Development project
A development project is a project that aims to promote the development of a country or area, primarily those that are seen as so-called " developing countries " due to their low level of industrialization, greater poverty and poor technical and social infrastructure .
Types of development projects
The paths chosen for this can be very different. The range of development projects ranges from large-scale projects such as dams or road networks to medium-sized packages of measures, with which, for example, the development of an individual village is to be promoted, to very small projects .
The types of development projects are as different as the ideas about the direction in which the process of development should go ( development theory ). So aim v. a. Large-scale projects primarily focus on economic development by increasing the gross domestic product ( economic growth ), lowering unemployment and improving working conditions (e.g. by fighting child labor and starvation wages). Smaller projects can be, for example, the building of schools and the installation of wells for drinking water supplies or the promotion of environmentally friendly small-scale farming methods.
Many development projects are planned jointly with the funded countries; one speaks of development cooperation . Here, the organization executing the development project and the sponsored body cooperate from problem analysis to setting the project goals to combating the problems and evaluating the project results.
Measures aimed at changing social behavior, such as HIV / AIDS awareness projects or female genital cutting , are also sometimes referred to as development projects.
financing
Development projects are financed by international agencies such as the World Bank or by specialized agencies of the United Nations - such as the United Nations World Food Program or the World Health Organization -, through official development aid / development cooperation from industrialized countries , by non-governmental organizations or as " grassroots " projects without external involvement the people in the regions to be developed themselves.
criticism
Development projects are criticized for various reasons. This is what some critics in development projects as well as in the entire development policy an instrument of neo-colonialism and therefore reject it.
The negative social and ecological effects of individual projects, especially large-scale projects, are also denounced. Others criticize the lack of sustainability of some projects, especially those that are planned and implemented without the involvement of the affected population.
Web links
- Development project , explanation on Spektrum.de
- Explanations about international development projects
Individual evidence
- ↑ Definition of “ research and development project ” . Retrieved November 15, 2015.
- ↑ Development project in Ghana: Core competence for Shea farmers , in the FAZ. Retrieved November 15, 2015.