Policy Making in Foreign Aid: Gender Equality and Danish Development Policy

Abstract

Since the mid-1980s, gender equality has constituted a major priority in the provision of Danish foreign aid. Seeking to understand policy-making processes in the field of foreign aid, this article analyses three gender policies in relation to Denmark’s official foreign aid published respectively in 1987, 1993 and 2004, examining the degree to which they reflect domestic politics, organisational concerns within Danida and global gender norms. Challenging earlier research, the conclusion is that, while global norms, organisational concerns and the normative environment in Denmark all play important roles, Danish stakeholders have had a limited and decreasing influence over these policies.