Private Development Aid in Europe: Foreign Aid between the Public and the Private Domain (EADI Global Development Series)

## Preface Private aid agencies have come to be very much in the center of the debate around development cooperation in recent years for at least four reasons. First, there is the growth of their budgets, or at least there is increasing flow of private voluntary finance for development, mainly due to the emergence of some very large foundations in the United States of America. Second, there is the discussion of their role and the way they are supposed to finance development: are they intermediaries or direct financers or implementers of programs? Third, is the consideration of their role next to donor governments (bilateral aid) and international agencies (multilateral aid). Fourth and finally, there is the ongoing discussion of results: are private aid organizations able to show results, and if they are, can these be compared with their effectiveness and impact in relation to other aid agencies? All these questions are in the center of this volume, but we had first to take a step back to consider: what sort of picture could we make of the European private aid landscape? We envisaged sitting in an airplane with Yann Arthus-Bertrand trying to create pictures similar to his famous La Terre Vue du Ciel, but not of the beautiful landscapes beneath us, but of imaginary landscapes depicting citizens and organizations coming together to support projects and programs in developing countries. Both small and large organizations, some aiming at a specific country and others at a subject or theme; some amateurish, some highly professional. These pictures would also reveal the financial support they receive and the relations they have with their homeland governments. What would be hidden is their quest for results and impact, or at least their efforts to demonstrate these results, fragmented as these often are. Luckily there were some colleagues and friends boarding this imaginary plane of ours. These friends came from a series of European countries to participate in a workshop we had organized in the realm of the European Association of Development Institutes' (EADI) Working Group 1 'Aid and Development Policy', of which Paul Hoebink is convenor. These colleagues and friends presented us with a set of interesting sketches and panoramas, but unfortunately our plane was grounded for some time, because of changes in EADI arrangements. By the time the plane finally took off our ambitious colleagues had come to us again with new data and revised texts. ## Preface xi We are happy to finally present our set of pictures, refreshed and updated. We would like to thank our colleagues and friends, who waited so long (too long) for this volume to appear. We are also very grateful to HIVOS (Humanist Institute for Development Cooperation, the Netherlands) and Oxfam-Novib, two private aid organizations that are always willing to invest in new roads of discovery and also invested in this journey. This Is The First Book Which Makes A Detailed Analysis Of Private Aid Organizations In Europe, Their Historical Background And Current Position In Six European Countries - Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, The Netherlands And Spain. The Authors Investigate The Relation Between Governments And Private Aid Organizations In Terms Of How Both Partners Look At Each Other, What Kind Of Agreements They Have And How These Have Developed Over The Years. They Analyze The Subsidy Arrangements Between Governments And Private Aid Organizations, Looking At Evaluation Systems (or The Absence Of Evaluation) And The Way Subsidy Arrangements Try To Promote Or Organize Systematical Evaluation.-- Private Aid Agencies In The 21st Century : An Introduction / Paul Hoebink And Lau Schulpen -- Mapping The Belgian Ngdo Landscape In Relation To Development Cooperation : Dealing With Fragmentation And Emerging Complexities / Leen Nijs, Nadia Molenaers And Huib Huyse -- Corporatism And The Development Of Private Aid Organisations In Denmark / Lars Engberg Pedersen, Neil Webster And Torsten Geelan -- Non-governmental Development Organisations (ngdo) And Finland's Development Policy / Lauri Siitonen -- Irish Development Ngos And The Official Aid Programme Of Ireland : A 'special' Relationship? / Eamonn Casey And Helen O'neill -- Condemned To Each Other : Ngdo-government Relations In The Netherlands / Lau Schulpen And Paul Hoebink -- Spanish Development Ngos And The State : A Continuously Evolving Relationship / Christian Freres And Ignacio Marťnez -- Development Cooperation In New Eu Member States : The Role Of Non-governmental Organisations / Maja Bucar, Anja Mesic And Eva Plibersek -- From Flats And Mountains : Comparing European Private Aid And Government Support For Private Aid Organisations / Paul Hoebink And Lau Schulpen. Edited By Paul Hoebink And Lau Schulpen. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Also Issued Online. The authors present an overview of private development aid in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the EU as a whole. They illustrate how private aid organisations receive support as well as the relations they have with their respective governments. This is the first book which makes a detailed analysis of private aid organizations in Europe, their historical background and current position in six European countries - Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands and Spain. The authors investigate the relation between governments and private aid organizations in terms of how both partners look at each other, what kind of agreements they have and how these have developed over the years. They analyze the subsidy arrangements between governments and private aid organizations looking at evaluation systems (or the absence of evaluation) and the way subsidy arrangements try to promote or organize systematical evaluation Cover 1 Contents 6 List of Figures, Tables and Boxes 8 Preface 11 About the Authors 13 List of Abbreviations and Acronyms 16 1 Private Aid Agencies in the 21st Century: An Introduction 20 2 Mapping the Belgian NGDO Landscape in Relation to Development Cooperation: Dealing with Fragmentation and Emerging Complexities 35 3 Corporatism and the Development of Private Aid Organizations in Denmark 63 4 Non-Governmental Organizations and Finland’s Development Policy 90 5 Irish Development NGOs and the Official Aid Programme of Ireland: A ‘Special’ Relationship? 127 6 From Favoritism via Abundance to Austerity – NGDO-Government Relations in the Netherlands 192 7 Spanish Development NGOs and the State: A Continuously Evolving Relationship 233 8 Development Cooperation in New EU Member States: The Role of Non-Governmental Organizations 276 9 From Plains and Mountains: Comparing European Private Aid and Government Support for Private Aid Organizations 311 Index 339