ABSTRACT
The post-1989 period was a stimulating one for Dutch development co-operation, with a strong focus on improving the quality of aid. Starting with a substantial critique at the end of the 1980s [for example, Hoebink, 1988; IOV, 1988], the 1990s saw for the first time a much more clearly worked out poverty reduction policy [DGIS, 1990] and, under different ministers for development co-operation, specific strategies to achieve a higher impact of aid. In contrast to the often expressed idea of being a 'front-runner in the field of development cooperation', the Netherlands might better be viewed as adhering closely 'to international thinking on development as expressed primarily by the World Bank and the UN organisations' [Hoebink and Schulpen, 1998: 39]. Naturally, there are some differences in emphasis and there are certainly some original ways in which the Netherlands has shaped its development policy. Five guiding issues are taken to provide an overview of the changes in thinking and practice of Dutch development co-operation since the end of the 1980s. This chapter will concentrate on the period from the mid-1990s onwards, but will occasionally go back a little further in time.
