ABSTRACT
This chapter emphasises selected aspects of Swiss and international development policy. We first discuss the concept of development and show how its meaning has changed over time. In the second part, we explain the reasons behind Switzerland’s commitment to development cooperation. The final sections focus on Swiss policy in this area from the standpoint of development goals at the international level, primarily organisation, content and public acceptance. We have intentionally omitted some important sectors since we have dealt with them elsewhere in this book (peace and security policy dimensions in chapter 6, aspects of foreign trade in chapter 8 and, in chapter 9, issues affecting conflicting goals and the coherence of Swiss foreign policy).
