The Twists and Turns of the History of the United Nations Development Programme

• Date: 01 September 2014
• Published date: 01 September 2014
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/puar.12266

Book Reviews 679

“new dimension” central to the UNDP’s mandate,

eventually leading to a “Consensus” adopted by the

Governing Council in June 1970 integrating these

principles and orienting the UNDP’s organizational

transformation.

Indeed, the author points out that the discussion of

the UNDP’s role went on in a rather piecemeal man-

ner for decades.  e Human Development Report,

published for the f‌i rst time in 1990, represented an

important breakthrough in terms of the UNDP’s

positioning.  e report moved beyond consider-

ing gross national product growth, income, wealth,

production of commodities, and capital accumula-

tion. Introducing the concept of human development

as “a process of enlarging people’s choices,” it chal-

lenged the dominant, exclusively economic meas-

urement of development (UNDP 1990). Although

this is highlighted in his book, Bhouraskar expresses

surprise, noting that “it took such a long time for

UN legislative bodies and UNDP administration to

realize what was evident.” Growth strategies changed

over time, with the question of poverty lurking in the

background, and it was only in the 1990s that the

“consensus on poverty eradication, human resource

development, democratic governance, environ-

ment and national ownership” crystalized (198).

Nevertheless, as the author observes, from a techni-

cal assistance point of view, these issues were never

discussed comprehensively, and the UNDP operated

in a piecemeal manner.

 e report on which the “Consensus” was founded

referred to the idea of centralizing the mobilization

and allocation of resources in the UNDP. However,

that possibility was left aside, being considered

impracticable “in the light of political dif‌f‌i culties and

vested interests in the system” (28). Indeed, the new

approach would soon be challenged by new trends

in the international system and by some “inf‌l uential

donors”—to whom Bhouraskar often refers but never

identif‌i es. He claims that those donors were frustrated

by a prevailing multilateral approach and recipient

Digambar Bhouraskar, United Nations Development

Aid: A History of UNDP (New Delhi, India:

Academic Foundation, 2013). 230 pp. $49.95

(cloth), ISBN 9789332700086.

Digambar Bhouraskar’s book United Nations

Development Aid: A History of UNDP follows

his f‌i rst volume, in which he presented the

history of United Nations aid from 1946 to 1966, and

extends that narrative to 2010.  e United Nations

Development Programme (UNDP) was established

in 1966 by the merger of two preexisting programs

of technical assistance, the Expanded Program of

Technical Assistance and the United Nations Special

Fund.  e author chronologically analyzes the evolu-

tion of the UNDP from four main perspectives: the

UNDP’s mission, mobilization of resources, program

implementation, and evaluation, each of which con-

stitutes a separate section of Bhouraskar’s book.

 is analytical approach unavoidably leads to some

repetition and overlap but allows us to keep track

of the historical sequence of events, giving specif‌i c

insights into each of them. In the following para-

graphs, an attempt is made to highlight the most

relevant issues emerging through the four sections of

the book.

Without receiving any particular mandate at the time

of its creation, the UNDP continued to administer

resources made available through the mechanisms in

use by its two predecessors. It continued to follow a

project approach based on the review and f‌i nancing

of proposals prepared by recipient countries with the

support of specialized agencies. However, the prin-

ciple of countries’ sovereignty in deciding their own

priorities for assistance, together with the concept of

country programming and targets, fed debate about

the UNDP’s mandate in its f‌i rst years of existence.

In the early 1970s, in the context of the UN’s pro-

gram for the Establishment of a New International

Economic Order, the promotion of countries’ self-

reliance and institutional development became the

 e Twists and Turns of the History of the United

Nations Development Programme

Sonia M. Ospina and Rogan Kersh, Editors

Eduardo Missoni

Bocconi University, Italy

Eduardo Missoni is adjunct professor

at Bocconi University in Milan, Italy and in

its postgraduate management school (SDA

Bocconi). His teaching and research activi-

ties focus on management of international

institutions and nonprof‌i t organizations

and global health and development. He

also teaches courses at other institutions,

including the University of Milan Bicocca,

Italy and the Geneva School of Diplomacy

and International Relations, Switzerland.

He has more than 30 years of experience

in the f‌i eld of international development

cooperation.

E-mail: eduardo.missoni@unibocconi.it

Public Administration Review,

Vol. 74, Iss. 5, pp. 679–681. © 2014 by

The American Society for Public Administration.

DOI: 10.1111/puar.12266.