Development Co-operation Report 2011

Add this page to your favorites: www.oecd.org/dac/dcr 

Content by chapters l Notes on development assistance providers l Statistical annex l Launch l How to obtain this publication 

by Angel Gurría

by Hillary Rodham Clinton

Introduction: Fuelling the future of development

by J. Brian Atwood

PART I. Fifty years of development co-operation: What have we learned?

CHAPTER 1

The OECD Development Assistance Committee at 50 and the challenges of a changing world

by James Wolfensohn

For the past half century, the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) has monitored development assistance finance and advised on appropriate development policies with the objective of ensuring better lives for people in developing countries. As James Wolfensohn writes in this chapter, the DAC has provided the necessary information and analysis, and has helped other institutions to set objectives and programmes to meet development challenges. The decades to come will see profound changes: by 2050, the world’s population will grow to just over nine billion people – most of whom will be in developing countries; and by mid-century, ours will be a significantly Asian world in terms of both population and economic strength. The DAC must continue its tradition of providing monitoring, analysis and guidance that will help facilitate a peaceful adjustment to these changes and promote a more equal and stable world.

CHAPTER 2

The real wealth of nations: Lessons from the Human Development Report

by Helen Clark

Helen Clark takes the opportunity of the 50th anniversary of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) to explore the human development progress over the past decade, as well as challenges of the 21st century. She bases her analysis on a rich source of insights, the annual Human Development Report, produced by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on issues as diverse as gender, water, human rights, climate change and migration. She notes that people today are, on average, healthier, more educated and wealthier than ever before. While the income divide has generally worsened, gaps in health and education outcomes between developed and developing countries have narrowed. Looking ahead, it remains vital that all partners in development work together to nurture resilient, accountable institutions and systems that are capable of meeting sustainable development objectives, responding to citizens’ needs, dealing with shocks, promoting social cohesion and peacefully mediating tensions and disputes.

CHAPTER 3

by Donald Kaberuka

Donald Kaberuka acknowledges that over the past 50 years, development policy has come a long way and that it continues to evolve – with diverse goals, players and instruments. This chapter looks at the development aid experience in Africa to draw out some of the lessons, and suggests ways forward. In many ways, Africa has been a test-bed over the past five decades, reflecting shifts in donor policies and practices as well as changes in the geopolitical climate. Looking forward, Kaberuka stresses that development is about much more than aid: development co-operation – true partnership – requires dialogue and participation among recipients, traditional and non-traditional donors, and the private sector. He concludes that development aid – and the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) – still have a key role to play in Africa.

PART II. Gender equality, empowerment, human rights and the environment: What's stopping

progress?

CHAPTER 4

Gender and development: Translating commitment into results 

by Michelle Bachelet

In this chapter, Michelle Bachelet emphasises that to be effective, development must embrace the goals of gender equality, social justice, peace and prosperity. She highlights the contribution that official development assistance (ODA) has made to empowering women and girls to exercise their rights fully, as equal citizens. Partnerships on gender equality between the United Nations (UN) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have also played a fundamental role in ensuring enhanced support to and impact on gender equality goals, particularly as the deadline for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) approaches. Nonetheless, pervasive under-investment by donors, among other reasons, has led countries to lag behind on gender equality commitments. This chapter makes recommendations on how to remove the barriers that prevent women from realising their full potential, and enable the achievement of gender-equitable development results.

CHAPTER 5

The Amazon is not Avatar

by Hernando de Soto

Hernando de Soto argues that a series of myths and misconceptions continue to marginalise indigenous people and exclude them from integrating into the world economy. Yet in the Amazon, much like in the rest of the developing world and unlike in the fictional blockbuster Avatar, the story is much more complex. Millions of people living off natural resources face obstacles such as lack of property rights and legal recognition when seeking to participate in and benefit from the global economy. And while the concept of empowerment – giving excluded people the right to control their resources through the same property and business tools that wealthy people have – has guided discussions among international donors, they have found it difficult to put into practice. De Soto challenges a series of myths that form the basis for disempowering attitudes towards indigenous populations, concluding with recommendations for governments and donors to enhance the ability of poor people to protect themselves from the drawbacks of globalisation, and benefit from its advantages.

CHAPTER 6

Inclusive development: Facing the future 

by Sadako Ogata

Sadako Ogata reviews her experience as a development actor on behalf of vulnerable people who are exposed to political, social and economic tensions that arise globally as well as internally. She argues that globalisation, combined with advanced technical and economic development, is widening the gaps among diverse groups of people. Do humanitarian and/or development organisations have the answers they need to meet these challenges in a rapidly globalising world? Are they ready to intervene or become involved? Ogata underlines the need for policies and programmes that will benefit all constituents. Truly inclusive development, she says, emphasising the security and well-being of all peoples in all situations, should guide the way towards a better future for all.

CHAPTER 7

Striking the balance: Climate change, equity and sustainable development 

by R.K. Pachauri

R. K. Pachauri points to two important reference points for continuing discussions on development: the concept of sustainable development as a process that integrates political, social, economic and environmental dimensions; and the acceptance of the evidence that the world’s climate is changing. These two highly interrelated issues are at the root of mitigation and adaptation approaches that, applied together, can reduce risks – for instance, in human health and crop productivity – while enhancing people’s capacity to deal with the consequences of climate change. Addressing climate change means simultaneously addressing several challenges at once: for example, macroeconomic and other nonclimate policies, including development policies can significantly affect emissions, adaptive capacity and vulnerability. A wide variety of policies and instruments are available today to help governments create incentives to tackle climate change, such as integrating climate policies into wider development plans, defining regulations and standards, introducing taxes and charges, setting financial incentives and supporting research and development.

PART III. New challenges, new goals: Is there a future for official development assistance?

CHAPTER 8

The future of international concessional flows

by Richard Manning

Richard Manning notes that despite much progress over the past half-century, great inequalities persist. While this means that international concessional flows will still be necessary for several decades to come, he argues that future aid programmes should be more responsible, accountable and transparent. Better delivery of aid also continues to be an important issue, especially for aid-dependent countries. The OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) can continue to take a leading role, providing collective self-discipline. This includes, however, taking a fresh look at how official development assistance (ODA) is defined to ensure that all reported ODA is truly concessional. Broader agreement among all providers of development co-operation on how to measure development flows will also be essential. As the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) reach their due date in 2015, new targets are needed – maintaining a poverty focus while bringing in new concerns such as transport, energy, human rights and empowerment.

CHAPTER 9

by Jean-Michel Severino

Because of the numerous changes in the motivations and objectives of aid policy over the past decades, Jean-Michel Severino compares official development assistance (ODA) to a Hydra. Yet while today’s global "macro-social" complexities create new ground for international solidarity, he argues that a profound reconsideration of the objectives, measurements, policy content and financing modes of development assistance is not only necessary and welcome, but also inevitable. A new generation of shared, long-term goals is needed to set the pace for collective mobilisation by reconciling social concerns with concepts of public goods and global macroeconomic management, shifting the focus from finance only to more inclusive policy approaches. Yet the challenge, he sustains, is not only to define objectives, but to measure results against them. To this end, a new international measurement system is needed. Severino foresees a gradual shift in financing of public welfare, with the rich in all countries bearing the burden of financing for the poor, for instance through international taxation.

This annex on the profiles and efforts of providers of development assistance has been expanded to include data that has never been included in this report before, on core versus non-core flows, aid untying, ODA in support of gender equality, flows targeted to meet the Rio Conventions and humanitarian aid.

» DAC overview

» DAC member profiles: Australia l Austria l Belgium l Canada l Denmark l European Union l Finland l France l Germany l Greece l Ireland l Italy l Japan l Korea l Luxembourg l The Netherlands l New Zealand l Norway l Portugal l Spain l Sweden l Switzerland l United Kingdom l United States

» OECD DAC peer reviews

» Other OECD donors

» Non-OECD providers of development assistance; endnotes and references

The special 50th anniversary statistical annex takes a look at trends in development flows over the past 50 years, highlighting, among others things, ODA compared to other flows; ODA as a percent of gross national income (GNI) per capita; distribution of ODA by donor, region, type of country and sector; and aid quality indicators.

» Consult it here 

For the full set of aid statistics for 2009, please visit www.oecd.org/dac/stats/dcrannex.

On 4 October 2010, OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría introduced the Development Co-operation Report 2011. DAC Chair J. Brian Atwood moderates a panel discussion with former DAC Chair Richard Manning and former Director General of the French Co-operation Agency Jean-Michel Severino on "The Future of Development Co-operation". They were joined by Mary-Anne Addo, Director, Ghana Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, and Louis Alberto Moreno, President of the Inter-American Development Bank.

» Watch the webcast

» Read the summary of the launch

• OECD iLibrary to access the e-book
• Online Bookshop to purchase hard copies