Trends and issues in international development cooperation

Abstract

Aid volume from OECD countries has set a new record. However, the assistance recorded as ODA includes categories that do not contribute to reducing poverty in developing countries. Emerging economies and private donors provide an increasing proportion of aid. Progress has been made in implementing the 2005 Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness in a few fields, such as untying aid, but the results do not meet expectations. The approach, too often purely technical, omits taking fully into consideration the political dimension which strongly affects aid effectiveness. The issue of overall policy coherence receives renewed attention at a time when the debate about climate change is leading development agencies to reconsider goals and strategies.

Keywords

• official development assistance (ODA)
• Development Assistance Committee (DAC)
• international cooperation
• debt
• aid effectiveness
• policy coherence