Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Danida 50 Years
Danida 50 Years
1962-2012
With a population of around 150 million and a land area just three times that of Denmark, Bangladesh is the
world's second most densely populated country, after Singapore. In the early 1970s, women in Bangladesh had
over six children on average. Today that average is 2.5 thanks to the support of countries like Denmark.
A snapshot
of five decades
Anniversary publication 50 years of Danida
Editor in Chief according
to the Media Liability Act
Jesper Ferslv Andersen, Head of Press Office,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark
Editorial team
Stefan Katic and Ulrikke Moustgaard Andersen
udvikling@um.dk
Articles
Jesper Heldgaard og Jeppe Villadsen
(Page 62-64: Hanne Srine Srensen)
Research on maps and figures
Publikum Kommunikation
Proof
Flemming Axmark + Publikum
Translation
Nigel Mander
Layout and print
Design and layout: India (part of e-types)
Paper: 150 gram Munken Polar
Print: Arco Grafisk
Publisher
Danida, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark
Asiatisk Plads 2,
DK-1448 Copenhagen K, Denmark
www.um.dk
Facts about the publication
Publication date: 14 March 2012
Published in a Danish edition (issued jointly
with Udvikling [Development] 2/12)
and an English edition both can be
ordered free of charge from:
www.danida-publikationer.dk
Copies English edition: 3,000
Copies Danish edition: 19,000
ISBN 978-87-7087-612-2 (paper)
ISBN 978-87-7087-613-9 (electronic)
p. 3/
Contents
4 Introduction by the Minister for Development Cooperation
5 The Danida Brand
8/9 1962-2012 timeline
10/11
12/13
14/15
16/17
18
19
20
21
22/23
24
25/26
27
30
31
32/33
34/35/36
38/39
40
41
42
p. 4/
p. 5/
Introduction
Plenty
to celebrate
This year marks the 50th anniversary of Danida. It was in 1962 that
Denmark's first law on development
cooperation was passed, and since
then Danida has helped broaden our
horizons, extend our influence, and
facilitate peace and prosperity in the
world's poor countries. There have
been ups and downs, successes and failures, directed efforts and misdirected
efforts.
Former cooperation countries such
as Botswana, Thailand, South Africa
and Vietnam have taken a large leap
up the development ladder. A number
of cooperation countries in Africa are
seeing high rates of growth. And many
developing countries are winning the
battle against poverty. Since 1990, the
number of people living in extreme
poverty has dropped by over 400 million. Over 90 percent of children in the
world's poor countries can now attend
school. But there is still poverty to
combat and rights to fight for.
In this anniversary issue, we look back
at 50 years of Danida history. We have
become wiser since the days when development cooperation consisted of red
Danish dairy cattle and dairy courses.
We have also learned that development
cooperation alone cannot eliminate
poverty, as we thought in 1962. Many
other factors affect both the speed and
Viva la
Republica de
Danida!
Denmark meets strong competition from the unofficial,
but much better known name of the kingdom in the
developing world: Danida
No doubt they meant Denmark. But
when a Bolivian farmers association
some years ago sent a letter to the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it didn't say
Dinamarca (Denmark) at the end of
the recipient address, but Republica
de Danida.
As a brand, Danida has become better known in certain parts of the world
than the kingdom of Denmark.
There is nothing strange in this. Denmark has spread itself around the globe
in the shape of Danida and Danish
development assistance is outstanding, judging by the assessments made
each year by assistance watchdog DAC
under OECD.
A true survivor
Back home in Denmark, the name
Danida has had a turbulent existence.
80
Uganda gains
independence
from Britain.
67 Secession of
63
Kenya gains
independence
from Britain.
64
Nigeria's southern
province Biafra.
Civil war until
1970, and the first
major famine to
receive television
coverage.
Northern Rhodesia
gains independence
from Britain and
changes its name
to Zambia.
East Pakistan
becomes
independent
under the name
Bangladesh,
after disintegration from West
Pakistan.
Southern
Rhodesia gains
legal independence
from Britain
and becomes
Zimbabwe.
75 First UN World
Conference on Women,
held in Mexico.
71
Mozambique gains
independence from
Portugal, and a civil
war results.
first detected.
An HIV epidemic
spreads through
sub-Saharan
Africa.
Famine in
Ethiopia.
Apartheid is
abolished in South
Africa.
sustainable development
is held in Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil.
Millennium
Development Goals
for human and
social development
a fingerpost for
the direction of
development
assistance.
76 WHO declares
smallpox
eradicated.
1.06%
0.94%
0.91%
0.74%
0.53%
DAC countries average aid
Danmarks aid
0.10%
0.37%
0.33%
1962
0.35%
0.22%
1970
Denmark
on EC
membership
(today the
EU) leads
to Denmark
becoming a
member in
1973.
technical cooperation
with developing
countries becomes
Danida.
1990
2000
home rule,
with its own
parliament.
European Football
Championship.
94 Danish peacekeeping
80 Second
78 Denmark
reaches the
goal of giving
0.7% GNI in
development
assistance.
76 Social Security
2010
09 15th UN Climate
79 Greenland gains
developing countries,
dubbed the Coffee Fund,
is established.
1980
72 Referendum
64 First research
0.33%
UN World
Conference
on Women,
held in
Copenhagen.
03 The Danish-Arab
Change Conference
held in Copenhagen.
Partnership Programme
is launched by Foreign
Minister Per Stig Mller.
02 Development assistance
is cut by DKK 1.5 billion
(EUR 200 million).
photo: biafra-child: corbis/polfoto, wtc: scanpix, coffee pot: torben stroyer/polfoto, girl: jrgen schytte
The World
p. 10/
60
p. 11/
Make a personal effort. Volunteer. A Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke poster from the 1960s.
p. 12/
60s
p. 13/
60s
A wanted child
Danidas birth
is televised
Development assistance and elephants share common characteristics. Both are large and can be
rather difficult to keep under control. Danish Prime Minister Viggo Kampmann visits India in 1962.
Multiple initiatives
But there were also critical voices, who
described the entertainment in the
service of a good cause as populist
nonsense. Meanwhile, an extensive
information campaign was under way.
It was placed in the hands of aid
organisation Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke,
which at the time had more experience
working with developing countries
than the state. Leaflets, posters and
teaching resources were printed. A cinema trailer was produced and a special
stamp was issued (see photo), along
with many other initiatives.
Everyone took part: schools, unions,
companies, industry organisations and
churches. Dansk Tipstjeneste, the company running football pools, arranged
an extra football pool day, a special
lotto game was launched, and Klasselotteriet, a Danish lottery, made a special
developing-countries draw. Across the
whole country, local collection committees were established. The total money
raised was DKK 12.3 million more
than DKK 130 million in present day
terms. In April, the money was handed
to the Danish state, which had already
promised to double the amount. The
economic foundation for Danish development assistance was thus created.
Everyone involved
On 19 March 1962, the Danish Parliament passed the Act on technical coop-
p. 14/
60s
p. 15/
60s
Country selection
Why
Tanzania?
Warm relationship
In the early 1960s Denmark put out
feelers to several African countries, but
it was Tanzania, headed by the country's young president Julius Nyerere,
which responded most enthusiastically.
Bilateral bickering
It was agreed at an early stage that the
bilateral part of Denmark's development assistance i.e. the assistance
provided directly from country to
country should concentrate on a
limited number of countries in order to
be effective. But almost every time the
countries were to be named, disagreements arose.
Danish industry and the Danish
agricultural sector typically suggested
better-off developing countries such as
1968
1988
2009
1975
The eight becomes four main recipient
countries: India, Bangladesh, Kenya and
Tanzania.
1989-2005
The Danish Parliament agreed seven criteria
for country selection. This started a 15 year
process, which ended with the choice of the
last country, Mali.
2010
Danida now refers to partnership countries
26 in all.
p. 16/
60s
p. 17/
60s
Learning from
the Danes
Herds of red Danish dairy cattle, along with all the necessary
equipment and expertise, head off to the developing countries as
agriculture ploughs the way ahead for a while
Do as we do
It started with Thaigrden, which in
1962 was inaugurated by the Danish
king, Frederik IX, in the presence of the
King of Thailand. The farm project was
quickly followed by similar demonstration farms in India, Iran and Zambia.
The farm projects were established
in narrow collaboration with Danish
agricultural organisations. Here was an
opportunity to export Danish knowhow in cattle farming and to demonstrate modern agricultural methods,
for example cross-breeding of cattle,
intensive cultivation of food crops and
exports of modern dairy and abattoir
operations.
The core of the farm projects was the
demonstration effect: if we show how
we do it ourselves, local farmers will
copy it. And if developing countries
cultivate their heathland, establish
cooperative movements and replicate
other Danish agricultural specialities,
they will automatically evolve in the
same way as Denmark, and the technologies will ripple out in the countries
concerned in ever-widening circles.
That was the idea.
p. 18/
60s
p. 19/
60s
white coats
Investments
The coffee
fund
The hospital
that died
The Congo Hospital. What was once
Denmark's largest project in a developing country started with money from
national collection day in 1962. For
almost 20 years, the hospital received
Danish development assistance corresponding to a present day value of
more than DKK 500 million (EUR 67.3
million). In addition, the hospital employed 50 Danish doctors, nurses and
other staff, all at the same time.
The back story was a serious one:
When Belgium left Congo in 1962,
the new nation had a huge need for
hospitals and healthcare personnel. So
the aim was to make the hospital in the
capital Kinshasa a model that would
demonstrate how to run a hospital, and
it would also train doctors and nurses.
The idea came from chief physician
Jacob Raft, who headed the hospital
until his death in 1971.
There was scepticism right from the
start. The plans were too ambitious, critics said. And they were right. The Congo
Hospital never became a Congolese
model. It was too Danish. The Danish
staff did not share their leadership and
responsibility sufficiently with the Congolese, who for their part could not live
up to the high Danish wage subsidies
paid to local employees when the Danish subsidies ceased in 1981. When the
last Danish employees went home, the
decay really took hold.
Chief physician Jacob Raft speaks at the Congo Hospital opening ceremony.
p. 20/
60s
p. 21/
60s
The Pioneer
Youthful and
refreshing
Ester the
firebrand
Ester Boserup
Born 1910. Graduated as an economist in
1935. Employed for 11 years in Denmark's
central administration, followed by 10
years in the UN system, after which she
was a freelance researcher for Danish and
international institutions, principally the
UN and World Bank. Died 1999 at her
home in Switzerland.
photo: jan jrgensen /scanpix
70
p. 23/
p. 24/
70s
p. 25/
70s
The foundation
failure
The scrapheap
in Sudan
1970s legislation
In 1971, the law was changed and
became the Act on international
development cooperation. It is still a
slim document, but does however state
an aim in 1:
The aim of Denmark's state assistance to the developing countries is to
support their efforts via a cooperation
with the authorities and governments
of these countries to achieve economic
growth in order to contribute to ensuring their social progress and political
independence in accordance with the
Including poverty
Although poverty orientation has
frequently been confirmed in a steady
flow of agendas in the Danish Parliament, it has never been directly
included in the law.
But its time could soon come.
Because the bill submitted for consul-
photo: istockphoto
The whole purpose of Denmark's development assistance over the decades can
be condensed into two words: poverty
orientation. Combating poverty is the
foundation of Danida's programmes,
strategies and plans.
But Denmark's first piece of legislation on development assistance from
1962 a practically-oriented document
covering just three pages has no
preamble. It mostly comprises the new
board and the new council for technical cooperation with the developing
countries.
The first line of the Act mentions
that its purpose is to provide assistance to the developing countries, and
then the focus shifts towards the board,
council and administration.
Not a word about poverty or the
poor.
p. 26/
70s
p. 27/
70s
Success
When
elephants
change
colour
p. 30/
70s
p. 31/
70s
The Volunteer
Spreading
the message
As Denmark's
development
assistance grew in
the 1970, so did the
need to tell people
about it
1976
1990
2005
2011
Orla Bakdal
Born 1949. Graduated as a social worker
in 1974 and went to Botswana the same
year for the Danish aid organisation
Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke (MS). Employed
for 11 years in MS, before joining Danida
in 1985. In 1996 appointed ambassador
to Nicaragua. Since 2009, Alternate
Executive Director at the Inter-American
Development Bank.
photo: mikkel noel lanzky
It was 1974. Orla Bakdal had just completed his training as a social worker.
Through his job as a student worker
in the Danish Refugee Council he had
acquired a taste for development work.
So instead of doing military service, he
went to Botswana as a volunteer for the
Danish aid organisation Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke (MS).
I had become interested in foreign
cultures through my work in the
Danish Refugee Council. We met a lot
of people there who had come to Denmark, and it was rewarding and instructive to be with people from other places
and cultures, he says.
Orla Bakdal stayed in Botswana for
27 months before hitching his way
home from the south of Africa a journey that took six months.
The trip to Africa became the start of
four decades of development work. He
worked 11 years at MS before joining
Danida, where he rose quickly through
the ranks with ambassadorial positions
in Nicaragua, Malawi and Zambia.
80
p. 33/
Frustration in
the austere 80s
Denmark keeps the flag flying despite
the economic crisis
p. 34/
80s
p. 35/
80s
Regional development
Broken dreams
in Bangladesh
The Noakhali project set sail as the flagship of Denmark's
development cooperation, but was not seaworthy and ran aground
A problematic province
Noakhali province is an agricultural
area largely without industry, and
marked by deep and widespread
poverty. The River Ganges periodically bursts its banks here, bringing
death and destruction to the low-lying
province.
The Noakhali project was one of the most personnel-intensive Danish
development initiatives, concurrently employing over 60 Danish consultants.
p. 36/
80s
p. 37/
80s
Marginal effect
Denmark's enthusiasm gradually
waned and in 1991 after 14 years of
substantial costs and mixed results
the project was closed. A planned
phase leading up to 2000 was cancelled.
At that time, major regional projects
such as Noakhali had long since gone
out of fashion and been replaced by
sector programmes focused on one sector at a time.
The ambitious project was closed without any evaluation being carried out,
leaving unanswered the question of
whether the many millions provided in
assistance had been useful. It was not
until nine years after the closure that
Danida undertook a comprehensive
evaluation of the project, which kept
eight researchers occupied for a whole
year. They concluded that the project
had achieved a positive impact for
many poor, but the significance in most
cases was marginal.
It is not a success story. It is a mixed
story. Many things have lasted and
some things were forgotten long ago,
while other things never materialised
or were utter failures, said Steen Folke,
senior researcher at the Centre for
Development Research, which headed
the evaluation.
The evaluation criticised the extensive use of consultants. More than 60
primarily Danish long-term consultants were employed. This was problematic because activities came to a stop
when the Danish consultants left and
took their knowledge home with them.
And these consultants were expensive.
In 1992, a Danish company consultant
Money misspent?
Development assistance can be difficult to assess. Living conditions for
hundreds of thousands of people were
improved because of the ambitious
development assistance project, and
the educational programme was a
lasting success. Was it worth the money
that 135,000 children learned to read?
And that 125,000 men and women were
no longer illiterate? But the educational
area was also criticised because of lack
of collaboration with the Ministry of
Education in Bangladesh, so the educational programme ceased when Danida
withdrew.
As Danida wrote in the evaluation
summary: The Noakhali project did
not achieve everything that was hoped
for and expected. Countless complications and difficulties appeared during
the project. It set out as the flagship at
the head of the fleet, but ended up being overtaken by newer vessels. And yet
there are still traces to be seen in the
wake of the flagship.
Job distribution between rich and poor, depicted here by Danish cartoonist Claus Deleurans (1946-1996). The poster was produced in 1978 by Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke,
which for decades led the way in providing information about the plight of the developing countries work which was largely financed by Danida.
p. 38/
80s
p. 39/
80s
Equality
Empowering
women
If you want to create development in the world's poorest countries,
women must be included every step of the way
Men and women have different roles and duties in life and childbed
can be a life-threatening place for women in developing countries.
Difficult in practice
At the time, only 10 percent of Danida's
stationed bilateral advisors were women. And only one woman shared the
same senior executive level as 25 men
in Denmark's development assistance
administration.
But equality now had to be incorporated in every development assistance
project all the way from planning to
implementation.
Even so, an evaluation conducted
seven years later concluded that although good results had been achieved
New focus
Women and equality became a recurring theme for Danish development
assistance henceforth. Denmark also
promised this to other countries in
1995, when the UN held a conference
on women in China and adopted "the
constitution for women" the Beijing
Declaration which put special focus
on women and poverty.
When the Liberal-Conservative government came to power in 2001, there
was further focus on the theme in Danish development assistance. Denmark
established a special pool for equality
and combating poverty, as well as a new
gender strategy, while the embassies
were to work on integrating the equality aspect throughout development
assistance activities.
p. 40/
80s
p. 41/
80s
DANIDA IN CARTOONS
THE expert
Erik Nissen-Petersen
Born 1934. Military service as a
carpenter at a Danish Naval Station.
Moved to Kenya in 1973 and two years
later married his Kenyan housekeeper,
with whom he still lives. Continues to
work with water utilisation throughout
most of Africa.
drawing: bo bojesen
p. 42/
80s
Development assistance for health
Drama at WHO
Not everyone was happy however,
and the clash with the pharmaceutical
industry was one of the reasons why,
by 1988, Halfdan Mahler no longer
had the backing of the US and Japan,
among others, to continue as the
Director-General of WHO.
He was succeeded by Hiroshi Nakajima of Japan, who came directly from
one of the world's biggest pharmaceutical firms and immediately set about
reorganising the department of essential drugs. Ernst Lauridsen resigned
in protest and the programme was
weakened for a number of years.
But fortunately the World Bank and
the United Nations Children's Fund
(UNICEF) took up the idea, so the
concept of essential drugs spread. It
is still used in child health programmes
and to combat HIV, malaria and tuberculosis, says Lauridsen today.
And Ib Bygbjerg, professor of
international health at Copenhagen
University Hospital thinks that the
idea has had a lasting effect and is one
of the heart-warming stories of development assistance.
The programmes have helped to get
cheap drugs of good quality out to the
many remote health clinics, and have
saved the lives of millions of people,
he says.
p. 46/
Ministers for
development cooperation
For many years, Denmark provided development assistance
without having a specific minister for it; the work was mainly
handled by the minister for foreign affairs
62
75
K.B. Andersen
Minister for Foreign Affairs
Per Hkkerup
Minister for Foreign Affairs,
from 3 September
Hans Slvhj
Minister without portfolio
concerning foreign policy
issues
67
Hans Tabor
Minister for Foreign Affairs
68
05
77
62
66
99
Lise stergaard
Minister without portfolio concerning foreign policy issues
Jan Trjborg
Minister for Development
Cooperation
Ulla Trns
Minister for Development
Cooperation
00
10
62
Poul Nyboe Andersen
Professor, Doctor of Economics
and chairman of FDB (COOP)
Kjeld Philip
Former minister; reappointed
for 1969-1971
Kjeld Olesen
Minister for Foreign Affairs
Uffe Ellemann-Jensen
Minister for Foreign Affairs
68
80
82
Chairmen of the
Danida Board
01
93
Sren Pind
Minister for Development
Cooperation, and from 2011
also Minister for Refugee,
Immigration and Integration
Affairs
11
72
Kai Petersen
Deputy chairman of LO, the
Danish Confederation of
Trade Unions
75
Christian Kelm-Hansen
Principal of Esbjerg Folk High
School and later MP
Helle Degn
The first actual Minister for
Development Cooperation
71
94
04
90
Christian Friis Bach
Minister for Development
Cooperation
Peder Elkjr
Bank director
96
K.B. Andersen
Minister for Foreign Affairs
73
Ove Guldberg
Minister for Foreign Affairs
Poul Nielson
Minister for Development
Cooperation
08
Bertel Haarder
Minister for Development
Cooperation and for Refugee,
Immigration and Integration
Affairs
Klaus Bustrup
Former director of the
Danish Agricultural Council,
reappointed to 2013
Source: www.u-landsnyt.dk
Results
round-up
Denmark and the poor countries
in charts and figures
1962-2012
FOLD out
46 countries
Assistance periods
Level of activity/decade
Kenya
1965 -
Pakistan
1965 -
Tanzania
1965 -
Thailand
1965 -
Uganda
1965 -
Ethiopia
1966 -
Partnership countries
India
1966 -
Malawi
1966 -
Malaysia
1966 -
Nigeria
1966 -
Zambia
1966 -
Afghanistan
1967 -
Botswana
1967 -
DR Congo
Ghana
1968 -
Indonesia
1968 -
Egypt
1969 -
The Philippines
1969 -
Sri Lanka
1969 -
Cambodia
1970 -
Senegal
1970 -
Vietnam
1970 -
Benin
1971 -
Bangladesh
1972 -
Bolivia
1972 -
Lesotho
1972 -
Somalia
1972 -
None
Sudan
1972 -
Low
Nepal
1973 -
Moderate
Yemen
1973 -
Significant
Niger
1974 -
High
Angola
1975 -
Burkina Faso
1975 -
Iraq
Mozambique
1975 -
Burma
1976 -
Nicaragua
1978 -
Bhutan
China
1980 -
Zimbabwe
1980 -
Cameroun
1981 -
Mali
1983 -
Namibia
1990 -
Eritrea
1993 -
South Africa
1993 -
Palestinian Authority
1994 -
60 70 80 90 00
Cover portraits: Young girl from Bhutan and a Touareg man from Mali. photos: jrgen schytte/danida
Assistance periods
Includes decades where assistance
was provided for at least five years.
Minor breaks in assistance are not shown,
nor is assistance provided in single years.
This is especially relevant to the early
assistance era, e.g. assistance to Egypt
1965-1967 is not shown.
Source: Denmark's reporting to
OECD/DAC
Nicaragua
Bolivia
an
China
ist
Palestinian Authority
Af
gh
an
Iraq
Pakistan
Egypt
Bhutan
Nep
al
Burm
India
Eri
a
tre
Niger
Mali
Sudan
ma
lia
Sri Lanka
So
Uganda
Bangladesh
Th
ail
an
Vietnam
The Philippines
Ethiopia
erou
Nigeria
Cam
Kenya
Cambodia
Malaysia
Indonesia
DR Congo
Tanzania
Namibia
Zambia
biq
Zimbabwe
ue
Malawi
Angola
Mo
zam
Burkina Faso
Benin
Ghana
Senegal
Yemen
Botswana
Lesotho
South Africa
Almost a million
Tanzanians now have
their own bank account,
with Denmark's
support. This gives
them an opportunity
to take out loans and
deposit savings.
A world of difference
If you think the world is falling apart, take heart and
take a look at these figures which show the development
of ten poor countries across four selected parameters.
Danida has worked or is still working in all ten of these
countries, although no claim is made of any direct con-
Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Bangladesh
Bangladesh
India
India
Kenya
Kenya
China
China
Mozambique
Mozambique
Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Tanzania
Tanzania
Vietnam
Vietnam
Zambia
Zambia
0
1962
2,000
2012
4,000
6,000
8,000
1960
Afghanistan
Bangladesh
Bangladesh
India
India
Kenya
Kenya
China
China
Mozambique
Mozambique
Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Tanzania
Tanzania
Vietnam
Vietnam
Zambia
Zambia
1960
20
30
40
40
60
80
2010
Afghanistan
10
2
2010
8
1960
20
2010
Source: Gapminder
Gapminder is a Swedish non-profit enterprise, which produces computer-animated displays of global development, based on UNDP's
Human Development Index, data from the World Bank, and others.
*The statement describes GDP per capita adjusted for local purchasing power, i.e. GDP PPP (Purchasing Power Parity). The high index
weighting of real purchasing power means that, for example, Bangladesh is relatively highly rated in the index.
90
p. 47/
p. 48/
90s
p. 49/
90s
Environmental assistance
Helping the
world go green
Ozone holes and sustainability Denmark takes the lead when
development assistance needs to be environmentally friendly
The developing countries were sceptical, to put it mildly, when in 1972 the
UN held its first environmental conference in the Swedish capital Stockholm.
Environmental protection was a
luxury for rich countries to afford. Poor
countries, on the other hand, needed to
focus on growth and development.
Much had changed however when
the UN held an environmental conference again 20 years later this time in
Rio in Brazil. The primary issue at the
conference in 1992 was the environment and development. The world
saw new phrases such as ozone hole,
desertification and sustainability.
Rich and poor countries alike
realised that the threat to the environment was global and had to be tackled
internationally. At the same time, the
end of the Cold War meant that there
was the political will and the resources
to engage in other things than military
threats.
A leading position
Summit meeting statements are often
accused of being empty promises. But
when the Rio Conference was held in
1992, Denmark took on its part of the
responsibility for the global environment and the words were followed by
action. The same year, a broad majority
in the Danish Parliament established
a new Environmental and catastrophe frame. A special organisation for
environmental assistance, Danced, was
established under the Environmental
Protection Agency in 1994. This was
p. 50/
90s
p. 51/
90s
Development assistance
and business
Business Partnerships
Flying
the flag in
Vietnam
Like porn
in a church
bookshop
Many were more than a little uneasy
when Danida established a business
office in 1986. As Danish Industrial
Confederation director Ove Munch
commented in the magazine Udvikling
in 1987, it was comparable with a
church bookshop starting to sell porn.
The development assistance community and industry were often at
odds with each other during the early
decades, when Danish companies were
criticised for seeing development assistance only as an opportunity to rake
in orders.
But times change. In development
assistance circles and in Danida it
has become more widely recognised
that the importance of a vibrant private
sector in developing countries had
been overlooked. Danida opened the
business office, the PS Programme was
launched along with other business
instruments, and Denmark initiated broader development assistance
programmes targeted at the business
sector in several developing countries.
As the Minister for Development Cooperation, Poul Nielsen, commented in
Danish national newspaper Berlingske
Tidende in 1996:
The philosophy of the Private Sector Programme is that we should try to
introduce companies to the assistance
area in developing countries on the
basis of what they do best. Instead of
getting companies in as project suppliers, it is better to let them operate in
the way that best suits them, namely as
companies.
p. 52/
90s
p. 53/
90s
System change number one
An end to
scatterguns
Things fall apart when donor countries all run their own separate projects without proper
dialogue with the developing country itself. The new words of wisdom from the 1990s.
p. 56/
90s
Evaluations
p. 57/
90s
Does what
we do work?
The idea that Danida constantly praises
itself is a myth evaluations of development
assistance often voice criticism
well with the way we think about development assistance: we have cooperation partners, and results are created
together, she says.
No beautification
It is sometimes questioned whether
the Danida evaluations are sufficiently
independent and critical, although
Danida does not evaluate its own activities and hires external, independent
consultants. Many of the evaluations of
Danida are in fact quite critical.
The Evaluation Department has
a broad mandate to choose what we
undertake, when we do it, and how. And
all large-scale evaluations are put out
to tender internationally, so that we get
fresh eyes on things. This gives food for
thought in the organisation, and often
provides good ideas on how development assistance can be improved, says
Margrethe Holm Andersen.
In 2010, the National Audit Office of
Denmark concluded that the guidelines on ensuring independence of
evaluations constitute good practice in
the area, and that the Foreign Ministry
generally follows the guidelines.
Collective memory
The questions are no easier to answer
when it concerns for example a largescale programme on good governance, which Denmark is carrying out
together with other donors.
The complexity of development
assistance has become far greater
because of the change from projects
to programmes during the 1990s, and
it has become more difficult to isolate
which effects are caused specifically
by Danish assistance, says Margrethe
Holm Andersen, deputy head of the
Evaluation Department.
Today, we have to consider it
probable that we have contributed to
processes and results which also fits
p. 58/
90s
p. 59/
90s
Debates down the years
Refugees
put pressure
on funds
The break-up of Yugoslavia in 1992
led to conflicts and wars that caused
hundreds of thousands to flee to other
countries, including Denmark. The
stream of refugees put development
assistance under serious pressure.
Denmark spent large sums on receiving refugees, money that according to
international agreements should be
taken from development assistance
budgets. In 1992 it represented eight
percent of the total money spent. The
stream of refugees and the associated
costs continued, until Denmark began
to apply a more restrictive policy
regarding refugees.
But is it fair to use development assistance funds to take in refugees? This
became a controversial and recurring
theme in the debate on development
assistance, just as it did in subsequent
debates on whether these funds should
be used in the fight against terror and
for peace and security, for combating
climate change in developing countries,
or for paying off their debts.
The debate is also an old one. Back in
the 1970s, Denmark used development
assistance funds to receive boat people
from Vietnam. This contravened international agreements, which were later
changed.
Denmark's expenditure*
on receiving refugees
Refugees from the Balkans were a heavy burden on the assistance budget. Several
of them lived on the Danish Red Cross ship Flotel Europa in Copenhagen Harbour.
1992
EUR 85 million
2001
2010
*EUR equivalent
Source: Danida's Annual Report 1999
Folmer from Ls
engages in democracy
00
p. 61/
When something
breaks
Global events write history,
and Denmark joins in
For several decades, the world had
talked about poverty and inequality.
Now was the time for action, said UN
member states when the new millennium started. The modern world was
more connected than ever. Globalisation was the buzzword. And in this
new but less intimate world, a year
is designated for the achievement of
goals: 2015. By that year, poverty must
have been reduced. And more people
must have achieved better health, education and other basic conditions.
Optimism was alive. But it was
marred by new global events. The
terror attack on the United States on
Tuesday 11 September 2001 turned
everything upside down.
p. 62/
00s
p. 63/
00s
Wake-up call
Poverty = Extremism
The 9/11 terror attack was a serious
wake-up call for wealthy countries,
which realised that they had to work
determinedly to combat poverty and
political repression in poor countries.
According to analyses made at the
time, poverty and repression acted to
fan the flames of fanaticism, extremism and political violence. This view
was however contradicted by the fact
that those who carried out the terror
attacks in the US in 2001, in Madrid in
2004 and in London in 2005 were not
deeply impoverished people. But their
Signal confusion? Not everyone thought it was a good idea when Denmark
coupled civil support work to military operations in Afghanistan.
The attack on the United States in 2001 had major consequences for
Danish development cooperation policy, which in the decade since has
gone in new directions that were previously unthinkable
p. 64/
00s
New focus
Africas
champion?
The new millennium
sees the prime minister
becoming involved
in the developing
countries and Africa
especially
Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen flanked by Liberia's President Ellen
Johnson Sirleaf (left) and Mozambique's Prime Minister Luisa Diogo (right) in 2008.
p. 65/
00s
p. 68/
00s
p. 69/
00s
rendering: 3xn
Development Cooperation, Poul Nielson, put it. The aim of active multilateralism was twofold: to ensure increased
effectiveness and better results.
Big man in
the driving seat
Hello to the EC
It was hardly with the developing countries in
mind that Denmark voted to join the European Community. The EC was associated with
agricultural subsidies and surplus stocks of
agricultural products which were dumped
on the developing countries disguised as
emergency aid or lubricated along by exports
subsidies.
The EC did provide development assistance
which Denmark would contribute to, despite its
bad reputation.
But that changed. The EC and later the EU
made trade agreements with the developing
countries that ensured better access to the EU
market.
And EU development assistance became
bigger and better, so that today the EU and EU
member states all together are the world's
largest donors.
Pius Bigirimana
Born 1958 in Uganda. Studied political
science and public administration at
Makerere University in Kampala and
later obtained several academic degrees
including economics. Employed in
the state administration since 1993
initially in the President's office and
now in the Prime Minister's office.
photo: steve murigi
p. 70/
00s
p. 71/
00s
p. 72/
p. 73/
The money
goes into the
wrong pockets
Danish development assistance gets a thrashing in the press
fraud and corruption make especially good material
That's why I never give a single penny
to aid organisations. It's fraud, bureaucracy and corruption, all of it, raved
Josefine Jensen.
She was one of many indignant bloggers on the website of the now-defunct
newspaper Nyhedsavisen. The reason
for her ire was a series of articles about
fraud in Danish development assistance. At least DKK 176 million was
defrauded from 2004 to 2008, the newspaper wrote, after it had been given
access to the records of more than 200
cases which Danida had reported to the
National Audit Office of Denmark.
According to Danida only DKK 17.6
million ended up in the wrong pockets,
corresponding to 0.04 percent of the
total development assistance budget
of DKK 50 billion during that period.
But Danida did acknowledge that the
money had been lost.
Zero tolerance
The fraud cases in the press resulted
in Danida introducing a policy of zero
p. 74/
An external view
Enthusiasm tinged
with realism
For years, international experts have praised Denmark for the quality
of its development assistance, and at home the Danish people give
fulsome support most of the time
Sceptical Danes
The Danish people also give their
backing to development assistance. So
shows more than 50 years of surveys
of popular support. There have been
some sudden swings in particular years,
but the trend is clearly visible: the
people of Denmark think that development assistance is a good idea.
But it also turns out that Danish citizens are consistently less positive when
asked whether they think development
assistance does any good. In 2008, a
survey showed that 61 percent of the
population had little or no belief in
the idea that state assistance helps the
poorest.
Around half the population thinks
that the bulk of development assistance ends up in the wrong hands. This
is a constant threat to the popularity
of development assistance, which from
the very start all players have stressed
is essential. More information, more
campaigns and more debate have
been repeatedly flagged as the tools for
stimulating support.
Development Assistance
Committee DAC
The Development Assistance Committee
(DAC) is a part of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
OECD was founded in 1948 as the OEEC,
the Organisation for European Economic
Cooperation, to administrate the USA's enormous Marshall Plan (officially the European
Recovery Program). In 1961 the OEEC changed
its name to OECD and simultaneously established DAC, since many former colonies were
at that time becoming independent and had
need of development assistance.
p. 76/
p. 77/
Images
Child labour is unavoidable for many families in Bangladesh, otherwise they would not have enough
to eat. In Kuziartek children spend much of the day on the mud flats, searching for small fish.
The water pump a Danida icon. "I like this photo because it says
a lot about daily life for many people." The image is from Niger.
p. 78/
"The girls are two Touareg friends, whom I met at a well in Jygawa
Boka in Niger in August 2006," says photographer Tine Harden.
Tine Harden
Born 1960. Has photographed in
developing countries for 20 years.