Since the Fifties, the aid provided has changed at different occasions. In the beginning, aid concentrated on constructing infrastructure, such as roads, railways, dams, and harbours, in order to promote industrial development. In the Sixties, aid to agriculture was added, and in the Seventies aid to social sectors (Basic Needs) was also provided. The Eighties brought worldwide debt problems. Major donors applied structural adjustment policies; some called this the lost decade (década perdida). The Nineties saw the arrival of the first environmental considerations, and asked for attention for the role of women and good governance. The form of aid changed from projects to programmes and budget support.

Describing the different aid forms of the last 65 years and analysing why aid changed from time to time are the subjects of this book. Professionals and students in the area of international cooperation will benefit from studying this history, as, at this moment, old concepts are reappearing or applied by new donors like China. Is the pendulum really swinging back, as Louis Emmerij at one point suggested?