Development Cooperation, Poverty Reduction and the European Union

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book introduces some of the main themes in contemporary development cooperation policy and its focus on poverty reduction. It addresses different issues that are relevant to European Community/European Union (EC/EU) development policies and/or the wider contemporary agenda on development cooperation. The dominant paradigm in development theory and policy of the 1980s and early 1990s, which was usually referred to as neo-liberalism or the 'Washington Consensus'. The most evident witness to the emphasis on poverty and poverty reduction are the millennium development goals (MDGs), which were formulated on the basis of the targets mentioned in the UN's Millennium Declaration. The industrialised, aid-giving countries, represented in the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), initiated a rethinking of the principles and modalities of development.