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International Aid Or Development Assistance Essay

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International aid or development assistance is defined in several ways. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) defines international aid to “include grants and loans to developing countries and territories which are: (i) with the promotion of economic development and welfare in the recipient country as the main objective and (ii) at concessional financial terms (i.e. conveys a grant element of at least 25 percent).” This definition is commonly accepted, however; some analysts include loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as well as the World Bank (concessional or not) in their definitions. The history of international development aid can be tracked down to antiquity, however, the modern era saw international development aid begin to evolve in the 19th and early 20th century (Kapur, 2003) but the true expansion of international development aid was in the aftermath of the Second World War. The most significant events in accordance with the establishment of international development aid were the creation of The United Nations, The Marshall Plan, and The Bretton Woods conference that established the World Bank and the IMF. The modern manifestation of international development aid is extremely widespread. There are countless international organizations and governments present which all contribute to international development aid as it is a moral responsibility, however, what is the effectiveness of the aid they provide? This paper argues

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