Goals

Denmark’s development policy aims to contribute to reducing global poverty and helping people to take charge of their own destiny. The Strategy for Denmark’s Development Cooperation focuses on five political priorities.

Woman employee at Khajuri Food Industry in Kathmandu, Nepal. The company, which has received Danida support, supplies the local market with bread and cakes and employs women only in the production.
Photo: Mikkel Østergaard

Real poverty is when a person is incapable of influencing his or her own life situation – politically, economically and socially. Development policy is about setting each individual and their potential free.

Development policy is an integral part of the proactive Danish foreign and security policy. Global responsibility and promoting universal values of freedom goes hand in hand with safeguarding our own interests. This is the foundation for our engagement.

Five priorities for development cooperation

The 2010 strategy for Denmark’s development cooperation, ”Freedom from Poverty – Freedom to Change”, is an important tool for reducing poverty. It marks out five political priority areas for Danish development cooperation:

1. Freedom, democracy and human rights
2. Growth and employment
3. Gender equality
4. Stability and fragility
5. Environment and climate

Danish development cooperation aims to contribute to making the developing countries self-reliant. We will help to build up democratic states and improve the countries’ tax systems so that the tax revenue can contribute to financing development. We will advance developing countries’ access to new technology and innovation to create jobs and growth.

The lack of gender equality is both a problem in itself and an obstacle to economic growth as it contributes to high population growth. Another obstacle to development in many places is conflict and instability – elsewhere it may be the environment and climate change that stands in the way. Development cooperation also helps to solve these problems.

Partnerships for change

Developing countries face many challenges, but it is neither effective nor realistic to believe that Denmark can help to meet them all. We must be where the needs are greatest, and we will make sure that the development cooperation is so organised as to support change in the best manner possible. Change requires engagement that is persistent and flexible. It requires that we are willing to take risks.

This is why Danish development cooperation focuses on a small number of partner countries and sectors. Focusing ensures that we are present where we best can make a difference, achieve the best possible results and play a part in setting the agenda. This is how we achieve the greatest possible impact. At the same time we make an important contribution to the international efforts to achieve the UN’s Millennium Development Goals.

The UN’s Millennium Development Goals

The UN’s Millennium Development Goals are the international community’s promise to cooperate to achieve concrete goals for poverty reduction and sustainable development in 2015. The goals serve as a benchmark for Danish development policy.