UN and Development

Olav Stokke is Senior Researcher at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs and former editor of the Nordic journal Forum for Development Studies. His books include Perspectives on European Development Co-operation, with Paul Hoebink; Food Aid and Human Security, with Edward Clay; and Policy Coherence in Development Co-operation, with Jacques Forster.

"Stokke (Norwegian Institute of International Affairs) has written the 11th volume in the United Nations Intellectual History Project. Taking a largely narrative and chronological approach to a vast and complex subject, the author ultimately concludes that the UN's most important contribution to development 'has been to generate and successfully promote globally a holistic development concept, almost consistently keeping the social and human dimensions of development at the core.' He argues that this focus is correct, and that in this respect the UN has been right more often than some other development agencies such as the World Bank's International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. He makes sound points along the way, noting that UN programs have always been lightly funded and operate in a decentralized or horizontally organized system, with much diversity of thought and many political disagreements. There are 62 pages of appendixes filled with data and 114 pages of reference notes. [The author] . . . provides a sound reference work. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate and research collections. —Choice"—D. P. Forsythe, University of Nebraska, Feb. 2010"...a sound reference work...Recommended. —ChoiceFeb. 2010"—D. P. Forsythe, University of Nebraska"A fascinating and deeply researched study. . . . Olav Stokke has done a remarkable job of weaving together this complex story."—From the foreword by Louis Emmerij, Richard Jolly, and Thomas G. Weiss

• List of Boxes and TablesSeries Editors' ForewordLouis Emmerij, Richard Jolly, and Thomas G. WeissPreface and AcknowledgmentsList of AbbreviationsIntroductionPart 1. The Emergence of International Development Assistance1. The Institutional Heritage and Pre-Aid Traditions and Ideas2. The Expanded Programme of Technical Assistance3. The UN Fund for Economic Development4. First Steps Down the Road: What Can the Footprints Tell?Part 2. The Formative Years5. The First Development Decade: An Instrument of Persuasion?6. The Second Development Decade7. The United Nations Development Programme, 1966–19818. The World Food Programme, 1961–1981: Surplus Food for Development and Relief9. The 1960s and 1970s: Perspectives on DevelopmentPart 3. The Lost Decade and a New Beginning10. Visions and Priorities for the 1990s: The United Nations Strategy for the Fourth Development Decade11. The Revival of the Social and Human Dimensions of Development12. Evolving Priorities, Patterns, and Trends, 1982–200513. Food Aid: From Development to Humanitarian Relief14. The Long Road toward the Millennium Development Goals15. The Contribution of the UN System to International Development CooperationAppendix: A Bird's-Eye View of ODA to Developing Countries and Multilateral Institutions NotesIndexAbout the AuthorAbout the Project