MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Latinamerica left out of Denmark’s aid and development programs

Minister Sören Pind announcing the new strategy for the next decade

Denmark’s Minister of Development and Cooperation Sören Pind announced Friday that Latinamerica would be eliminated from the Danish International Development Agency economic aid programs, which in 2008 totalled almost 100 million US dollars concentrated in “vulnerable and fragile” zones.

“We are leaving Latinamerica but it will all happen in a serious and orderly manner”, said Pind during the presentation of Denmark’s new cooperation strategy for the next decade.

This way Denmark wants to cut the number of money recipient countries with the purpose of concentrating in more vulnerable locations, appealing to economic growth as the main tool for development.

Although no timetable was officially announced the Danish government had on several occasions anticipated its intention of restructuring cooperation strategy so as to concentrate efforts in the African continent.

The new cooperation policy which still must be reviewed states five basic and priority areas in combating poverty: freedom, democracy and human rights; growth, employment, equality; stability and fragility, environment and climate change.

Nicaragua and Bolivia are the main beneficiaries of Danish aid in Latinamerica, since they are the only countries of the region to figure in the list of 17 “country-projects” and therefore the main target for Danish cooperation.

In 2008 Nicaragua was granted 36 million US dollars in bilateral aid, while Bolivia received 34 million USD.

Denmark is one of the world leaders in cooperation for which it assigns annually 0.83% of its GDP.