The events of 11 September have strengthened the conviction that a world without violence, terrorism and conflict also means a world freed from exclusion, vulnerability and inequality, a world where opportunities exist for all. The 2001 Development Co-operation Report highlights the work over the last year of the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee on the multiple challenges of creating such a world.

Chapter I suggests that the international community has now created the consensus and the instruments needed to address these challenges and that what is needed now is a dynamic process of implementation. Chapter II discusses policy coherence issues. In this respect, the adoption in the DAC last year of the Recommendation on Untying ODA to the Least Developed Countries is a breakthrough.

In the perspective of the March 2002 International Conference on Financing for Development, Chapter III considers the means and structures needed to generate the financing required to support the Millennium Development Goals and thus attack global poverty. Chapter IV describes recent developments in the policies and aid programmes of DAC Members and outlines the work of the new DAC Task Force on Donor Practices.

Chapter V shows how preventing violent conflict can bring enormous benefits in terms of poverty reduction and growth, and in terms of world-wide security.  Chapter VI focuses on the Information and Communication Technology - a vital tool for development -, and on its immense potential to change the "aid business" and create new models for development.

This year’s report also includes a "Special Module" on monitoring progress on the Millennium Development Goals and a new section - "The DAC at Work" - which provides information on the structure and work of the Development Assistance Committee, its subsidiary bodies, and the Development Co-operation Directorate.