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In 1945, the United Nations Organization (UNO) was established to avoid a new world war. Another goal of the UNO was to eradicate poverty in the developing countries. This goal was and is still is a very important reason for the existence of the UNO. The most important 'instrument' to fulfill was the creation of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) or better known as the 'World Bank'. In October 2005, the UNO celebrated its 60th anniversary. What has it accomplished in terms of eradicating poverty in developing countries? The sad truth is that 80% of the world population controls only 20% of the world's resources; this means that 20% of the population controls 80% of the world's resources. This is not some sort of 'secret' fact, but something that most people know. Why is this sad reality a fact? A second property of the rational-comprehensive model is the consensus of the problem. It is being presumed that the development of a certain country is not problematic at all. All parties involved (donor and developing country) have reached an agreement and the strategy chosen is therefore the result of a consensus of all parties involved. None of these are true in reality. Development aid policy is the result of negotiations between the actors involved. Actors with business interests, actors from the developing countries self and last but not least, the actors with political interests are constantly engaged in negotiations. It is not difficult to imagine that the actor with the strongest bargaining position possesses the power to overwhelm the actor actors. It is not the objective scientific planner or other kind of specialist who has the final word. In most cases, it is the most powerful actor(s) who wins. A final aspect related to this model is the role of objective knowledge as an important pillar in the decision-making process. It is being assumed that knowledge is the key to success. The more knowledge about the issue is available, the easier it is to solve the issue, in this case, the 'development problem'. This knowledge does not come from a magic box. On the contrary, it comes from strict scientific research. So, scientific research is the source of knowledge and henceforth plays a crucial role in policy-making processes. The influence of the actors is neglected because they have reached a consensus. In reality, scientific research plays a very marginal and minor role in the policy-making process. Policy makers only use scientific findings when it is in accordance with their own ideas. Policy makers draw policies on the bases of their own good judgments and experience and not on scientific findings. Afterwards, they tend to seek objective findings which actually support their policy which has been formulated long before. Theories of development The reader should be warned because I cannot give a complete sketch of the existing theories of development, only a few important theories will be discussed. In the fifties, modernization theories dominated the foreign aid of the 'developed to the underdeveloped countries'. Development is being seen as a linear progressive movement of a 'traditional' society into a state which can be perceived as being a 'modern society'. The example of the emergence of the nations in the Northern hemisphere is being used to define the term 'modern'. Furthermore, the development is being seen as a result of technological innovations. The World Bank can nowadays still be identified as the major producer of the modernization theory. Economic growth is the key concept in this theory. If the shortage of capital problem in the developing countries is solved, poverty will vanish and an autonomous process of development will come into motion. Economic dualism - the existence of, on the one hand, a modern export-oriented sector in the economy and a local sector producing domestic commodities on the other hand - is being seen as an obstacle. The traditional sector (or informal sector) must be eliminated in this view. Personal reflections I have lived for more than 30 years in a developing country (Indonesia) and this country has received billions of dollars in terms of aid and loans. What is the end result? Tens of millions still live in poverty. With the exception of the lucky few, some have been able to improve their lives thanks to a combination of education and luck. A minority (mostly of Chinese descent) has been able to improve their situation due to their skills as traders. However, corruption is rampant and the new-born democracy has not been able to solve all these problems. SEO India provides all kind of Exper IT Development Services
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