The idea of an international ‘target’ for aid to underdeveloped countries in terms of the available resources of the richer or donor countries originally formed part of the proposals for the First United
Nations Development Decade of the 1960s.
This in turn had its origin in the group of economic advisers to President Kennedy when he assumed office early in 1961, although the idea has historical roots further back into the 1950s. It had a counterpart in a similar ‘target’ of a 5 per cent growth rate for the national income of the underdeveloped or recipient countries themselves.
