Development aid

Development aid is a type of aid given by governments and other agencies to support the economic, environmental, social, and political development of developing countries, as well as least developed, low-income or poor countries. It is distinguished from humanitarian aid by aiming at a sustained improvement in the conditions in developing countries, as well as least-developed, poor of low-income countries, rather than short-term relief. The overarching term is foreign aid. The amount of foreign aid is measured though official development assistance (ODA). This is a category used by the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to measure foreign aid.