In the German development agenda,
the term development cooperation has replaced the term development aid.
So that means that Western states have the unique qualification
to develop and help other countries that they have
declared underdeveloped.
That is replaced by the idea of cooperation and collaboration
at eye level.
I wonder, however, if cooperation at eye level can work at all
in a world that is still dominated by the West?
Or is this notion not deceptive
and euphemistic?
I think this question on
the change from development aid to development cooperation,
specific to Germany, is really important because it's one of the largest donors,
providers of official
“development assistance” which is the technical term
but it is important to note that this change in the terms
is not specific to Germany.
So if you look at how the United Nations has tracked the changes
in development paradigms, in the 1940s,
it was called “technical assistance to underdeveloped countries.”
No one says “underdeveloped countries” anymore.
But over time, that has changed to “development cooperation”.
So it's not only Germany that's using these different terms,
but in Germany's case, what I think is very important,
aside from an imbalance in relations, is to just be mindful
that there's a difference between humanitarian aid, which is still called aid
and development assistance or cooperation.
Humanitarian aid is when it's emergencies
and the rules aren't as strict with that.
But development cooperation or assistance
is often mediated by this extra layer
because it goes through a lot of corporations
and civil society organizations which come with their own agendas.
Also important is that a lot of Germany's development assistance
is actually development finance.
And so when we have conversations about what it means that
is this finance being given at the same level,
it's important to note that this paves the way for trade.
So the biggest recipients of German development cooperation
are middle income countries.
It's not the poorest of the poor people or states that Germany trades with.
It's China, it's India, it's Syria,
So in asking these questions, we also need to ask:
is development assistance or cooperation actually just a euphemism for trade
And what does it mean if we are more conscious
about these changing paradigms and policies and practices of development?