Editing Development aid (section)

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{short description|Financial aid given to support the development of developing countries}}
[[File:Development-assistance-as-share-of-government-expense.png|thumb|right|300px|In some countries there is more development aid than government spending. (Image from World in Data)]]
'''Development aid''' (or '''development cooperation''') is a type of [[aid]] given by governments and other agencies to support the economic, environmental, social, and political [[International development|development]] of [[developing countries]].<ref name=":19">{{Cite web|url=https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2009/wp09118.pdf|title=Development Aid and Economic Growth: A Positive Long-Run Relation|access-date=2 January 2020}}</ref> It is distinguished from [[humanitarian aid]] by aiming at a sustained improvement in the conditions in a developing country, rather than short-term relief. The overarching term is [[Aid|''foreign aid'']] (or just ''aid''). The amount of foreign aid is measured though official development assistance (ODA). This is a category used by the [[Development Assistance Committee]] (DAC) of the [[OECD|Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development]] (OECD) to measure foreign aid. 

Aid may be ''bilateral'': given from one country directly to another; or it may be ''multilateral'': given by the donor country to an international organisation such as the [[World Bank]] or the United Nations Agencies ([[UNDP]], [[UNICEF]], [[UNAIDS]], etc.) which then distributes it among the developing countries. The proportion is currently about 70% bilateral 30% multilateral.<ref name=":24">{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Total flows by donor (ODA+OOF+Private) [DAC1]|url=https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=TABLE1|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090611033345/http://stats.oecd.org:80/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=TABLE1 |archive-date=11 June 2009 |access-date=|website=OECD}}</ref>

About 80% of the aid measured by the [[OECD]] comes from government sources as [[official development assistance]] (ODA). The remaining 20% or so comes from individuals, businesses, [[Foundation (nonprofit)|charitable foundations]] or [[Non-governmental organization|NGOs]] (e.g.,&nbsp;[[Oxfam]]).<ref name=":23">OECD, DAC1 Official and Private Flows (''op. cit.''). The calculation is Net Private Grants / ODA.</ref> Most development aid comes from the Western industrialised countries but some poorer countries also contribute aid. Development aid is not usually understood as including [[remittance]]s received from migrants working or living in [[diaspora]]—even though these form a significant amount of international transfer—as the recipients of remittances are usually individuals and families rather than formal projects and programmes. 

Negative side effects of development aid can include an unbalanced [[Currency appreciation and depreciation|appreciation]] of the recipient's currency, increasing corruption, and adverse political effects such as postponements of necessary economic and democratic reforms.<ref name="brookings.edu">[http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2009/0317_aid_governance_kaufmann.aspx Aid Effectiveness and Governance: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091009071531/http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2009/0317_aid_governance_kaufmann.aspx|date=9 October 2009}}</ref><ref name=":52">Rahnama, M. & Fawaz, F. & Gittings, K. (2017). The effects of foreign aid on economic growth in developing countries. ''The Journal of Developing Areas'' 51(3), 153-171. Tennessee State University College of Business.</ref>

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