This eight-chapter book provides information on Official Development Assistance (ODA), its importance in relation to developed and developing countries, and its prospects and limitations. Major areas discussed include: (1) the institutional evolution of development aid; (2) forms of ODA, including project aid, program aid, bilateral aid, multilateral aid, technical assistance, food aid, and emergency assistance; (3) the political economy of ODA; (4) a contemporary ODA portrait, examining global ODA patterns, ODA recipients, and the quality of ODA; (5) bilateral donors (those controlling the source of aid and the aid channel), considering policy and pressures and providing ODA profiles of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Federal Republic of Germany, Finland, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States, the organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, and others; (6) the multilateral system; (7) proposals to reform and improve ODA; and (8) the relationship of non-governmental organizations (NGO) and ODA, considering the advantages of NGO operations in development assistance, several functions for NGOs in ODA, and proposals to invest NGOs with more critical responsibility for ODA. (A selected bibliography to help understand the policies and trends noted is included.) (JN)