Who is active in the field of development cooperation? Development cooperation in implemented by multilateral and bilateral
institutions and organisations. The bilateral
donors follow their own strategy and preferences in terms of aid volume
and geographical focus. Many bilateral donors publish yearly annual reports
indicating scope and strategies of work. Internetlinks to bilateral donors
are provided on the page "Internetlinks"
Most of the bilateral donors are represented in the Development Assistance Committee
(DAC) of the OECD in Paris which is not a donor in itself, but an institution
providing guidelines for topics in the field of development cooperation,
implementing evaluations and peer reviews of its member states as well as
providing recommendations to its member countries for the improvement of
its development strategies.
Multilateral donors are the European Union which rapidly is widening its
activities, and the UN. Here the World
Bank is one of the leaders, but also UNDP or specialised agencies like
UNESCO, FAO, WHO or UNICEF play an important role in the process.
How is development cooperation being implemented? Development cooperation is implemented through technical and through
financial cooperation meaning provision of experts (technical cooperation) or transfer of funds (financial cooperation) to the partner country. This makes a large difference because
processes differ totally. In Germany the "Gesellschaft
für Technische Zusammenarbeit" (GTZ) is responsible for the technical,
and the "Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau" (KfW) for financial cooperation. The overall responsibility foe development
cooperation lies at the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development
(BMZ).
Which are the focal areas?
Focal areas in development cooperation are of wide scope and refer mainly
to poverty reduction and improvement of living conditions of the poor in
the developing countries. This includes the health, education, and environment
sectors. Aid should be aimed at promoting sustainability of the partner
country. Guidelines for different sectors were developed after a long consultation
process with all parties involved and several guidelines recently have been
published by the Development
Assistance Committee (DAC) of the OECD.
The Millennium Development Goals were adopted by the UN in September 2000
formulating specific goals in various sectors for the year 2015. Further
information under Millennium
Development Goals in the Internet