilation of case studies of successful foreign assistance by the Center for Global Development.
See also
- Millennium Development Goals
- conditionality
- aid effectiveness
- Debt relief
- Millennium challenge account
- List of development aid agencies