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Reference.org
Development aid
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<p>Development aid (or development cooperation) is a type of <a href="/facts/Aid/L5WH5WPM">aid</a> given by governments and other agencies to support the economic, environmental, social, and political <a href="/facts/International_development/ouf3xcPQ">development</a> of <a href="/facts/Developing_countries/eTfS4kxl">developing countries</a>. It is distinguished from <a href="/facts/Humanitarian_aid/KKYF2X7X">humanitarian aid</a> by aiming at a sustained improvement in the conditions in a developing country, rather than short-term relief. The overarching term is <a href="/facts/Aid/L5WH5WPM"><i>foreign aid</i></a> (or just <i>aid</i>). The amount of foreign aid is measured though official development assistance (ODA). This is a category used by the <a href="/facts/Development_Assistance_Committee/9xp2V7CK">Development Assistance Committee</a> (DAC) of the <a href="/facts/OECD/CI9W2zGv">Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development</a> (OECD) to measure foreign aid. </p><p>Aid may be <i>bilateral</i>: given from one country directly to another; or it may be <i>multilateral</i>: given by the donor country to an international organisation such as the <a href="/facts/World_Bank/hIH9uUb2">World Bank</a> or the United Nations Agencies (<a href="/facts/UNDP/y3gpXUHD">UNDP</a>, <a href="/facts/UNICEF/otY1rTdl">UNICEF</a>, <a href="/facts/UNAIDS/nxCc81gV">UNAIDS</a>, etc.) which then distributes it among the developing countries. The proportion is currently about 70% bilateral 30% multilateral. </p><p>About 80% of the aid measured by the <a href="/facts/OECD/CI9W2zGv">OECD</a> comes from government sources as <a href="/facts/Official_development_assistance/DRM4qwne">official development assistance</a> (ODA). The remaining 20% or so comes from individuals, businesses, <a href="/facts/Foundation_(nonprofit)/IFdbebs8">charitable foundations</a> or <a href="/facts/Non-governmental_organization/qxQSsxsI">NGOs</a> (e.g., <a href="/facts/Oxfam/rvUukVzl">Oxfam</a>). Most development aid comes from the Western industrialised countries but some poorer countries also contribute aid. Development aid is not usually understood as including <a href="/facts/Remittance/6dHbprKG">remittances</a> received from migrants working or living in <a href="/facts/Diaspora/jAEHerxI">diaspora</a>—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. </p><p>Negative side effects of development aid can include an unbalanced <a href="/facts/Currency_appreciation_and_depreciation/wYJvdFUU">appreciation</a> of the recipient's currency, increasing corruption, and adverse political effects such as postponements of necessary economic and democratic reforms. </p>