ABSTRACT
With decolonisation well underway in the 1960s, Wilton Park recognised the growing importance of the developing world. Aid effectiveness and trade though were amongst the few economic topics discussed from time to time, although the 1980s saw some coverage of North-South relations, debt and financing development. It was not until the late 1990s that development and poverty alleviation were given fuller attention. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) represented a significant narrowing of earlier global development targets to improve chances of their realisation. However, meeting them was seen as not enough to make ‘poverty history’. A 2002 conference recognised there needed to be greater international systemic coherence. The traditional focus on aid was seen as misplaced as it underestimated the role of trade liberalisation, private flows, foreign and domestic investment, and remittances in helping finance development. Recently, Wilton Park has focused on key areas of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as gender and education (the environment and health are covered in Chapters 23 and 24, respectively). That such development themes are amongst the most predominant in its annual calendar today is among the most striking features in Wilton Park’s evolution.
