Activities

Danish development assistance goes to some of the poorest countries in the world and is mainly focused on 26 partner countries

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Denmark grants approximately DKK 15 billion in development assistance a year. In 2010 this corresponded to 0.91 per cent of Denmark’s GNI – in other words, what Denmark earns in a year.

Denmark’s development cooperation helps to:

• Promote freedom, democracy and human rights
• Create growth and employment
• Strengthen gender equality
• Further stability and state-building in fragile states
• Protect the environment and the climate.

Danida’s Programme and Project Database contains a complete list of all programmes and projects receiving support from Denmark (Please note that the database is in Danish only).

Partner countries

The largest share of Denmark’s development cooperation is the assistance to partner countries. Partner countries are countries where Denmark is engaged with a long-term perspective and political and financial weight. (link til “partner countries” siden).

- In addition, Denmark has development cooperation withis engaged in development activities in 77 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

Denmark among the leaders

Denmark’s development assistance is in the international top league, both quantitatively and qualitatively.
Denmark is one of only five countries in the world to grant 0.7 per cent or more GNI in development assistance. It is the stated objective of the UN that the rich countries should live up to this objective.

Denmark is a member of the OECD and therefore Danish development cooperation is thoroughly examined at regular intervals. In general Denmark is praised for having a very high quality development programme. The OECD-DAC Peer Review of Denmark 2011 can be downloaded here.

An integrated Foreign Service

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Copenhagen and the Danish embassies all over the world handle both Denmark’s development policy and foreign policy in general. For Denmark, the two areas of policy are interconnected, whereas many other countries have separated development policy from foreign policy.

Development policy is also closely linked to environment, climate, trade and other policy areas of importance for poverty and people’s possibilities of managing their own destiny. This is why the Foreign Service works closely together with other ministries.

Different types of development assistance

A wide range of types and instruments of development assistance ensure that Denmark is able to organise flexible and comprehensive development cooperation.

A general distinction is made between bilateral and multilateral development cooperation and development assistance:

• Direct development assistance for some of the poorest countries and regions in the world – or bilateral development cooperation. Most of this support goes to national development programmes implemented by the partner countries and to furthering human rights and democracy. This is the primary instrument in development policy. About 7 out of 10 kroner from Denmark go directly to specific countries or regions.
• Support for international organisations such as the UN, the EU and the World Bank – or multilateral cooperation. Organisations like the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) collect development funds from many countries in order to implement large-scale, coherent interventions. About 3 out of 10 kroner from Denmark go to international organisations.

You can see the present distribution between the two types of development assistance in Danida’s Annual Report.

The different types of development assistance have different purposes and they supplement one another, making the impact as great as possible. Some types of assistance are the following:

• Sector programme support for long-term development. Sector programme support is concentrated within three or four sectors in each country. A sector can be, for example, the business sector or the environment sector, and the support usually stretches over many years. The greatest part of sector programme support consists of support for the implementation of national sector programmes to promote development and reduce poverty. Other parts go to, for example, programmes to further good governance and democracy.
• Humanitarian assistance in the event of wars and disasters. This assistance plays a crucial role when wars and disasters threaten populations and destroy the results of many years’ development. Humanitarian assistance goes to, for example, food, medicine and setting up temporary homes for people affected by disaster. Humanitarian assistance is largely provided through international aid organisations and Danish NGOs. 
• Support for the work of civil society in the developing countries. Private organisations in Denmark and in partner countries carry out a large number of development activities, for example to strengthen democracy and human rights and give poor people a voice. In Denmark the organisations are also active as disseminators of information about conditions in the developing countries.
• Private-sector driven growth in the developing countries. The private sector is the driving force for creating growth and jobs. Denmark promotes the framework conditions for business development, capacity building in business organisations, among others, and agriculture, technology, knowledge transfer and innovative business cooperation focusing on social responsibility and environment. In addition, Denmark supports regional trade and large-scale projects in infrastructure, water and sanitation and energy. 
• Information for Danes about development assistance and conditions in the developing countries. This information is to provide knowledge and create understanding for life and living conditions in the developing countries and forDenmark’s participation in international development cooperation.

Danida’s Annual Report contains an account of how development assistance is distributed from year to year.