"'The Netherlands Yearbook on International Cooperation 2008' is a second of the series yearbooks. The Yearbook has as objectives: to stimulate and feed the scientific and political debate on the Dutch international cooperation; to offer opportunities for publication for researchers in the field of international cooperation; to stimulate young researchers to undertake research on Dutch international cooperation and to publish on MA and PhD research.

In the first part of the Yearbook, the Forum, articles are offered on the Dutch Africa policy, the Dutch debate on research and development, and on the conservative criticism of development assistance in the Netherlands.

In the second part, called Articles, the first three articles are focusing on private aid organisations in the Netherlands.. Not only the geographical distribution of Dutch private aid is analysed, but also the relations between Dutch NGOs and their Southern partners and their policies regarding enterprise development are discussed. Two articles analyse the situation in Chad and Darfur and the complex relation between security, development and humanitarian assistance.

The other two articles in this section discuss impact evaluation of development interventions and the support for citizens’ initiatives in development cooperation.

In the last section three overviews are presented of Dutch development cooperation, private aid organisations and business and development in 2007.

Paul Hoebink is Extraordinary Professor in Development Cooperation at the Centre for International Developments Issues (CIDIN) of the Radboud University Nijmegen."