Since 1970 the 0.7 per cent of GNI as Official Development Assistance (ODA) has been universally accepted by the UN and the rich donor nations of the OECD. This study is a comparative and historical analysis of the degree to which aid transfers have conformed to the UN aid norms.
Through detailed national studies based on archival materials as well as current debates in the press and in parliaments, the book discusses why only a small number of countries have lived up to the norm; in other words, why some countries have been striving for the "Glory of the Saint", while most have continued to sin.
