<P> About 80 - 85% of developmental aid comes from government sources as official development assistance (ODA). The remaining 15 - 20% comes from private organisations such as "non-governmental organisations" (NGOs), foundations and other development charities (e.g., Oxfam). In addition, remittances received from migrants working or living in diaspora form a significant amount of international transfer . </P> <P> Some governments also include military assistance in the notion "foreign aid", although many NGOs tend to disapprove of this . </P> <P> Official development assistance is a measure of government - contributed aid, compiled by the Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) since 1969 . The DAC consists of 34 of the largest aid - donating countries . </P> <P> The concept of development aid goes back to the colonial era at the turn of the twentieth century, in particular to the British policy of colonial development that emerged during that period . The traditional government policy had tended to favor laissez - faire style economics, with the free market for capital and goods dictating the economic role that colonies played in the British Empire . </P>

Positive and negative impacts of development aid on rural areas