Extending ODA or Creating a New Reporting Instrument for Security‐related Expenditures for Development?

Abstract

A debate has recently been initiated by a number of members of the OECD Development Assistance Committee to include security‐related items in the definition of Official Development Assistance (ODA). This article looks at the logic of these proposals by means of a brief review of the history of the ODA definition as well as recent debates on the relationship between security and development. It concludes by recommending the creation of a new reporting category, Official Security Assistance, for donor spending on security‐related activities which meets the basic ODA criteria.