Abstract
Amidst the changing international system, new and emerging actors are playing an increasingly significant role in development. Gulf development cooperation is not new, and many Gulf countries – including Kuwait, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) but with the exception of Qatar – have been visible actors in aid since the 1970s.1 Yet, these countries represent drivers of a concurrent process, one in which non-Development Assistance Committee (DAC) donors are slowly altering the way that such cooperation is carried out. Gulf development cooperation constitutes a specific model in this evolution.
The sheer volume of Gulf development aid relative to other providers may be its most apparent characteristic. Even by global standards, KSA, Kuwait, and the UAE have been among the most generous donors, with official development assistance (ODA) reaching about 1.5 percent of their combined Gross National Income (GNI). From 1973 to 1990, Gulf aid as a share of GNI was more than twice the target of 0.7 percent set by the United Nations and five times that of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)-DAC average. While flows of Gulf aid as a share of GNI decreased from 1990 to 2008, Gulf donors continued to meet the UN target throughout the 1990s, with flows remaining almost twice as large as those of OECD-DAC donors from 2000 to 2008.
The sheer volume of Gulf development aid relative to other providers may be its most apparent characteristic. Even by global standards, KSA, Kuwait, and the UAE have been among the most generous donors, with official development assistance (ODA) reaching about 1.5 percent of their combined Gross National Income (GNI). From 1973 to 1990, Gulf aid as a share of GNI was more than twice the target of 0.7 percent set by the United Nations and five times that of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)-DAC average. While flows of Gulf aid as a share of GNI decreased from 1990 to 2008, Gulf donors continued to meet the UN target throughout the 1990s, with flows remaining almost twice as large as those of OECD-DAC donors from 2000 to 2008.
| Original language | English |
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| Title of host publication | Meeting the Challenges of the 2030 Agenda: Alternative Forms of Development Cooperation and the United Nations |
| Publication status | Published - 2015 |