Development Assistance Movement Within the International Financial Architecture for Development

The early 1930s witnessed several reactions to the misery in the world and to the financial crisis caused by the Great Depression. It was not until the end of the Second World War, however, that the urgency of fighting poverty and stabilizing the international financial system prevailed and with it the desire to keep past mistakes from surfacing again. Such a desire ultimately led to the Bretton Woods Conference, originally and mostly looking for setting the rules for trade and financial relations between the signatory countries; it has, however, paved the way for a more ambitious project of a new international financial architecture, which favours development assistance and collaboration. Although the Bretton Woods movement was originally aimed at rebuilding the European economies destroyed by war, it quickly took the form of a fight against poverty and underdevelopment in countries newly escaping colonial yoke. This movement culminated with the advent of the Official Development Assistance (ODA) program, introduced by the Development Aid Committee (DAC) of the OECD. Though trillions of dollars were spent by the international community on development assistance for the fight against poverty, the results appear to be mitigated.