Extending ODA or Creating a New Reporting Instrument for Security-related Expenditures for Development?

A debate has recently been initiated by a number of members of the OECD Development Assistance Committee to include security-related items in the definition of Official Development Assistance (ODA). This article looks at the logic of these proposals by means of a brief review of the history of the ODA definition as well as recent debates on the relationship between security and development. It concludes by recommending the creation of a new reporting category, Official Security Assistance, for donor spending on security-related activities which meets the basic ODA criteria. Copyright (c) The Author 2008. Journal compilation (c) 2008 Overseas Development Institute..