Introduction

This chapter focuses on a period with many transformations. An alternative development paradigm, the New International Economic Order (NIEO), was gaining ground in the mid-1950s and became a key force restructuring the global geopolitical dynamics during the 1960s and 1970s. The Cold War, decolonization, and independence struggles reshaped relationships among countries in fundamental ways creating new alliances and divisions. Newly independent countries, such as India and Egypt, began to collaborate more closely under the umbrella of the non-aligned movement and challenged the dominant model of development aid, Official development assistance (ODA), which was considered the gold standard of foreign aid in this period. As the ‘United Nations Development Decade’ of the 1960s ended, challenges from the non-aligned movement and post-colonial leaders were growing stronger. In the health and development fields, disillusionment was mounting in light of the dimmed prospects for disease eradication and the broader goals of economic development. Modernization theory's promises of economic growth and the trickle-down effect to health and other areas of social development no longer seemed plausible. The key debates in UN institutions and beyond increasingly focused on the colonial legacies in economic relations and demands for creating a more egalitarian international society. Social policy issues, such as access to health services, education, and adequate food, emerged as important items on the agenda of some prominent post-colonial leaders and scholars in a way that connected directly to their vision for economic and social development.

During the 1970s, these discussions of an alternative development paradigm overlapped with a clear policy shift in some international organizations and received some support from the governments of the Global North.