Interview “We know that results are what will enable us to continue our work and that quality is what is going to drive us.” How would you characterise the global climate in terms of support for development at the moment? Do you think there has been a change in public perception of development and support for development initiatives? Yes, I think there has been a change. I mean, in general the broader public is kind of disillusioned in the sense that we have been discussing poverty since the Second World War, and have been engaged in international development cooperation since that time, and yet abject poverty is still there. So, what has been happening over the past sixty years? And why have we not been able to solve this problem? People also sometimes feel that aid money is wasted or doesn’t bring the intended results. This is very much part of the current political debate in the Netherlands for example. However, when you look at the facts, development results are generally positive and a great deal of good is being achieved in terms of big issues like poverty reduction, childhood mortality, access to safe drinking water and so on. So there is clearly a need for the development community to do a better job of sharing our successes, rather than focusing exclusively on the problems yet to be overcome. Yes there is a long road to travel if we want to beat poverty, but we should also recognise when we are on the right path. 10 CONNECT #1 JULY 2012 Pagina 9

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