Brandt Commission

International committee (1977-83) set up to study global development issues. It produced two reports, stressing the interdependence of the countries of the wealthy, industrialized North and the poor South (or developing world), and made detailed recommendations for accelerating the development of poorer countries (involving the transfer of resources to the latter from the richer countries).

The commission, officially named the Independent Commission on International Development Issues, had 18 members acting independently of governments and was headed by West German chancellor Willy Brandt. It examined the problems of poorer countries with the aim of identifying corrective measures that would command international support. Its main report was published in 1980 under the title North-South: A Programme for Survival. Both reports noted that measures taken in the past had met with limited success; this was also the fate of the commission's recommendations. The commission was disbanded in 1983.