SOAS Research Online

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of the interrelated issues affecting official development assistance (ODA) and situates a discussion of future trajectories for Development Assistance Committee (DAC)-China aid relations within these complex strands. It argues that, while significant shifts in the form of DAC aid are inevitable, the direction of these changes is far from clear. The chapter provides the major elements of the DAC’s High-Level For aid paradigm, as they provide the framework for traditional ODA, which is facing intense pressure to change. It discusses literature focusing on the gap between the rhetoric and reality of provision; analyses advocating politically rooted solutions to aid failure; and the neoliberal critique, arguing that ODA should be stopped and replaced by a market-led development trajectory. The examples of harmonization and ownership illustrate the significant size of the gap between the rhetoric of DAC principles and the reality of aid provision.