The Evolution of International Development Cooperation
Original, , 01-28-2016
It is a shared responsibility and mission of the international community to achieve any global development goals. Any country alone does not have the ability to pursue the sustainable development of the whole world. Only through international cooperation can global sustainable development be achieved. The current mode of international cooperation for development originated in 1969’s "Pearson Report"[1], which recommended that developed countries should provide to developing countries official development assistance, technology transfer, trade concessions, etc. to achieve common development worldwide.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the main task of international development cooperation was to help the newly independent countries to achieve economic and social development and the main tool adopted was to provide official development assistance directly. Therefore, at that time, the model of international development cooperation was North-South cooperation. In this model, developed countries were in a dominant position by providing capital, technology and staff, and developing countries were passive recipients of assistance and tied conditions. In this period political considerations influenced international development cooperation greatly.
In the 1980s and 1990s, international development cooperation had three distinct characteristics. First, it emphasized the importance of sustainable development and promoted international cooperation in the field of environmental protection. At the same time, due to the cross-border nature of environmental issues and the different views on burden-sharing between developed and developing countries, 1992 Rio Summit first proposed the "Common but Differentiated Responsibilities" principle, which became the cornerstone of all international agendas and international cooperation in the future and was the largest contribution of this summit. Second, it advocated that market players should be included in global partnership. For example, Agenda 21 pointed out that to implement this Agenda the UN agencies and developed countries should join their efforts, and government authorities, non-governmental organizations, universities, research centers, business organizations and other private institutions should assist these efforts. In spite of this, international development cooperation in this period was still dominated by government departments, with very low degree of participation from private sector and civil society organizations. Public-private cooperation was very rare. Third, debt relief and restructuring was one of the important ways of international development cooperation. In the 1980s and 1990s, many developing countries experienced debt crisis. In coping with this, the international community had developed a series of programs to restore debt sustainability in developing countries. Developed countries used conditioned aid to force developing countries to accept the so-called structural adjustment programs. This means that in this period international development cooperation was still dominated by North-South cooperation, and developed countries were in the dominant position.
In 2000, the Millennium Declaration formally had global development partnership itself as the eighth goal of Millennium Development Goals and used it promote the other seven goals. MDG 8 consists of 16 specific indicators and covers five areas: official development assistance, developing countries' market access in developed countries, developing countries' debt sustainability, developing countries' access to basic medicine, and developing countries' adoption of new technologies. In the past 15 years, international development cooperation has made great progress in twists and turns, and cooperation mode has undergone great changes. First, modes of cooperation become increasingly diverse. Different from the single mode of cooperation before 2000, the coordination of trade, investment, assistance and other areas was emphasized in this period. For example, instead of direct assistance, "aid for trade" was used more to strengthen the capacity-building of recipient countries, in hope of promoting international trade and ultimately achieving the desired development goals. Second was the rise of new global development contributors. Before 2000, the countries in the world were mainly divided into developed countries and developing countries, and the role of emerging economies had not yet been highlighted. Therefore, the mode of international development cooperation was mainly North-South cooperation and South-South cooperation had not attracted attention. Even before 2005, the situation remained unchanged. However, in 2005, especially after the global financial and economic crisis, emerging economies including China began to draw more and more attention as new contributors to international development cooperation. South-South cooperation has become an important supplement to North-South cooperation, and emerging economies are increasingly involved in triangle and multilateral cooperation. Finally, the construction of a new global partnership for development is put on the agenda. In the past international development cooperation, developing countries were more passive, and their ownership in development was often neglected. At the same time, government departments were the main actors of cooperation, and other non-governmental actors had little chance to participate. In 2011, Busan Declaration was signed by the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness. The Declaration aimed to promote a new global partnership for development covering donors, recipient countries, emerging economies, civil society groups, private sector and other contributing factors. 2012 Rio Summit reaffirmed the importance of this new global partnership.
SDG 17 inherits MDG 8, emphasizing that partnership for sustainable development includes a wide range of content covering trade, aid, debt sustainability, and so on. More importantly, in the development agenda after 2015, the international community generally considers a new global partnership for development as one of the key factors in achieving future SDGs. Therefore, the international community proposes to construct a partnership for sustainable development including multiple actors. Its specific measures include sustainable development policy coordination, promotion of public-private partnerships and so on. In fact, as early as in the report submitted by the panel of eminent persons, it advocated the establishment of a new global partnership for development, which is of equality and mutual benefit and includes international organizations, developed and developing countries, civil society groups, private sector and so on, as an important tool in achieving global sustainable development. The new global partnership for development will change the mode of international development cooperation and influence the responsibility sharing of the countries of different income levels.
[1]Lester B. Pearson，The Pearson Report：A New Strategy for Global Development，UNESCO，1969.The report proposed that developed countries should contribute 0.7% of their annual GNI to help developing countries.
Original, , 01-28-2016
It is a shared responsibility and mission of the international community to achieve any global development goals. Any country alone does not have the ability to pursue the sustainable development of the whole world. Only through international cooperation can global sustainable development be achieved. The current mode of international cooperation for development originated in 1969’s "Pearson Report"[1], which recommended that developed countries should provide to developing countries official development assistance, technology transfer, trade concessions, etc. to achieve common development worldwide.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the main task of international development cooperation was to help the newly independent countries to achieve economic and social development and the main tool adopted was to provide official development assistance directly. Therefore, at that time, the model of international development cooperation was North-South cooperation. In this model, developed countries were in a dominant position by providing capital, technology and staff, and developing countries were passive recipients of assistance and tied conditions. In this period political considerations influenced international development cooperation greatly.
In the 1980s and 1990s, international development cooperation had three distinct characteristics. First, it emphasized the importance of sustainable development and promoted international cooperation in the field of environmental protection. At the same time, due to the cross-border nature of environmental issues and the different views on burden-sharing between developed and developing countries, 1992 Rio Summit first proposed the "Common but Differentiated Responsibilities" principle, which became the cornerstone of all international agendas and international cooperation in the future and was the largest contribution of this summit. Second, it advocated that market players should be included in global partnership. For example, Agenda 21 pointed out that to implement this Agenda the UN agencies and developed countries should join their efforts, and government authorities, non-governmental organizations, universities, research centers, business organizations and other private institutions should assist these efforts. In spite of this, international development cooperation in this period was still dominated by government departments, with very low degree of participation from private sector and civil society organizations. Public-private cooperation was very rare. Third, debt relief and restructuring was one of the important ways of international development cooperation. In the 1980s and 1990s, many developing countries experienced debt crisis. In coping with this, the international community had developed a series of programs to restore debt sustainability in developing countries. Developed countries used conditioned aid to force developing countries to accept the so-called structural adjustment programs. This means that in this period international development cooperation was still dominated by North-South cooperation, and developed countries were in the dominant position.
In 2000, the Millennium Declaration formally had global development partnership itself as the eighth goal of Millennium Development Goals and used it promote the other seven goals. MDG 8 consists of 16 specific indicators and covers five areas: official development assistance, developing countries' market access in developed countries, developing countries' debt sustainability, developing countries' access to basic medicine, and developing countries' adoption of new technologies. In the past 15 years, international development cooperation has made great progress in twists and turns, and cooperation mode has undergone great changes. First, modes of cooperation become increasingly diverse. Different from the single mode of cooperation before 2000, the coordination of trade, investment, assistance and other areas was emphasized in this period. For example, instead of direct assistance, "aid for trade" was used more to strengthen the capacity-building of recipient countries, in hope of promoting international trade and ultimately achieving the desired development goals. Second was the rise of new global development contributors. Before 2000, the countries in the world were mainly divided into developed countries and developing countries, and the role of emerging economies had not yet been highlighted. Therefore, the mode of international development cooperation was mainly North-South cooperation and South-South cooperation had not attracted attention. Even before 2005, the situation remained unchanged. However, in 2005, especially after the global financial and economic crisis, emerging economies including China began to draw more and more attention as new contributors to international development cooperation. South-South cooperation has become an important supplement to North-South cooperation, and emerging economies are increasingly involved in triangle and multilateral cooperation. Finally, the construction of a new global partnership for development is put on the agenda. In the past international development cooperation, developing countries were more passive, and their ownership in development was often neglected. At the same time, government departments were the main actors of cooperation, and other non-governmental actors had little chance to participate. In 2011, Busan Declaration was signed by the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness. The Declaration aimed to promote a new global partnership for development covering donors, recipient countries, emerging economies, civil society groups, private sector and other contributing factors. 2012 Rio Summit reaffirmed the importance of this new global partnership.
SDG 17 inherits MDG 8, emphasizing that partnership for sustainable development includes a wide range of content covering trade, aid, debt sustainability, and so on. More importantly, in the development agenda after 2015, the international community generally considers a new global partnership for development as one of the key factors in achieving future SDGs. Therefore, the international community proposes to construct a partnership for sustainable development including multiple actors. Its specific measures include sustainable development policy coordination, promotion of public-private partnerships and so on. In fact, as early as in the report submitted by the panel of eminent persons, it advocated the establishment of a new global partnership for development, which is of equality and mutual benefit and includes international organizations, developed and developing countries, civil society groups, private sector and so on, as an important tool in achieving global sustainable development. The new global partnership for development will change the mode of international development cooperation and influence the responsibility sharing of the countries of different income levels.
[1]Lester B. Pearson，The Pearson Report：A New Strategy for Global Development，UNESCO，1969.The report proposed that developed countries should contribute 0.7% of their annual GNI to help developing countries.
