Public Support For International Development

Is public support for international development failing? The question was examined in a number of contexts during a meeting of experts brought together in a joint enterprise by the OECD Development Assistance Committee and the OECD Development Centre. Views ranged widely but the overall ...

This collection of studies of public attitudes to development co-operation in OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) Member countries demonstrates that the concept of "aid fatigue" is misplaced. A serious lack of adequate knowledge about ...

Sustaining the fight against global poverty will be possible only if the "wider civil society", i.e. citizens in richer countries, actively and critically support international development co-operation efforts. The willingness undoubtedly exists ...

Investigates the effects of research in the field of international development.. Examines the consequences of 23 research projects funded by Canada's International Development Research Centre in developing countries. Shows how research influence public policy and decision-making and how can contribute to better governance.

Japans System of Official Development Assistance

This report considers recent trends in public attitudes to development aid and the policy implications. It also looks at education initiatives to promote greater public awareness of efforts to tackle global poverty and contains a series of individual OECD country reports. Key findings include that public support in OECD member countries for helping in international development co-operation efforts to aid poorer countries has remained consistently high for two decades, with no sign of aid fatigue. Public donations to NGOs have been steadily increasing, mostly in reaction to emergency and natural disasters in developing countries. However, there are public concerns about aid effectiveness. Public awareness and understanding of poverty and development issues and official development assistance (ODA) remains limited, with the media identified as a primary source of information. Policy conclusions drawn include the need for better data monitoring of public opinion regarding international development co-operation, greater investment in global education and improved information on aid policies and programmes.

Topics covered include Canadian food aid and the varied factors that have determined its use, the complex relationship between CIDA and Canadian non-governmental organizations, and CIDA assistance to the major multilateral institutions. There is also detailed discussion of CIDA's choice of recipient countries; its use of aid for trade promotion, human rights and development assistance; issues relating to the administration of the aid program; its recent support for the International Monetary Fund and World Bank leverage on the economic policies of the recipient countries; and two case studies, one of public policy dialogue on aid policies in Central America and the second of Canadian aid for development in Asia. In the final chapters the work of CIDA is assessed from a comparative international perspective and the editor, Cranford Pratt, reviews the main determinants of Canadian aid policy and explains why there has been such a significant erosion in CIDA's declared objective of helping the world's poor. This timely and important book contains contributions by Tim Brodhead, Marcia Burdette, Mark Charlton, Tim Draimin, David Gillies, Terence Keenleyside, David Morrison, Katharine Pearson, Cranford Pratt, David Protheroe, Phillip Rawkins, Martin Rudner, and Jean Philippe Thérien.