One of every five human beings in the world today lives on less than one dollar a day. Poverty is lack of not only income, but of health, education and participation in social life as well. This dramatic situation makes promotion of development a top priority for the international community, for ethical reasons but also in order to safeguard global political and economic stability. After a brief overview of the various phases through which cooperation policies have evolved, the book investigates - with use of examples of both success and failure - cooperation policies enacted by developed countries; such policies mustn't be confused with mere humanitarian aid programmes, in that cooperation policies require receiving countries to express high degrees of commitment and responsibility.

Federico Bonaglia is an economist at the Oecd's Development Centre, where he works at issues concerning globalisation's impact on developing countries.

Vincenzo De Luca is a former Italian delegate in the Oecd's Cooperation Aid Committee and currently directs Enel's international institutional relations. He has served as a diplomat in Tunisia and Sudan, where he was involved in cooperation programmes.