Dagny Salomonsen:
Danish Development Assistance, 1949-1971. The great Challenge

The aim of this article is to analyse the development in Danish development assistance [aid] during the first twenty years of the Cold War when Denmark became one of the leading countries in this field. The Danish development assistance [aid] had three clear characteristics. First, the high priority of multilateral aid channeled through UN Organizations. Second, the unbroken rise in the contributions with the ambition to reach the UN goal: 1% of the national product, and third, Denmark chose her receiving-countries among the so-called "low-income-countries. The article argues that the decisive factor behind the development in Danish policy was a clear example of "image politics", i.e. that the policy was seen as an instrument to enhance Denmark's reputation, both in the UN and vis-a-vis her alliance partners in the Western World.