Development Cooperation Report 1998: Efforts and Policies of the Members of the Development Assistance Committee

by OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Cecd

The financial crises in emerging markets in the course of 1997 and 1998 have reinforced the basic thrust of the agreed OECD/DAC co-operation strategy . The challenges of development are more complex and formidable than many had foreseen, but the vulnerabilities revealed by the recent crises demonstrate the need to help strengthen the foundations of sustainable development. The basic challenge remains implementing people-centred and results-oriented partnerships to encourage and support locally-led efforts. This has now taken hold internationally as the standard for effective development co-operation. Yet, there remains a need to put partnerships into practice more swiftly and more systematically. "Staying the course" is the theme at the heart of the 1998 Development Co-operation Report. The report documents some of the progress achieved and underway to implement such strategies, and urges accelerated action with a wider range of partner-countries. This volume tracks DAC Members' efforts -- qualitative and quantitative -- to move ahead with the implementation of partnership strategies. Policy progress underway and expectations for further action are examined alongside the disturbing picture of further decline in 1997 in aid flows from the larger donors and, for the first time in this decade, an aggregate decline in private flows to the whole range of developing countries.

254 pages, Paperback

Published February 8, 1999

About the author

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an intergovernmental economic organisation with 35 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and world trade. It is a forum of countries describing themselves as committed to democracy and the market economy, providing a platform to compare policy experiences, seeking answers to common problems, identify good practices and coordinate domestic and international policies of its members.

In 1948, the OECD originated as the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC), led by Robert Marjolin of France, to help administer the Marshall Plan (which was rejected by the Soviet Union and its satellite states). This would be achieved by allocating American financial aid and implementing economic programs for the reconstruction of Europe after World War II. (Similar reconstruction aid was sent to the war-torn Republic of China and post-war Korea, but not under the name "Marshall Plan".)

In 1961, the OEEC was reformed into the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development by the Convention on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and membership was extended to non-European states. Most OECD members are high-income economies with a very high Human Development Index (HDI) and are regarded as developed countries.

The OECD's headquarters are at the Château de la Muette in Paris, France. The OECD is funded by contributions from member states at varying rates.