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Human Inequality in Global PerspectiveHow did our world of unparalleled affluence and immense deprivation come to be? Author: A. Haroon Akram-Lodhi Language: en Genres: Courses, Education, Science, Social Sciences Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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EP 08 International development assistance – help or hindrance? PT 5: How does international development happen?
Monday, 31 August, 2020
International development assistance, or "aid", is the transfer of resources at concessional rates of interest, which means rates of interest that are lower than those that could be obtained on financial markets. The Development Assistance Committee of the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development goes further than this in formally defining aid, when it says that a least 25 per cent of the transfer must take the form of a grant, that the transfer must have improvements in human welfare through economic development as its objective, and the transfer must take place between official bilateral and multilateral agencies.International development assistance is a complex and messy business. Nonetheless, it can have dramatic impacts on human well-being. It is notable, for example, that when South Korean officials speak of their development experience since the end of the Korean War, they always highlight the role of aid in being a catalyst of social transformation. But in order to have a catalytic impact, the state receiving aid must be capable of absorbing it -- and that is often not the case.Part 5 of this Episode inquires about the role of international development assistance in the process of international development, and summarizes how international development happens.
