New publications

The Netherlands has been an active supporter of international development aid. Dutch development cooperation started in response to Truman’s 'Four point programme' announced in 1949. It began as technical assistance, channelled through multilateral channels. Bilateral aid started in 1962 and was introduced by (then) Minister for Development Cooperation Berend-Jan Udink. Since then, the priorities, target countries and budget of Dutch development cooperation have continuously shifted. This thematic map illustrates how the partner countries for Dutch development cooperation have changed throughout the years.

The research project 'Defining, targeting and reaching the very poor' has resulted in field reports on Bangladesh, Benin, Jeldu (Ethiopia), Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) and a synthesis report. Anika Altaf is a PhD candidate whose research aims to discover how extremely poor people can benefit on a long-term basis from poverty-alleviation initiatives. In addition, she attempts to find out who the ultra poor are and what struggles they face.

President Zuma of South Africa and President Putin of Russia attended China’s victory parade in September 2015. Zuma’s visit reflected a broader shift in South Africa’s foreign policy in favour of China and Russia. The clear pivot towards China and Russia during Zuma’s presidency (2009-present) differs sharply from the more balanced multipolar approach under Nelson Mandela’s presidency (1994-1999), writes Heinrich Matthee in the latest ASC Infosheet.

This book, edited by ASCL researchers Akinyinka Akinyoade and Jan-Bart Gewald, brings together the results of studies of the various cultural, social, economic and historical aspects that are formative in African societies’ experiences of how people negotiated the spaces and times of being in transit on the road to prosperity. The book analyses the various outcomes of the process of mobility and the experience of spaces and times of transit across gender, generational, and class-differences. Many ASCL researchers have contributed to the book, that has been published by Brill.

This new working paper by Marion Eeckhout focuses on the financial means of implementation generated since the Monterrey Conference for attaining the Millennium Development Goals in Sub-Saharan African countries. It explores whether the Monterrey Consensus in 2002 constituted an inclusive action agenda, thus creating an equal chance for all developing countries to benefit from the additional financial resources mobilized.