Denmark’s development policy is a central and integrated part of the country’s foreign and security policy. The Agency for Danish International Development Assistance (Danida) is responsible for planning and implementing Denmark’s co-operation programmes with developing countries.
Equal participation by men and women, concern for the environment and promotion of respect for human rights and democracy constitute the cross-cutting issues in Denmark’s development policy.
Poverty reduction forms the overriding objective of all Danish development efforts. However, since 2001 the Danish government has re-oriented and re-prioritized the country’s development assistance to better reflect the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and new global challenges such as international terrorism. Over the last years, the government has also increased its efforts regarding debt relief and an untying of Danish aid.
Priorities of the Danish Government for Danish Development assistance 2006-2010” are the following areas:

• Promotion of the MDGs, with a particular focus on Africa and greater coherence between the MDGs and reproductive health as well as environmental sustainability
• Promotion of pro-poor economic growth as a way out of poverty
• More focused and more efficient development assistance, increased co-ordination with other donors
• Promotion of the links between security and development policy
• Action to address environmental issues as a prerequisite for sustainable development
• Implementation of a climate-friendly development policy
• Promotion of human rights, democracy and good governance
• Support for refugees, displaced persons and regions of origin

In order to enhance the impact of Danish aid and to ensure a more effective use of Danish resources, the government has decided to concentrate its bilateral co-operation on a limited number of partner countries and to focus its multilateral assistance on a smaller number of international organisations and programmes.

In 2005, Danish Official Development Aid (ODA) was US$ 2.1 billion, up 1,8% compared to 2004. However, as a percentage of its gross national income (GNI), Danish ODA was lower in 2005 compared to the previous year (0.81% vs. 0,85%), due to higher economic growth in 2005. Still, this figure represents the fifth-largest GNI share of all OECD DAC members. The government has pledged to continue spending a minimum of 0.8% of GNI on development aid in the coming years.

 

Denmark’s bilateral development assistance is focused on a selected number of developing countries (so-called programme countries). In 2003, the administration of Danish development assistance was decentralized, with more capacity being transferred to Danish missions in partner countries, which now handle most bilateral day-to-day co-operation.

As part of the government’s efforts to enhance the effectiveness of Danish aid, future bilateral assistance will be concentrated on a maximum of 20 programme countries, with 2-4 priority sectors in each country. Programme countries that have shown a willingness to take responsibility for their own development will receive more aid in the future. A larger share of budget support will be allocated to countries that are committed to sound public administration and the fight against corruption. In the future, Denmark aims to formulate joint strategies in co-ordination with other donors which are increasingly based on the partner country’s own Poverty Reduction Strategy.

New sector programmes within health (including sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and HIV/AIDS), water and sanitation, and education have recently been established in eight programme countries. It is noteworthy, that special emphasis will be placed on taking women and children’s needs into account in both the design and implementation of sector programmes, including special efforts to promote sexual and reproductive health and discontinue the practice of female genital mutilation.
Programme countries and new sector programmes as of 2006:

• Africa: Benin (Education), Burkina Faso (Education), Egypt, Ghana, Kenya (Health, Water and Sanitation), Mozambique (Health), Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia (Water and Sanitation)  
• Asia: Bangladesh, Bhutan (Education), Nepal, Vietnam
• Latin America: Bolivia (Education), Nicaragua (Education)

Tanzania, Mozambique and Ghana were the top recipients of Danish aid in 2005. Co-operation with Egypt and Bhutan will be gradually phased out.
Sub-Saharan Africa will remain the main recipient of Danish aid, with bilateral assistance increased to around two-thirds of total Danish aid in 2008. Moreover, the government is expected to nominate a new African programme country soon.

Denmark’s contribution to multilateral organisations was subject to a critical review by the government as part of the efforts to re-focus and streamline Danish development co-operation. Consequently, Denmark has reduced the multilateral share of its ODA and will focus its multilateral assistance on a smaller number of international organisations and programmes.

Health (including HIV/AIDS) and population issues will constitute priority sectors of Denmark’s multilateral assistance. Between 2004 and 2008, the government plans to allocate another DKK 670 million (approximately US$ 114 million) to the UN programmes and other international organisations working within health, HIV/AIDS and population. In contrast to this, funds for UN programmes that Denmark believes do not have sufficient impact at the local level (e.g. UNESCO, ILO) will be reduced.

At the EU level, Denmark aims to harmonize aid programmes and to promote a more coherent EU development policy.

In 2004, Denmark spent US$ 835 million on multilateral ODA, of which US$ 337 million went to the UN System, US$ 179 million to the European Union’s (EU) development programmes, US$ 100 million to the World Bank, US$ 50 million to Regional Development Banks and US$ 170 million to other organisations.

Sexual and reproductive health and rights, as well as population issues feature prominently on Denmark’s development agenda. The Danish commitment to realizing international targets on SRHR and gender equality (especially the ICPD Programme of Action and the Beijing Platform of Action) is supported by all political parties represented in the Danish Parliament. On the multilateral level, Denmark actively advocates for more coherence between the MDGs and SRHR issues and aims to draw more donors and strategic partners into development coalitions around SRHR, in order to ensure greater political and financial commitment towards SRHR issues. In 2005, the Danish government hosted a conference on status, challenges and recommendations for strengthening the ICPD goals in co-operation with the Danish Family Planning Organisation.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Danida published a new SRHR strategy in 2006. Called “The Promotion of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights. Strategy for Denmark’s Support”, this policy document recommends strategic actions within the following four thematic areas:

• Promoting gender equality and empowering women
• Improving sexual and reproductive health
• Giving young people access to information and services
• Linking the response to HIV/AIDS and sexual and reproductive health and rights.

As gender equality and human rights are central in Danish development policy, Denmark views SRHR and population issues from a rights-based perspective and aims to strengthen and mainstream the link between gender equality and SRHR. The Danish government emphasizes that people should be able to take their own decisions about their sexual and reproductive lives and have the means to do so. Consequently, Danish development co-operation promotes access to reproductive health services and information and to safe and legal abortion, as well as post-abortion care.

Bilaterally, reproductive health and population constitutes a priority sector, and Denmark aims to contribute to the promotion and integration of SRHR in national poverty reduction strategies and health sector programmes. Special attention is given to the needs of young people, especially girls. As part of its activities, Danida supports NGO advocacy programmes, that promote public and political commitment to SHRH of women and young people.

Denmark supports several international NGOs working in the field of SRHR, including IPPF, the Population Council, Family Health International (FHI), the International Aids Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), the International Women’s Health Coalition (IWHC) and the International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM).

In 2001, Denmark was among the first countries to launch a Plan of Action for international assistance in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Since then, the pandemic was a priority of Danish development-co-operation. The new HIV/AIDS strategy launched by the government in 2005 (“Strategy for Denmark’s Support to the International Fight against HIV/AIDS“) emphasizes the need to link SRHR and gender equality with HIV/AIDS and to integrate prevention, care and treatment interventions. A special regional focus is put on Sub-Saharan Africa. Priority areas of Danish intervention include support for the development of comprehensive global and national HIV/AIDS strategies and addressing the specific needs of women and girls, adolescents and other young people, children and orphans as well as people in conflict situations. Moreover, the government aims to fight the stigmatization and discrimination of people affected by the disease.

The Danish government is one of the largest contributors to the UNFPA budget, transferring around US$ 30 million in 2004. Denmark has also committed itself to contribute approx. US$ 6.85 million to the IPPF budget and approx. US$ 24 million to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) annually up to 2010. Estimates by the Resource Flows Project put the total amount Denmark spent on population and HIV/AIDS activities in 2003 at US$ 59.5 million.

In 2004, Danida launched a new funding scheme with an annual budget of DKK 25 million to support innovative NGO projects in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Please see the information under “DK2” on the following pages.

Support for the development activities of Danish civil society organisations has always been an important part of Denmark’s development assistance. Around US$ 145 million of Denmark’s bilateral aid was channelled via Danish NGOs in 2004.

The “Strategy for Danish Support to Civil Society in Developing Countries - including Co-operation with the Danish NGOs” (2000) is the guiding policy document for the government’s relations with development NGOs. According to this strategy, Denmark’s support for civil society focuses on several priority areas: 

• Mapping and analyzing local civil society and fostering their environment
• Dialogue with and support of the capacity building of NGOs
• Strategic project support to deliver services in priority areas, such as education and health care
• Support to the creation of international civil society networks and increased civil society co-ordination

Danish NGOs are viewed as important partners for the Danish government to strengthen and stimulate civil society in developing countries and to engage and sensitize the Danish public on development issues. They act as intermediaries for the Danish government to reach out to local populations and establish dialogue and co-operation with civil society in the South.

Denmark supports Danish NGOs through Framework Agreements, funding for single projects and a Mini-Project Fund. Civil Society organisations from the South can benefit from Danish assistance either as local partners for Danish NGOs or through the Local Grant Authority (LGA) of Danish Embassies, which have a budget to fund local NGO initiatives directly. Of the US$ 145 million in Danish funds disbursed to NGOs in 2004, 59% was used to support Framework Organisations, while support for single projects accounted for 40%. The share for Mini-Programmes was around 1% in 2004, but the government has committed itself to increase this share to 9% by 2009. By allocating more funds to a larger number of smaller civil society organisations, Denmark aims to strengthen the popular rooting of its NGO assistance.

Distributed by regions, Africa received the largest share of Danish NGO assistance in 2004 (42.5%), followed by Asia (22.2%), Latin America (15,4%), and the Balkans (0,2%). For the remaining share (18.6%), no regional breakdown is specified. Uganda, Mozambique and Ghana were the top recipient countries of Danish aid channelled through NGOs.

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Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark / Danida: Danida’s Annual Report 2004.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark / Danida: Partnership 2000 – Strategy for Denmark’s Development Policy (2000).

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark / Danida: Act on International Development Co-operation as published in Act no. 541 of 10 July 1998.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark / Danida: Globalisation – Progress through Partnership. Priorities of the Danish Government for Danish Development assistance 2006-2010.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark / Danida: A World of Difference. The Government’s Vision for New Priorities in Danish Development Assistance 2004-2008 (2003).

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark / Danida: The Promotion of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights. Strategy for Denmark’s Support (2006).

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark / Danida: Strategy for Denmark’s Support to the International Fight against HIV/AIDS (2005).

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark / Danida: Strategy for Danish Support to Civil Society in Developing Countries – including Co-operation with the Danish NGOs (2000).

UNFPA: Donor payments and pledges for 2004.

UNFPA/UNAIDS/NIDI: Projections of Funds for Population and AIDS Activities, 2004-2006

Agency for Danish International Development Assistance (Danida) www.danida.dk

Royal Danish Ministry for Foreign Affairs: www.um.dk

OECD Development Assistance Committee: www.oecd.org/dac