Over the past 60 years high-income countries have invested over 4000 billion euros in development aid. With varying degrees of success, these investments in low-income countries contributed to tackling structural problems such as access to water, health care, and education. Today, however, international development cooperation is no longer restricted to helping by giving. Instead, it is rather about opportunities, mutual interests, risk taking, and an inclusive societal approach. With the arrival of major new actors such as China, India, and Brazil, and the manifestation of private companies and foundations like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, development aid is being eclipsed by new forms of international cooperation, increasingly accompanied by investments, trade, and give-and-take exchanges. The agenda for sustainable development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015 and to be realised by 2030, is a case in point of new influential frameworks that usher in a global rather than a traditional North-South perspective. This book reviews 60 years of international development aid and its relevant actors, outlining today's challenges and opportunities. Richly illustrated with case studies and examples, International Development Cooperation Today maps successes and failures and synthesises visions and discussions from all over the world. By pointing out the radical shift from the traditional North-South perspective to a global paradigm, this book is essential reading for all practitioners, academics, and donors involved in development aid.

About the Author
Patrick Develtere has been involved in development cooperation for over 35 years. He teaches international development cooperation at the KU Leuven. Huib Huyse is the head of the research group Sustainable Development of HIVA-Research Institute for Work and Society of the KU Leuven. Jan Van Ongevalle heads the research unit Global Development of HIVA-Research Institute for Work and Society of the KU Leuven.

Reviews

'De hele ontwikkelingssector is geent op de transfer van middelen naar het Zuiden', zo schrijft Patrick Develtere, professor Internationale Samenwerking aan de KU Leuven. Na decennia sijpelt nu het besef door dat het anders kan en moet. [...] Ook Patrick Develtere schreef recent een werk over ontwikkelingssamenwerking, zij het meer academisch, samen met Huib Huyse en Jan Vanongevalle. Alle drie de auteurs zijn verbonden aan de KU Leuven. Hun - Engelstalige - boek heeft niet toevallig de ondertitel 'Een radicale verschuiving naar een globaal paradigma'. Het houdt in dat ontwikkelingssamenwerking meer zal uitgaan van wederzijds belang van helper en geholpene, van risico nemen en van een grote verscheidenheid aan actoren.
John Vandaele, MO*, herfst 2021, https://www.mo.be/interview/het-gewoon-dom-om-niet-solidair-te-zijn

Throughout, International Development Cooperation Today remains eminently accessible in language and layout. Comprehension of basic concepts in international affairs, economics, and sociology are helpful but not required to follow the authors' arguments. Although it lacks an index, the compendium offers a wealth of insights for students in advanced undergraduate courses. Postgraduate students not yet familiar with the field's institutional landscape should find it equally enriching and inspiring. Whether or not the authors' assertion of a radical shift holds, their nuanced and at times witty analysis of how international development cooperation has morphed into a complex web of relations and flows contributes a multifaceted perspective to global debates on development histories, practices, and the field's uncertain future.
Daniel E. Esser, Ethics & International Affairs , Volume 36 , Issue 3 , Fall 2022 , pp. 396 - 399, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0892679422000363

Gemeengoed zijn de nieuwe tendensen in ontwikkelingssamenwerking nog niet, maar de geesten evolueren snel. Overal ter wereld staan frisse, nieuwsoortige initiatieven op de sporen. Patrick Develtere (KU Leuven) en Chris Nshimbi (University of Pretoria), beiden experten in international ontwikkelingssamenwerking, pleiten voor een denken over ontwikkeling dat niet langer op een Noord-Zuidleest is geschoeid. Weg donor, weg ontvanger. Sylvie Walreavens, Tertio, 22 maart 2023

Develtere's conversation with Paeradigms reveals the transformation from a vertical, aid-centric approach dominated by the Global North to a more horizontal and reciprocal framework of global cooperation. This paradigm shift is pivotal and comes to life in the book International Development Cooperation Today: A Radical Shift Towards a Global Paradigm. Here, Develtere, alongside Huib Huyse and Jan Van Ongevalle, chronicles the journey of development aid through the past six decades, scrutinising its complexities, successes, and failures. - Nina Volles, Paraedigms, 10 Jan 2024, https://reci-education.ch/fr/paraedigms-navigating-the-shift-a-dialogue-on-the-global-paradigm-shift-in-international-cooperation-with-professor-patrick-develtere/

Book Information
ISBN 9789462702615
Author Patrick Develtere
Format Paperback
Page Count 320
Imprint Leuven University Press
Publisher Leuven University Press
Weight(grams) 565g
Dimensions(mm) 234mm * 156mm * 20mm