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Summary Denmark holds the top spot when it comes to international development cooperation.
This was announced by an American think tank “Center for Global Development”.Achieving the maximum score of 7.0 in the 2012 index, Denmark ranks first. This is an improvement compared to 2011, where Denmark took third place. The index ranks 27 of the richest countries in the world in relation to 7 areas: aid, trade, investments, migration, environment, security and technology.Denmark’s Minister for Development Cooperation, Christian Friis Bach, expressed great satisfaction with the impressive placement: “It is very positive that the Danish development cooperation once again is recognized internationally. Denmark is even holding the overall first place.The Danish development cooperation is praised for being of a high quality. It generates changes and concrete results for the world’s poor. However, the development aid is just one of several parts of the efforts for creating development in the world’s poorest countries.Denmark has been granting development assistance since 1962, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and today has programs in Africa, Middle-East and Asia.In 2010, the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) launched a two-year program of USD 28 million program for Pakistan aimed at providing quality education to girls, reconstruction of infrastructure and livelihood services in conflict affected areas and supporting civil society in the areas of democracy, gender empowerment and human rights.The Danish ambassador to Pakistan, Ole E. Moesby stated that “The Danes strongly believe in helping others in need, which is why they not only pay high taxes from which DANIDA’s development assistance program is funded; they are also very engaged in different national fundraising campaigns. Be it small children, young students or the elderly - the spirit to provide equal opportunities for all remain strongly embedded in the Danes”.According to DANIDA’s global strategy, reducing poverty in developing countries is central to Danish development cooperation priorities. A number of crosscutting themes are built into DANIDA’s development assistance: women’s participation in development, the environment, promotion of democracy and observation of human rights.
