Annual Report 2013

BELGIAN DEVELOPMENT AGENCY

KEY FIGURES 2013TURNOVER

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

237 25

5

23525

3

229

In million euros

TURNOVER BY ACTIVITY (€ million) 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Public development cooperation tasks (direct bilateral cooperation) 207 218 218 205 216

Specific public development cooperation tasks (Infocycle, Kleur Bekennen, Annoncer la Couleur, Trade for Develop-ment Centre, emergency aid, rehabilitation aid…) 9 11 10 9 7.5

Other development cooperation tasks that are entrusted to BTC by third parties (European Union, World Bank, DFID…) 18 23 22 12 9

Junior Programme 3 3 3 3 2.5

Total turnover 237 255 253 229 235

STAFF 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Staff in Brussels 191 202 210 198 187

International experts 185 176 184 190 185

Junior Assistants 47 78 88 76 66

Local staff in the country offices 199 201 200 193 179

Local staff in the interventions - - 739 744 1,014

Total 622 657 1,421 1,401 1,631

1

Annual report 2013

2

Table of contents Foreword .................................................................................................................................................................... 3 

Management report ................................................................................................................................................... 5 

General Meeting ...................................................................................................................................................... 5 Board of Directors.................................................................................................................................................... 5 Internal audit ............................................................................................................................................................ 6 Management Committee ......................................................................................................................................... 6 Administrative supervision ....................................................................................................................................... 8 Financial supervision ............................................................................................................................................... 8 Alliances and partnerships ...................................................................................................................................... 8 Organisational Development ................................................................................................................................... 9 Integrity and anti-corruption ................................................................................................................................... 11 Communication ..................................................................................................................................................... 12 Procurement .......................................................................................................................................................... 12 ICT......................................................................................................................................................................... 13 

Social Purpose Report ............................................................................................................................................ 14 

Governmental Cooperation ................................................................................................................................... 14 Interventions for others .......................................................................................................................................... 18 Sectors and themes............................................................................................................................................... 20 Formulations .......................................................................................................................................................... 24 Monitoring & Evaluation ......................................................................................................................................... 24 Interventions in the North ...................................................................................................................................... 25 

Workforce Report .................................................................................................................................................... 28 

Human Resources ................................................................................................................................................. 28 Salary policy .......................................................................................................................................................... 30 Hiring local staff ..................................................................................................................................................... 31 Employee mobility ................................................................................................................................................. 31 Absenteeism .......................................................................................................................................................... 31 Staff turnover ......................................................................................................................................................... 31 Learning & Development ....................................................................................................................................... 33 Telework ................................................................................................................................................................ 34 Social consultation ................................................................................................................................................ 34 Reorganisation of the HR department ................................................................................................................... 34 

Environmental Report ............................................................................................................................................. 35 

Financial Report ....................................................................................................................................................... 38 

3

Foreword Contrary to what we expected, the negotiations of the

4th Management Contract could not be concluded in

2013. Following fundamental remarks of controlling

instances, the originally proposed project cycle needed

to be modified and certain amendments to the Law

establishing BTC were required too. It took time to ad-

dress these issues and final negotiations did not start

until the end of 2013.

Concerning BTC's core tasks – formulating and imple-

menting governmental cooperation – the assignment in

2013 was clear: First, pertaining to the formulation of

new interventions, all of the 250 million euros ear-

marked absolutely had to be committed, and second,

the downward trend in the implementation rate definite-

ly had to be reversed.

Indeed, in 2012, BTC had been badly affected by the

government's austerity measures, which did not allow

for any commitments any more after October 2012.

Since BTC – until then – usually submitted its formulat-

ed projects to the government for funding during the

third and fourth quarters, the government's decision

came down to an actual loss of approximately 200 mil-

lion euros of commitments, with all due consequences

for BTC's portfolio for the near future. Therefore, the

challenge was to advance our timetable so BTC would

be less affected by such decisions. BTC and DGD met

the challenge and as a consequence also the timetable

of commitments for the following years could be ad-

vanced six months.

Pertaining to the implementation of projects and pro-

grammes, a further drop of the rate of spending – with

which for various reasons BTC was first confronted in

2012 – had to be avoided. In 2013, BTC also met that

challenge. The fact remains though that the huge ambi-

tions to strengthen institutions by means of very broad

interventions in fragile countries still are a challenge.

Furthermore, much attention in 2013 went to three ma-

jor actions that aim to significantly improve BTC's effi-

ciency. First, there was the ERP project, which is to

provide BTC with an integrated ICT system that covers

all areas of BTC's operations and that is to serve the

interventions in the partner countries in the first place.

A second major action was the introduction of a new

project and programme methodology. This must lead to

better development results, better risk management

and a leaner management structure. After a compara-

tive analysis, BTC chose the PRINCE2 and MSP

methodologies because these have proved to be rele-

vant in international settings and because both most

closely match the tools that BTC already has in place.

Finally, still in 2013, with MoRe Results BTC developed

a monitoring and evaluation system that is better suited

to check whether development results of interventions

have been attained. By providing accurate and correct

information at the right time and at the right level,

MoRe Results is to lead to better steering of the inter-

ventions. The new tool must also contribute to more

and better knowledge building based on experiences

gathered and to accountability to donors and partner

organisations.

Meanwhile, halfway 2014, the ministers supervising

BTC and the controlling instances have approved the

launch of ERP. BTC will use the ICT systems of the

federal administration for five of the nine modules of

the ERP system whereas for the other modules BTC

will launch a separate call.

In the first quarter of 2014, the Council of Ministers

approved the fourth management contract. Significant

steps are taken towards increased accountability on

the part of BTC and towards greater coherence and

improved quality in the project cycle.

This way, we have a busy agenda for 2014. BTC now

has the tools it needs to further improve its functioning

and adapt to a quickly changing environment.

Carl Michiels

Chair of the Management Committee

June 2014

4

5

Management report

General Meeting The Minister of Development Cooperation represents

the Federal State at the General Meeting. The General

Meeting has no other competence than the compe-

tence provided through the provisions of the coordinat-

ed laws on commercial companies, which apply to

companies with social purposes, and through the law.

The General Meeting convened on 21 June 2013. At

the General Meeting the Minister grants discharge from

liability.

Board of Directors There are twelve members on the Board of Directors,

including the president who is a member by right. The

Board has an equal number of Dutch-speaking and

French-speaking members. The King appoints the

Board members on the basis of their knowledge of in-

ternational cooperation or management; their four-year

term is renewable. In 2013, none of the Board member

held a management function in the company.

The Board of Directors is competent for all acts that are

necessary or useful for the achievement of the social

purposes of BTC. It determines the strategy of BTC on

proposal of the executive manager and every year it

approves a business plan in which the objectives and

the strategy of BTC are determined for the medium

term.

The members of the Board of Directors – until 24 Octo-

ber 2013 – were:

Mr Yves Haesendonck – president of the Board of

Directors

Mr Jef Valkeniers – deputy president of the Board

Mr Claude Bougard

Mr Xavier De Cuyper

Mrs Kathelijn De Decker

Mr Luc De Lobel

Mr Etienne Godin

Mr Etienne Knoops

Mrs Leen Laenens

Mr Jacques Lefèvre

Mr Willy Peirens

Mr Milan Rutten

By Royal Decree of 21 February 2014 – effective as of

24 October 2013 – the Board of Directors was honour-

ably relieved of its duties and a new Board of Directors

was installed.

Consequently, since 24 October 2013 BTC's Board of

Directors consists of:

Mrs Martine Van Dooren – president of the Board of

Directors

Mr Patrick Develtere – deputy president of the

Board

Mrs Brigitte Boone

Mr Alain Coheur

Mr Xavier De Cuyper

Mrs Saskia De Block

Mr Xavier Godefroid

Mr Etienne Godin

Mrs Assita Kanko

Mrs Florence Lepoivre

Mr Milan Rutten

Mrs Chris Verhaegen

In accordance with the Law of 20 January 2014,

amending the Law of 21 December 1998 establishing

the Belgian Technical Cooperation as a public-law

company, the Director-general for Development Coop-

eration and Humanitarian Aid, Mr Peter Moors, repre-

sents the Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs, For-

eign Trade and Development Cooperation in BTC's

Board of Directors. However, he is ineligible to vote.

Following the decision of the Special General Meeting

of 13 September 1999, amended by the decision of the

General Meeting of 17 December 2004, the members

of the Board of Directors benefit from the following re-

munerations:

The president: an annual sum of 7,000 euros and

an attendance fee of 150 euros for every board

meeting;

The deputy president: an annual sum of 5,500 eu-

ros and an attendance fee of 150 euros for every

board meeting;

The other members: an annual sum of 4,000 euros

and an attendance fee of 150 euros for every board

meeting;

6

The president and the deputy president benefit of

a flat rate allowance for expenses of 309.87 euros

per month; the members can reclaim expenses in-

curred for attending the board meetings.

In 2013, the Board convened eleven times.

Internal audit The task of the Internal audit consists in providing

BTC's Board of Directors independent and objective

reasonable assurance regarding the degree of control

of the agency's operations.

The internal auditors give advice on improvements to

BTC's operations. They evaluate the effectiveness of

BTC's risk and control management and of the man-

agement processes to help BTC accomplish its objec-

tives. The internal auditors comply with the standards

of the Institute of Internal Auditors.

BTC’s Internal audit service reports through the Audit

Committee to the Board of Directors.

The two full-time internal auditors report to BTC's Audit

Committee, which is composed of 5 members of the

Board of Directors. It convened four times in 2013.

Pursuant to the Law establishing BTC and the Man-

agement Contract, the role of the Audit Committee is to

ensure that BTC identifies and manages all risks in an

appropriate way.

In 2013, the Internal audit worked at the following as-

surance activities:

An audit of internal governance at BTC's Opera-

tions department, conducted at the head office and

in the projects. This audit led to choosing an unam-

biguous, internationally recognized project and pro-

gramme management method.

An audit of BTC's recruitment and selection pro-

cess. This audit led to a thorough adaptation of the

procedures and confirmed the need to invest in an

ICT solution in support of recruitment and selection.

Follow-up audits of audits conducted in 2011 and

2012 of ICT operations and of the management

structures in the Democratic Republic of Congo

(Joint Management Support Units – UCAGs).

In addition, the Internal audit service manages BTC's

Integrity desk and conducts its administrative investiga-

tions and also processes the questions and complaints

received (see page 11).

Management Committee The members of the Management Committee are:

Carl Michiels, Chair of the Management Commit-

tee

Peter Pauwels, Director of Finances and Infor-

mation & Communication Management

Krista Verstraelen, Director of Human Resources

Luc Langouche, Director of Operations.

7

8

Country offices

In 2013, BTC had country offices in the following coun-

tries: Algeria, Benin, Bolivia, Burundi, the Democratic

Republic of Congo (further referred to as Congo in this

report), Ecuador, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger,

Palestine, Peru, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tan-

zania, Uganda and Vietnam.

Administrative supervision The company is under the controlling supervision of the

Minister of Development Cooperation and of the Minis-

ter for the Budget, which is exercised through the

agency of two government's auditors. Both auditors are

appointed and discharged by the King. One auditor is

appointed on the recommendation of the Minister of

Development Cooperation and the other one is ap-

pointed on the recommendation of the Minister for the

Budget. They do not report to the Board of Directors,

but they report directly to the minister concerned. The

Belgian State pays the government’s auditors.

Appeal lodged by the government's auditor for the

budget against a decision by the Board of Directors

from 16 December 2013

In the appeal of 20 December 2013 the government's

auditor for the budget recommends investigating BTC's

affiliation to FEDCOM for financial management mat-

ters since BTC can be considered a public administra-

tion instance within the meaning of Article 2, 3° of the

Law of 22 May 2003 on the organisation of the federal

government's budget and accounting system.

Financial supervision Control of the financial state of affairs and the Financial

Statements is entrusted to a 4-member Board of Audi-

tors. The Court of Audit appoints two statutory Auditors.

The other Auditors are appointed by the General Meet-

ing. The Auditors appointed by the Court of Audit are

appointed among the members of the Court. The other

Auditors are appointed among the members, natural

persons or legal bodies of the Institute of Registered

Auditors.

The Auditors are appointed for a renewable term of six

years. The King determines the remuneration of the

Auditors appointed by the Court of Audit. The Regis-

tered Auditors’ mandate is determined in the respective

public contracts. BTC pays their remunerations.

The mandate includes an intermediary and an annual

audit of the accounts. Moreover, the Auditors can con-

duct six audit assignments in the partner countries.

Each assignment results in a report that is presented at

an Audit Committee meeting. No reservations were

issued about the 2013 Financial Statements.

The total remuneration of Court of Audit Auditors for

2013 is 15,156 euros. Remuneration related to Regis-

tered Auditors' mandates in 2013 amounted to

357,328.52 euros.

Alliances and partnerships BTC aims to establish its external fame through strate-

gic alliances with donors, other bilateral or multilateral

development cooperation agencies and technical part-

ners (universities, centres of excellence, study bu-

reaus, ministries, public enterprises...).

BTC has established collaboration agreements with

several Belgian public services and institutions. In

2013, the agency renegotiated some existing agree-

ments and signed new agreements with the Royal Mu-

seum for Central Africa (RMCA) and with the National

Institute for Health and Disability Insurance

(RIZIV/INAMI). BTC was conducting negotiations with

the Institute for Legal Training (IGO/IFJ), the Flemish

agency for entrepreneurial training (Syntra Vlaanderen)

and the Walloon Water Company (Société Wallonne

des Eaux/SWDE).

Existing agreements

Ministry of Defence

FINEXPO, International and European Financial

Affairs, Treasury, Federal Public Service Finance

Belgium's Federal Police

Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain

(FASFC)

Federal Public Service Public Health, Safety of the

Food Chain and the Environment

Federal Public Service Justice

Belgian National Institute for Health and Disability

Insurance (RIZIV/INAMI)

Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA)

The agency maintains and strengthens its existing

partnerships with the main actors of development co-

operation (EUNIDA, Practitioners Network for Europe-

an Development Cooperation, DfID-UK, Finexpo, Eu-

ropean Union etc.). In the Democratic Republic of Con-

go this partnership is under tension though due to the

complexity of the closing of certain activities with a high

9

level of infrastructure in fragile states, as is the case

with Rejusco and the Drinking water supply facilities.

BTC advocates the elaboration of a partnership strate-

gy shared with DGD to position the Belgian agency as

well as possible in the changing multi-donor setting, for

instance for joint programming, ‘blending’ of gifts and

loans, participation to EU Trust Funds and involvement

with the private sector.

BTC is accredited as a ‘mandated body’ by the Euro-

pean Commission to execute European twinnings, but

it was not able yet to develop such opportunities in

2013.

Organisational Development

Strategy

BTC pursues to achieve its strategic objectives set for

2016, by adapting their number and scope to the evolv-

ing context in which it operates and to the development

of its internal organisation.

BTC's 13 strategic objectives focus on BTC's contribu-

tion to partner country development processes. They

show in BTC’s strategic map:

10

The strategic objectives are achieved through a set of

concrete actions to be undertaken by the country

teams and the head office departments. As some of

these actions require increased collaboration between

departments and between the field and the head office,

rather than planning these actions in action plans, BTC

decided to bring them together under four organisa-

tional change axes.

These four organisational change axes aim to speed

up the implementation of the governmental cooperation

programmes, to guarantee coherence and quality of

interventions and to manage risks.

1. First axis of change: Improvement of the devel-

opment method

In view of improving the method that it uses to for-

mulate and implement interventions and to guaran-

tee that interventions are embedded in partner

country development strategies, BTC decides to

apply the PRINCE2 (PRojects IN Controlled Envi-

ronments) and MSP (Managing Successful Pro-

grammes) methods. BTC's use of the good practic-

es of these two methods also takes into account the

work done during the ongoing fourth management

contract negotiations.

2. Second axis of change: Strengthening the cul-

ture of accountability

In view of making each staff member clearly re-

sponsible for the results to be achieved, BTC de-

fines its internal accountability framework. It identi-

fies the indicators that it wants to monitor at the

strategic and operational level, then aligns the

planning and monitoring processes between both of

these at all levels of the organisation. BTC also sets

up a follow-up of the workload required for deliver-

ing certain key services.

3. Third axis of change: Simplification of work

methods

In view of increasing its efficiency in achieving its

mission, BTC develops the future architecture of its

ICT applications. It therefore assesses its needs

and elaborates the specifications to achieve in-

creased computerisation of its processes. BTC also

proceeds to a major internal campaign to gather

ideas to simplify its functioning.

4. Fourth axis of change: Work together in country

teams

In view of strengthening the support to the interven-

tions throughout the management cycle of the de-

velopment programmes, BTC defines and imple-

ments a change path to improve the functioning of

the country teams, under the leadership of the Res-

ident Representatives. This path includes sharing a

common vision on the functioning of the country

teams, the improvement of certain processes that

are common to the country teams and the devel-

opment of a road map for each of the country

teams.

Monitoring of performance

Management reviews are held regularly in order to

monitor BTC's performance, i.e. how BTC implements

its strategy.

Monitoring of the performance allows BTC to:

Adjust its strategy;

Analyse, draw lessons and learn;

Strengthen its accountability and ensure that it con-

tributes to the commitments undertaken by Belgium

in development cooperation programmes and to the

commitments that it has itself subscribed through

the management contract concluded with the Bel-

gian State.

BTC aims to improve the monitoring of its performance

by identifying a limited number of key performance

indicators that are aligned with the objectives of its stra-

tegic map. BTC develops an indicator monitoring

schedule, which provides for the progressive imple-

mentation as from 2015 of the monitoring of indicators

in function of the concomitant evolution of the infor-

mation management system.

Quality assurance

For its strategic objective of strengthening quality man-

agement BTC further pursues the development of its

quality assurance system, which has two levels:

The first level is implemented by the directorates

that are to deliver services and products. It includes

the Monitoring & Evaluation of interventions and al-

lows BTC to assure that the services and products

delivered comply with internal quality standards.

The second level is under the responsibility of the

general directorate. It consists of developing, dis-

seminating and maintaining the normative frame-

11

work that applies to the first level. It sets internal

quality standards and ensures that the performance

of the interventions is measured against interna-

tional evaluation criteria.

ISO 9001 certification

BTC's quality assurance is certified to the international

ISO 9001 standards since 2010. Certification concerns

project approach interventions.

Since it concerns a three-year certification cycle, BTC

came to the end of a first cycle and successfully con-

cluded the certification renewal audit, the scope of

which included the Brussels head office and the BTC

Representations in Rwanda and Morocco.

Management of complaints

BTC continues to manage the complaints that are

submitted via a purpose-made form on the website.

In 2013, twelve complaints were filed. All complaints

were admissible; however, ten were considered un-

founded after analysis. One of the founded complaints

was resolved in favour of the plaintiff; the other one led

BTC to take corrective measures.

In all instances, the plaintiff received a reasoned reply

within 25 working days from the reception of the com-

plaint.

In order to enhance customer-friendliness, BTC evalu-

ated its complaints management system in 2013 and

developed an improvement strategy for 2014.

Integrity and anti-corruption 2013 was the Integrity desk's first full year of operation.

The Integrity desk receives complaints and questions

pertaining to ethics and anti-corruption in BTC's opera-

tions in Belgium and in its partner countries. The desk

is functioning as the second line, after the Resident

Representative or the hierarchical supervisor, for com-

plaints and questions on integrity issues. The daily

management is in the hands of the independent Inter-

nal audit service. The internal audit charter gives the

Internal audit service the authority to conduct internal

administrative investigations. This includes content

assessments and the further processing of admissible

complaints. Pursuant to lessons learned in 2012, these

operations were reviewed in 2013 to better respond to

the needs.

The Integrity desk is there for all

The Integrity desk works with online notification that is

independent of existing ICT infrastructure of BTC. This

guarantees complete independence and protects the

identity of people or organisations that raise questions

or file complaints.

The Integrity desk does not process anonymous or

unfounded complaints. Persons with questions or com-

plaints identify themselves on the website or via e-mail

and are contacted by the Integrity desk. Only on the

basis of evidence or unambiguous indications can a

preliminary investigation be started.

The Integrity desk respects regulations

The Integrity desk informs the staff member whom the

complaint involves and deletes any reference made to

persons after dealing with the complaint or question in

accordance with the rules drawn up by the Commission

for the protection of privacy.

The Integrity desk in figures

In 2013, the Integrity desk received 27 notifications, i.e.

6 questions and 21 complaints. 8 of these notifications

originated in West Africa, 13 in Central Africa, 3 in

South America and 3 from the head office. Out of 21

complaints, 11 were considered inadmissible. 3 com-

plaints lacked information, while 8 complaints were not

directly linked to integrity issues and were forwarded to

another service. Of the 10 complaints that were admis-

sible, 6 were processed by first line staff whereas the

Integrity desk processed 4 complaints. Of the 21 com-

plaints, 9 originated with BTC employees and 12 with

external parties.

The Integrity desk investigated 4 dossiers in 2013. One

dossier was carried over from 2012, whereas another

dossier was forwarded to the Controlling service and

the external auditors for further investigation.

Optimal use of existing competencies

The Integrity desk staff do not master all knowledge on

ethical behaviour and anti-corruption. That is why they

rely on the Ethics commission, which was installed to

support the Integrity desk with assessing matters of

principle that may arise through questions and com-

plaints. Notifications are made anonymous before be-

ing submitted to the Commission. It consists of mem-

bers of various departments and brings together a

range of competencies from within BTC in the matter of

integrity and anti-corruption.

12

Participation in international networks

As a partner of the U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Cen-

tre, BTC can rely on this organisation's knowledge and

competencies to fight corruption in development coop-

eration. U4 is part of the Chr. Michelsen Institute and

operates from Bergen, Norway. The organisation co-

operates closely with Transparency International.

BTC and DGD each finance half of the Belgian mem-

bership. This provides both organisations access to

general training and to specific sector-oriented training

sessions on corruption mechanisms in development

cooperation. BTC staff are strongly encouraged to par-

ticipate to training sessions that are relevant to them.

Wherever possible and relevant, for formulations BTC

relies on U4 information to mitigate the risks of corrup-

tion in interventions.

Communication Communication supports the activities of BTC at sev-

eral levels. In view of achieving coherence and the

global vision, communication is managed by a service

that brings together different kinds of expertise.

Accountability and transparency on what BTC does,

both in Belgium and in the partner countries, with the

funds that are entrusted to the agency are key to insti-

tutional communication. This way, the agency shows

that it is worthy of the trust that is given to it and that it

is ready to meet new challenges.

In 2013, a new magazine was launched. Its title trans-

lates the ambitions of BTC: Impact. Two issues of the

new magazine are published. They are dedicated to

project results in important sectors of the Belgian De-

velopment Cooperation: health and agriculture. The

sector focus is what makes the new magazine interest-

ing. BTC's health and agriculture experts took owner-

ship of the magazine and distributed it throughout their

expert networks. And the feedback is positive: a very

accessible publication, to the point, results-based,

pleasing and readable. In 2014, due to budget cuts

probably only one issue of Impact – on infrastructure or

education – will be published.

Internal communication is facing complex operational

challenges with more than 1,600 staff working in 18

countries and in sometimes remote regions. Each of

them has to receive the right information to work well,

each of them must be listened to and each of them

must be able to actively participate to BTC's daily oper-

ations. Because of the technical constraints – poor

internet connection – in certain countries new commu-

nication initiatives (the fortnightly internal newsletter

Extra Time, a hobby section on the Intranet…) have not

had the expected impact. What works in Brussels is not

always a success in the field. The fact is that more col-

laboration between services – communication, human

resources, organisational development – and a specific

electronic platform to share experience and knowledge

could bring significant improvement.

More and more projects become aware that communi-

cation is a strategic tool that can be used throughout

the project cycle in order to obtain better development

results. This communication for development (C4D)

receives increased attention and support during the

departure briefing of Technical Assistants. Requests for

help to develop communication strategies that suit the

specific context of the interventions were on the rise in

2013.

Procurement The Logistics & Acquisitions service contributes to the

achievement of the priority goals of the Belgian Devel-

opment Cooperation, in particular to sustainable human

development. It also contributes to the general objec-

tive of developing and consolidating the rule of law,

13

including good governance and the respect of human

dignity, human rights in all respects and fundamental

freedoms, with particular attention for the fight against

any form of discrimination (Law on Belgian international

development cooperation).

Sustainability, integrity and anti-corruption as well as

social aspects and human rights receive ample atten-

tion in guidelines, briefings and Tender Specifications

templates.

Suppliers who tender for our public contracts (open

procedures) undertake to respect human rights and not

to go against political, cultural or religious customs of

the beneficiary country. The tenderer is bound to re-

spect fundamental labour standards, which are interna-

tionally agreed upon by the International Labour Organ-

ization, namely the conventions on union freedom and

collective bargaining, on the elimination of forced and

obligatory labour, on the elimination of employment and

professional discrimination and on the abolition of child

labour.

The ‘value for money’ factor increasingly becomes im-

portant in awarding public contracts. It is a factor that is

emphasised during training sessions.

After the new Belgian procurement legislation went into

force the Logistics & Acquisitions service adapted its

guidelines and templates for Tender Specifications.

The service provided training in Brussels, Mali, Pales-

tine, Benin and Morocco. The training sessions are

also targeting local BTC staff. Not only Belgian, but

also international aspects are dealt with.

In June 2013, BTC for a first time organised a ‘Pro-

curement Days’ seminar week. It was attended by the

procurement contact persons of BTC’s country offices

of French-speaking partner countries. During this week

the new Belgian legislation was discussed and points

of view were developed on significant procurement

topics. The role of procurement officers was clarified.

In Congo, the application of EuropeAid procedures by

BTC was further clarified during two backstopping mis-

sions. The Acquisitions service also contributed to the

‘Administrative and financial management manual’ and

helped with its implementation in the field. That way,

the service is involved in the organisation of purchase-

related aspects in the field.

Since July 2013 BTC relies on multi-year contracts for

the mid-term and end-term reviews of projects and

programmes. These contribute to the harmonisation of

procedures. It concerns sector-specific contracts for the

health, agriculture, infrastructure, education and gov-

ernance sectors. The contracts have been concluded

for a four-year term.

ICT

The ERP project claimed much of the attention of

BTC's head office ICT service in 2013 because of the

needs description, the mapping of the applications to

be put in place (SYSTEM TOBE, or ERP) as well as

the preliminary selection of candidates responding to

the ERP+ call for tenders, which was published in No-

vember 2013.

In addition to the demanding ERP project, the ICT ser-

vice also actively contributed to setting up the new ver-

sion of PIT (Project Information Tool), one of BTC's

main tools. This new PITWEB tool significantly im-

proved access to and mining of project data and docu-

ments within BTC and for outside actors (DGD, partner

countries…). Furthermore, 2013 saw the introduction of

the TIMESHEET tool, the conversion of payment or-

ders to the SEPA standards and the continued mainte-

nance of existing tools in expectation of their renewal

(Navision, FIT, datawarehouse…).

Pertaining to infrastructure, like for the ERP+ project,

the ICT service explored and analysed possibilities to

outsource its infrastructure, which led to a concrete

affiliation of BTC to SMALS and to the decision to in-

crease head office Internet access capacity by means

of a connection to the BELNET fiber network.

In 2013, also the internal functioning of the ICT service

was improved. In particular processing new ICT de-

mands proved effective through the strengthened and

efficient collaboration with the DO service on the basis

of a better distribution of business and operational

roles.

14

Social Purpose Report

Governmental Cooperation BTC's main activity is the delivery of public develop-

ment cooperation services in countries in the South. In

2013, this represented approximately 92% of BTC's

volume of activity.

After a drop in 2012, expenditure for interventions in the

South rose again to amount to a total of 216.2 million

euros. This increase is not only linked to the 14% rise in

budget support – from 20.5 million euros in 2012 to

23.5 million euros in 2013 – and to the increase of pro-

ject and programme expenditure, but also to delegated

cooperation expenditure going from 1.7 million euros in

2012 to 9.1 million euros in 2013.

This remarkable progress was achieved in May 2013

when the Belgian Development Cooperation signed a

delegated cooperation contract for Burundi with the

Global Education Fund for an amount of 52.9 million

dollars. The contract's first instalment of 6 million euros

was transferred in 2013.

BTC's operations continue to be concentrated in the

Great Lakes region. Almost 54% of expenditure was

realised in Congo, Burundi and Rwanda. Burundi's

share in BTC's overall expenditure increased. It now

spends more than Rwanda and has thus – for the first

time – taken second place among partner countries in

terms of expenditure.

The Palestinian Territory, Benin and Vietnam amount to

5% each of overall expenditure in 2013.

Two Joint Commissions were held in 2013. A first one

was held in February in Benin for the financing of a new

Indicative Cooperation Programme (ICP) for 2013–

2017 amounting to 55 million euros and a second one

was held in December in Algeria for an ICP for 2014–

2017 for an amount of 20 million euros. This last ICP

for Algeria has allowed the application of the Belgian

Development Cooperation's new strategy for Middle

Income Countries – MIC, which was officially approved

in May 2013 by the Minister of Development Coopera-

tion. This strategy first and foremost aims at the trans-

fer of knowledge, technologies and know-how and on

the longer run at the progressive disengagement from

development cooperation to allow for broader bilateral

relations. In principle, nine partner countries are con-

cerned: Algeria, Bolivia, Ecuador, Morocco, Palestine,

Peru, Senegal, South Africa and Vietnam.

In addition to the Joint Commissions, Special Partners

Committee meetings were held in 13 countries. During

these bilateral meetings the progress made by the de-

velopment cooperation programmes is discussed and

the necessary decisions for improving their implemen-

tation at the financial and strategic level are taken.

In as far as possible, BTC has addressed elements of

the new MIC strategy in the indicative cooperation pro-

gramme preparations for Bolivia, Ecuador and South

Africa for which Joint Commissions are planned for

2014.

In addition, the Minister of Development Cooperation

approved a strategy for fragile states in 2013. This

strategy emphasises development and capacity devel-

opment in economic and social regulations: labour

rights, health, education, economic development. This

strategy targets partner countries of the Belgian Devel-

opment Cooperation like Congo and Burundi which

together represent 40% of BTC's annual volume of ac-

tivity.

Approaches and strategies

While implementing its interventions, BTC also aims to

modernise its development approaches and strategies

as well as its management tools in order to be more

performing and improve its development results to the

benefit of the beneficiary populations. The main under-

takings to showcase for 2013 are the following:

BTC continues to develop the programme ap-

proach, in particular in the health and agriculture

sectors in Burundi and Benin. This approach aims

to implement a coherent set of interventions to more

effectively meet partner country sector policy priori-

ties.

The implementation of the new Monitoring & Evalu-

ation policy: A new methodology – More Results –

was developed and the management of the evalua-

tion process witnessed a significant improvement in

15

2013 because of multi-year contracts signed for

mid-term and end-of-term reviews in the health,

governance, agriculture, infrastructure and educa-

tion sectors.

The Programme in support of expertise and studies:

BTC contributes to the modernisation of study funds

and expertise funds. One single approach is devel-

oped for providing capacity development by means

of expertise, studies, seminars and training.

Security

In 2013, security remained an important element in

implementing our interventions in some of our partner

countries. The new strategy for fragile states as well as

a new security policy will allow BTC to better operate in

such especially complex types of development cooper-

ation environments.

Budget execution per source of fi-

nancing

The table below shows effective expenditure per source

of financing for the interventions in the South (under

Article 5 and 6), for interventions for third parties (IS

under Article 7) and for North projects.

Table: Effective expenditure (millions €)*

Millions € Budget

2013

Expenditure

2013 Effective

Main basic allocation 200 183.70 92 %

Projects/programmes 176 167.30 95 %

Scholarships 15 10.20 68 %

MIPs 1 1.60 158%

Formulations 6 2.70 46%

Profit 2 1.80 92 %

Budget support 40 23.50 59 %

Belgian Fund for Food

Security 1.30 1.90 149 %

Delegated cooperation 4.00 9.10 226 %

Others (art. 6) 2.00 0.20 8 %

Total art. 5 & 6 (South

projects) 247.30 218.40 88 %

Article 7 7.00 8.50 122 %

Infocycle 1.20 1.20 102 %

Annoncer la Couleur -

Kleur Bekennen 2.80 2.40 84 %

Aid for Trade 2.00 1.90 98 %

Junior Programme 2.60 2.60 100 %

Total art. 6 (North pro-

jets) 8.50 8.10 95%

Total 262.80 234.90 89 %

16

Expenditure by country

The table below shows the breakdown of pro-

ject/programme expenditure for all sources of financing

combined (including budget support and formulations,

without micro-interventions, scholarships and interven-

tions for third parties).

Table: Expenditure per country

Country Expenditure 2013 (€)

DR Congo 48,999,032

Burundi 33,095,151

Rwanda 27,915,270

Palestinian Territory 11,665,712

Benin 10,386,077

Vietnam 9,817,588

Uganda 9,263,566

Senegal 7,431,237

Niger 6,877,769

Morocco 6,392,158

Ecuador 6,262,531

Tanzania 5,034,491

Mali 4,602,988

Peru 3,581,452

Algeria 3,457,023

Bolivia 3,388,639

Mozambique 3,127,755

South Africa 1,467,700

Cambodia 176,146

Figure: Geographical breakdown of expenditure

54%

25%

9%

7%5%

Central Africa (RDC+RWA+BDI)

N&W Africa + Middle East

E&S Africa

Latin America

Asia

17

Study and internship scholarships

By granting scholarships, BTC helps the partner coun-

tries to sustainably develop the competencies of staff

members of organisations and ministries involved in

projects and programmes of the Belgian Development

Cooperation so they can deliver high-quality services to

the population. The "project" approach is further pur-

sued to guarantee sustainability while targeting priority

sectors and zones of the development cooperation pro-

grammes.

In 2013, the new scholarships strategy is effectively

launched in Congo, Senegal, Morocco, Tanzania and

Palestine. The formulation of four new scholarships

programmes, in Uganda, Vietnam, Benin and Burundi,

was rounded off.

The transition from a classical system of "individual"

grants to a new approach with "organisational" grants

has brought about many challenges in terms of internal

organisation, support to competence development

planning, harmonisation of competence development

concepts and awareness-raising.

Scholarships-related expenditure amounted to 12.6

million euros in 2013, with 10.2 million euros charged to

the former scholarships programme.

In 2013, a total of 2983 grant holders from the 18 part-

ner countries were trained in their country of origin or in

other partner countries (1967 grant holders) and in Bel-

gium (1016 grant holders). 61% of training attended

were masters, complementary masters or university

certificates. Internships, study trips and semi-

nars/conferences represented 34% of the training dos-

siers. 5% of dossiers were mixed doctorates. As in the

past, health, education and agriculture were the three

prominent areas of training in 2013. They represent

55% of grant holders.

Table: Education fields.

Special attention is paid to achieving gender parity

when awarding grants: 38% of grants are awarded to

women.

Figure: M/F breakdown of scholarships

BTC also ensures the implementation and follow-up of

grants on behalf of the International Atomic Energy

Agency (IAEA), with which a new contract was signed

in 2013. Approximately forty grant holders were trained

in nuclear medicine, applied biology, nuclear waste

treatment and management, pharmaceutical sciences

and health control.

Micro-interventions

The Micro-interventions programme (MIP) aims to help

civil society groups and associations and local authori-

ties that have shown having the capacity to identify and

execute themselves their project, to acquire more inde-

pendence and enable them to more easily take upon

themselves the development of their own community.

62%

38%

Men Women

Field Scholars

Health 856

Education 471

Agriculture 315

Transport and storage 245

Government & civil society 139

Environment 124

Drinking water & sanitation 107

18

Following the recommendations of the evaluation of the

MIP programme in 2011, the Minister of Development

Cooperation decided the phase-out of the programme.

The phase-out led to a further decrease of total ex-

penditure in 2013: 1.6 million euros compared to 2.4

million euros in 2012.

Interventions for others BTC's mission is to support and assist development

programmes for the account of the Belgian state and

other donors. Through its International Services (IS)

department, BTC works for donors other than the Bel-

gian State, such as the European Commission and the

World Bank.

These interventions are often jointly financed, which

allows for economies of scale and a bigger impact.

Thanks to this form of cooperation, BTC can put its

expertise to the service of the beneficiaries in a ration-

alised and efficient way and compare the quality of its

operations to that of other organisations (benchmark).

The International Services (IS) department manages

BTC’s interventions for donors other than the Belgian

State and establishes strategic alliances to strengthen

the Belgian bilateral development cooperation in a mul-

ti-donor setting, preferably – but not solely – in the

partner countries and the concentration sectors of the

Belgian Development Cooperation. By offering BTC's

expertise to its partners, IS meets the demands of the

international agenda on aid effectiveness and division

of labour.

Through IS, BTC uses the experience that it has ac-

quired in the partner countries and extends its expertise

by working for and/or with other donors. In view of

BTC's positioning – by 2020 – the new IS policy aims at

growth and innovation.

Overview of the activities in 2013

In 2013, BTC implemented projects for third-party do-

nors in ten countries. In terms of volume, IS is mainly

active in Benin, Congo, Rwanda and Tanzania. Total

volume shrank by 26% compared to 2012, which is a

direct consequence of the management committee

decision to limit new IS acquisitions in favour of consol-

idation of bilateral services.

Notice the increase of expenditure between 2008 and

2010 for interventions for others, i.e. 52% between

2008 and 2009 and 24% between 2009 and 2010. But

between 2011 and 2012 the change was the biggest,

with a 44% drop. This downward trend continued in

2013 with a 26% decrease in expenditure compared to

2012.

The European Union (EU) represented 41% of the vol-

ume of IS activities in 2013, followed by the French

development agency (AFD), which represented 30% of

the portfolio.

In Congo, BTC is gradually disengaging from primary

education support projects (APEP) and drinking water

supply projects (PILAEP), which were both financed by

AFD. BTC continues to invest significant means and

own funds in the closing of the ‘Rejusco’ (Justice) and

‘Water facility' (drinking water supply) projects, which

were jointly financed by the EU and DFID.

In Benin, the two Article-7 interventions are delegation

agreements with the EU. The Support project to the rice

value chain (PAFIRIZ) entered the closing phase in

2013, whereas the Improvement project of health and

phytohealth of farm and food products (ASPS) was at

full speed.

In Rwanda, BTC closed the Drinking water supply pro-

ject – under the Water facility of the 10th European

Development Fund – in 2013, whereas the Project to

increase rural energy access in Rwanda through Public

Private Partnerships (IREARPPP) – under the ACP-EU

Energy facility – was extended to 2014.

In Tanzania, the Drinking water supply project – under

the Water facility – was extended until the end of 2015

in order to allow all drinking water supply networks to

be finished, whereas negotiations were further pursued

for the Kilombero and Lower Rufiji wetlands ecosystem

management project (KILORWEMP) – a natural re-

sources management project. All these interventions

are co-financed by the EU.

In 2013, BTC also started an innovative project with EU

funding in Greece. It aims to assist the Greek Tax ad-

ministration reform.

Through its participation to the network of European

bilateral development agencies (EUNIDA), BTC is ac-

0

10

20

30

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Figure: Expenditure 2008-2013 of interventions for other donors

19

tive in the Health sector reform project in Libya (EU-

LHSS), financed by the EU. It started in 2013. BTC

provided two of the three experts in Tripoli for the long

term: the health workers expert and the primary care

expert. Throughout the year, BTC also provided short-

term expertise (financing of health care, budget, etc.).

At the end of 2013, BTC signed two delegation agree-

ments with Flanders International Cooperation Agency

FICA (Vlaams Agentschap voor Internationale Samen-

werking). Both delegated cooperation projects fall un-

der the development cooperation between the Flemish

government and the Government of Mozambique in the

health sector.

EUNIDA will remain important for BTC’s positioning as

one of the bilateral cooperation agencies in Europe, in

particular through the start-up of a support project to

the reform of the police sector in Congo.

Table : Contracts under Article 7, signed in 2013

Country Donor Title Budget (€)

Burundi DGIS Update of the agricultural survey in Burundi (ENAB) - 2012–2013 cam-

paign 335,922

Greece EU Provision of expertise for support of the Greek Tax administration reform 599,200

Kenya Finexpo Analysis of the prices and the relevance of the Kajiado rural water supply

project 9,266

Mozambique FICA Technical assistance to the working group on Public Finance Manage-

ment (GTAF)358,323

Mozambique FICA Contribution to Health Systems Strengthening in Mozambique through

support for human resources for health in Tete province1,791,895

20

Sectors and themes New law on Belgian Development Cooperation

In 2013, Belgium's federal parliament voted a new law

on development cooperation. This law lays down the

new focus of the Belgian Development Cooperation in

general and of governmental development cooperation

in particular.

The general objective of the Belgian Development Co-

operation is to contribute to sustainable human devel-

opment. To achieve this objective the focus is increas-

ingly on supporting local entrepreneurship and social

economy. More attention is paid to the private sector

and (local and international) trade, but also gender is-

sues, the environment and natural resources remain

main points of attention for all programmes. Further-

more, human rights, decent work and society building

are identified as priority themes. Also, for the first time

HIV/AIDS is officially part of the legal framework of the

Belgian Development Cooperation. Belgian govern-

mental development cooperation will be limited to a

maximum of three sectors per partner country.

Capacity development

Capacity development is key for developing a country.

It is also an important part of the current development

cooperation paradigm (OECD, 2006). The concept is

much broader than only improving knowledge and skills

of individuals. It is also about governance and is there-

fore also related to organisational and institutional de-

velopment. Belgium applied this OECD recommenda-

tion quite strictly and capacity development is now part

of each governmental development cooperation pro-

gramme. Individual, organisational and institutional

capacity development can be set up via specific pro-

jects, as a part of a sector programme or through the

scholarships programmes. The funds for capacity de-

velopment have significantly increased over the last few

years. But in practice it appears it is not easy to apply

the ideas in a comprehensive way and to create syner-

gies. Results cannot always be shown on the short

term. On the other hand, there are examples showing

that the approach does deliver long-term results and

can be sustainable (BTC, 2014).

In 2013, the programmes are still mainly focusing on

education and training, agriculture, health care, basic

infrastructure and good governance.

Education

In the education sector BTC operates

in skills development, teacher training,

school management, school construc-

tion and curriculum development (see

box).

Agriculture

In 15 of the 18 partner countries, BTC

operates in the agricultural sector with

a focus on sustainability and family

farming. The objective is to improve

food security and to contribute to sustainable economic

growth. In addition to capacity development, the agri-

cultural programmes focus on increasing production by

securing better access to production factors such as

water, seeds and financial services. Other important

areas of attention are the commercialisation of agricul-

tural products and the strengthening of the position of

women. Women's access to land, markets and infor-

mation is limited still even though they play a key role in

the production, processing and marketing of food (BTC,

2013).

In February 2013, BTC organised the Agriculture and

Rural Development Sector Days in Brussels. These

Sector Days bring together technical advisors, national

project managers and partner ministry representatives

to share experiences. More than 60 experts from ten

partner countries attended the Sector Days. The main

themes discussed were the collaboration with the pri-

vate sector and agro-ecology.

Health

In the health sector the priority of gov-

ernmental development cooperation

remains the support to health systems.

In more and more countries Belgium contributes also to

making health care more accessible financially. BTC is

involved in supporting national health insurance sys-

tems in Senegal, Benin, Burundi, Uganda and Niger.

Because of its many years of experience in this area, it

is quite logic that we closely collaborate with COOPA-

MI, the cooperation platform that was set up by Bel-

gium's National Institute for Health and Disability Insur-

ance (INAMI-RIZIV)..

21

Infrastructure

Infrastructure works are an important

part of the Belgian Development Co-

operation programmes in the partner

countries. They are always embedded

in a broader social and economic development effort.

For instance, a paving project in Burundi is not limited

to paving street, but it also provides social support and

professional training. That way, the project fosters local

entrepreneurship and insertion in the job market after

the training period becomes possible (Dubois, 2013).

Also in water projects attention is paid systematically to

water supply management aspects.

Designing interventions

Interventions (projects, programmes) are designed on

the basis of partner country sector analyses. When

formulating interventions, the partner country sector

policy and the priorities of the Belgian Development

Cooperation are taken into account. In Low-Income

Countries (LICs) the programme approach is gradually

becoming the standard for setting up interventions.

Under such an approach several interventions form a

comprehensive whole with explicit relations and interac-

tion between the various individual interventions. The

general objective is to support a sector as a whole. This

is translated partially in institutional support at the na-

tional level and partially in operational support at the

decentralised level in a specific part of the partner

country. In Middle-Income Countries (MICs), where the

financial contribution of the Belgian Development Co-

operation is relatively lower, BTC chiefly focuses on

certain niches within a sector policy and expertise be-

comes more important.

Networking and knowledge building

BTC's sectoral working groups have extended networks

and play an important role in various Belgian and inter-

national exchange platforms. It allows them to not just

share experiences and knowledge, but it also leads to

cooperation and harmonisation in preparing and im-

plementing interventions. So far, BTC has signed sev-

eral framework agreements with various federal organi-

sations, such as the Belgian Food Safety Agency, the

federal police and the public services Justice and De-

fence (see p. 8). In 2013, BTC started a new series of

knowledge-building papers, called Reflection papers.

They aim to showcase the results of our actions in a

professional format. Better communicating these ‘sto-

ries of change’ will be an important point of attention in

the next few years.

References

BTC (2013), Impact Agriculture, Thematic magazine of BTC,

November 2013.

BTC (2014), Urban upgrading in Ho Chi Minh City: unexpected

social impact of an infrastructure project, BTC 2014/002.

Dubois P.Y., (2013), Paving, a motor for Urban Development,

Reflection Paper, BTC 2013/001.

OECD (2006), The Challenge of Capacity Development -

Working towards good practice.

Table: Sectorial breakdown of expenditure 2013

Sector %

Health 28

Agriculture 21

Education 14

Governance & civil society 10

Water & sanitation 7

Transport & storage 7

Multisector 7

Energy 3

Environment 2

Other (<1,000,000) 1

100

22

Education: opportunities and trends 2013 was a dynamic year for BTC’s commitment to support partner countries in their mission to im-

prove their education systems. With a wide array of interventions in Burundi, Uganda, Rwanda, Moroc-

co, Congo, Vietnam and the Palestinian Territory, BTC provided valuable technical contributions in key

education areas such as skills development, teacher training, school infrastructure, curriculum devel-

opment and Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E).

Support to the education sector through ‘hard core’ projects was challenged by new opportunities and

trends. Business incubators, the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) and a new Technical and Vo-

cational Education and Training (TVET) partnership are among the innovations in BTC’s education

programme.

On the East side…

The ‘Support to the innovation and development of business incubators policy project (BIPP)’ in Vi-

etnam is BTC’s first experience in the field of business incubation. Inspired by the ultimate goal of pro-

moting employment creation and to contribute to the local and national social and economic develop-

ment, the BIPP project supports the Vietnamese Ministry of Science and Technology in establishing a

network of sustainable business incubators, in preparing a Road Map for the development of business

incubation, and in providing a practical field test for piloting policy reforms.

Business incubation is commonly understood as a business support process that accelerates the suc-

cessful development of start-up and fledgling companies by providing entrepreneurs with an array of

targeted resources and services. These services are usually developed or orchestrated by the incuba-

tor management and offered both in the business incubator and through its network of contacts. A

business incubator’s main goal is to produce successful firms that will leave the programme financially

viable and freestanding. These incubator graduates have the potential to create jobs, revitalise neigh-

bourhoods, commercialise new technologies, and strengthen local and national economies.

The business incubators policy project mainly targets technology business incubators where the focus

group consists of innovative, mostly technology-oriented, or knowledge-intensive service sector enter-

prises, and interaction with the academic sphere. The increasing interest for technology business incu-

bators worldwide can be interpreted as an attempt to respond to the challenges of the new learning-

based economy. A technology business incubator fosters innovative start-up firms, where the process

of incubation is strongly intertwined with the innovation process that occurs in the supported enterpris-

es.

On the South side…

BTC played a central role in Burundi’s application to the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) by

providing continuous technical support to the Ministry of Education during the whole process. The GPE

funds will be channelled to the education sector through the ‘Fonds Commun de l’Éducation (FCE)’, a

basket fund that is financed by Belgium, Norway, the French development agency AFD and UNICEF

and that is led by Belgium-BTC. The basket fund aims to support the Ministry of Education in the im-

plementation of the 2012-2020 education sector development plan (PSDEF). With technical staff in Bu-

jumbura and in Brussels, BTC has been further assigned the role of GPE supervising entity.

Established in 2002, the GPE is a multilateral partnership devoted to getting all children into school for

a quality education. GPE is not just about financing as it helps donors and developing country partners

to work together and ensure that education aid is better coordinated and more effective, based on

countries' own education strategies.

23

The GPE mainly focuses on supporting education in the world’s poorest countries, promoting girls' ed-

ucation, increasing basic numeracy and literacy skills in primary school, and improving teacher effec-

tiveness through training and recruitment.

The GPE is currently running in other countries where BTC plays a key role as a member of the educa-

tion development partners group, namely in Congo, Vietnam, Rwanda and Uganda.

On the western side…

BTC has been invited to officially join the European consortium on TVET in developing countries, which

gathers major European development agencies operating in the field of TVET such as GIZ, AFD and

LuxDev.

In response to the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and the need for more alignment to partner

countries’ needs, GIZ, AFD and LuxDev signed a Declaration of Intent in 2009.

TVET is a major focal sector for BTC. Knowledge-building, joint programming, studies on specific is-

sues could be carried out jointly to strengthen donor coordination and harmonisation in the sector.

Moreover, the consortium aims to promote a European approach towards TVET as a system capable

of enriching the human and social capital in an economic and human development context.

Vocational training for girls in Sheikh Jarrah, Jerusalem (Palestinian Territory). The training centre has 70 students in busi-ness management (26 modules during 10 months). Photo: Ryan Rodrick Beiler

24

Formulations Thanks to the excellent collaboration with the Direc-

torate-General of Development Cooperation and Hu-

manitarian Aid (DGD) in 2013 BTC succeeded to have

the complete allocated budget (250 million euros) ear-

marked for implementation of planned projects and

programmes of governmental development coopera-

tion. In addition to this ‘bilateral order booklet’ in 2013

six additional budget support dossiers, for a total of 27

million euros, and one dossier for the Belgian Fund for

Food Security were earmarked. This is a big boost

compared to 2012, which was a very tenuous year be-

cause – due to national budget cuts – at the time only

nine million euros could be earmarked.

Figure: Evolution of amounts earmarked for the 2008 - 2013 period

(millions €)

No ‘end-of-year rush’ any more

To have formulation dossiers ready on time in future so

they can be earmarked still the very same year it was

decided in consultation with DGD to have the quality of

formulation dossiers assessed by the Joint DGD-BTC

Committee at the latest on 30 June. This way, dossiers

do not have to be dealt with under 'end-of-year rush'

pressure. To achieve this, it was agreed to approve the

identification forms of these dossiers on 30 June of the

preceding year at the latest in order to have sufficient

time to formulate the interventions.

Table: Amounts earmarked per country

Country Amount (€)

Congo 88,648,189

Vietnam 30,000,000

Palestinian Territory 29,500,000

Niger 23,944,000

Morocco 20,879,977

Peru 13,564,034

Burundi 11,630,000

South Africa 11,000,000

Mozambique 9,000,000

Rwanda 4,400,000

Senegal 3,142,140

Tanzania 2,596,750

Uganda 1,500,000

Total 249,805,090

Monitoring & Evaluation To guarantee the quality of Monitoring and Evaluation

(M&E), BTC elaborates guidelines that illustrate the

M&E system's functioning, explain the general concepts

and clarify the use of the various tools. These guide-

lines are compiled in a document called MoRe Results,

which stands for Monitoring & Reviewing Results and

also refers to the focus on results.

But MoRe Results is much more than a package of

guidelines, processes, templates and checklists. It is

about a change process that wants to achieve results-

oriented management at all levels. The final objective is

to guarantee the quality of M&E in the interventions and

of monitoring at the sector and country level. By adjust-

ing interventions in time, drawing lessons from experi-

ence and being accountable for certain results

achieved More Results can contribute successfully to

the support of partner country development results. In

addition, MoRe Results must also lead to a harmonised

vision on M&E through the active participation of all

concerned departments in the development and imple-

mentation process and to increased integration and

coherence of the M&E system.

By properly implementing MoRe Results it also contrib-

utes to BTC's strategic objectives, in particular the sup-

port of policy development and the results-based steer-

140

179213 217

9

250

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

25

ing of interventions with partner institutions in the 'driv-

er’s seat’.

State of affairs and prospects

MoRe Results as a change strategy is based on three

components.

1. MoRe Results is a normative framework that de-

fines responsibilities and clarifies the approach and

objectives of M&E. It develops tools to monitor the

results. In 2013, two parts were published: MoRe

Results Part I - M&E Approach and System and

Part II – Monitoring Interventions, with the appropri-

ate templates and checklists. In 2014, Part III, about

the review of interventions, is elaborated. Also, Part

IV, about sector- and country-level monitoring, will

be started.

2. It is essential to strengthen the M&E capacities of

internal and external staff, so MoRe Results can be

applied through general training sessions, seminars

and backstopping to interventions BTC supports its

own staff and staff of partner institutions to put in

place M&E systems that contribute to achieving de-

velopment results.

In 2013, eight four-day training seminars were organ-

ised in seven partner countries as well as a specialised

workshop. The Brussels M&E service continuously ad-

vices the interventions. This support will be intensified

in 2014; training seminars will be organised in all part-

ner countries. Also at the head office BTC further in-

vests in the roll-out of MoRe Results in order to guaran-

tee further implementation.

3. The follow-up of the quality of M&E tools includes

the ex ante quality control – focusing on delivering

an appropriate M&E tool – and the ex post quality

control – focusing on the quality of the M&E system

as a whole.

The quality control checklists were adapted in 2013. In

2014, priority is given to more thorough ex ante quality

assessments of the baseline report, of results monitor-

ing and of the reviews.

Interventions in the North

Cycle d’information générale

The Infocycle is a training course that provides partici-

pants with a better understanding of the complexity of

development and development cooperation. The

course is open to anyone who is interested or who is

willing to commit to the global challenges of develop-

ment.

Speakers and lecturers for the Infocycle come from

various backgrounds such as the Belgian bilateral co-

operation (BTC and DGD), multilateral cooperation,

non-governmental cooperation, universities and re-

search centres and the 4th pillar.

Also the participants come from a variety of back-

grounds. Some of them have field experience in the

South, while others want to promote sustainable devel-

opment in the private sector or broaden support for

multiculturality in the North.

11 in-residence Infocycle groups

1,041 participants (549 FR, 492 NL)

64% holding a master’s degree or more

66% women, 34% men

Sharing views, opinions and experiences and network-

building with participants of 35 nationalities are a major

asset of the Infocycle, according to participants.

Formulation of a new ambitious Infocycle pro-

gramme

In 2013, a new four-year programme (2014-2017) was

formulated for Infocycle. A few major shifts and points

of attention must make the Infocycle into an even more

relevant training course.

• Adapted content The former programme put a one-

sided focus on North-South relations and develop-

ment cooperation. The new programme pays more

attention to the main global development challeng-

es. It focuses on the possibilities of individual, or-

ganisational and institutional commitment. The top-

ics covered include poverty and inequality, global

public goods, the climate, economics and trade,

demographics and migration, politics and policy,

human rights and sovereignty, and communication

and image building.

Modernising the learning method The Infocycle is

working with smaller groups with 25 instead of 50

participants. Each group has its own learning pro-

cess coach, which suits a modern adult learning

approach. This implies more varied learning meth-

ods and more attention for processing and integrat-

ing the subject matter. E-learning, the group ses-

sions and the exam evolve towards a more com-

prehensive whole.

26

Trade for Development Centre

The Trade for Development Centre has two objectives:

Improve market access for producers' organisations

from countries in the South and promote fair and sus-

tainable trade.

A documentary about coffee from Kivu broadcast

on TV5 Monde

A team of journalists visited three coffee cooperatives

in this region on the border between the Democratic

Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda, which is chiefly

known for its endemic violence. The documentary

shows how fair coffee can impact the living conditions

of the local population, even when the circumstances

are tough. The three organisations visited, RAEK,

SOPACDI and COOPAC are supported by the TDC.

Local market studies for fair and organic products

The TDC supports initiatives that foster the sales of fair

and organic products on local and regional markets in

countries in the South. A prerequisite often is to know

these markets well. In 2013, the TDC published opinion

polls conducted among Kenyan and Tanzanian con-

sumers on fashion and home decoration and among

South African consumers on ethical products in gen-

eral. Market studies on flowers and wild plants from six

partner countries of the Belgian Development Coopera-

tion and on the potential of vanilla on East African mar-

kets were also published.

Support to producers' organisations and bilateral

projects

The TDC provided technical and/or financial support to

29 producers' organisations in their fair and/or sustain-

able trade approach.

The TDC provided marketing support to two bilateral

projects: in Morocco in the dates and saffron value

chains and in Tanzania in the honey value chain.

The Fair Trade Week

Like every year since twelve years, the TDC coordinat-

ed the annual Fair Trade Week. This campaign, which

is organised with the main associations of the sector,

has a triple objective:

Broaden public support, the core target of fair trade;

Create momentum with all actors of the sector

communicating jointly;

Allow civil society to take ownership of the cam-

paign by organising as many events as possible

throughout Belgium.

→ www.befair.be

Annoncer la Couleur / Kleur Bekennen

Annoncer la Couleur / Kleur Bekennen is a federal pro-

gramme for global citizenship education. It provides

teachers, coaches and educators of 10- to 18-year-old

youngsters with training, educational materials and

project support and offers campaign activities for young

people to address globalisation issues.

2013: more visibility

Annoncer la Couleur's 42 training days, which are rec-

ognised by the Institute for Career Training or by the

Municipal and Provincial Education Council, reach 600

key persons in the Walloon-Brussels Federation. At the

end of 2013, an educational dossier is launched Mon

ami Paco: migration and settling through a girl's draw-

ings and stories

Kleur Bekennen offers fixed as well as open training

sessions. The programme has chosen to offer its open

training sessions as part of a broader partnership with

NGOs and education organisations or to do so across

provinces. This resulted in 98 fixed training sessions

and 58 open training sessions, reaching a total of 3,100

teachers.

On 15 March, the programme presented its analytical

grid for the quality of global citizenship educational ma-

terials offering a new service: improved descriptions

and a user-friendly means of selection.

On 3 May, the Annoncer la Couleur Events day in

Uccle concluded a year filled with projects. It offered

220 young people an occasion to present and assess

their projects. As from the beginning of the new school

year, an interactive projects card, which showcases

these local experiences, can be browsed to inspire oth-

ers.

On 15 October, Kleur Bekennen organised its second

Inspiration day in Ghent, featuring a lecture by Chokri

Ben Chikha on stereotypes. More than 100 teachers

and 25 education organisations meet and share experi-

ences.

On 25 November, the programme brought together 216

education professionals and NGO members at the Eg-

mont Palace for "School 2.0 & global citizenship: a

creative conference". The participants explore digital

educational materials and their learning potential.

27

Towards a new formulation

The formulation of the programme for 2014-2019 start-

ed in October. It focuses on more complementarity and

synergy between global citizenship education actors at

schools in Belgium. This effort that is further pursued at

the beginning of 2014.

→ www.annoncerlacouleur.be

→ www.kleurbekennen.be

Junior Programme

In September 2013, the Junior Programme started a

new five-year programme, which is outlined by the five

following points:

Professional candidates and profiles

• Because of new eligibility criteria, not only young

people who have just finished studies but also can-

didates with professional experience can participate

to the Junior Programme. In addition, applications

are screened more thoroughly for their professional

added value for the project and the Junior Assistant.

• Greater flexibility by providing two – instead of one

– annual selections and departure. Candidate Jun-

iors as well as projects that request a Junior Assis-

tant now have to wait only for a maximum of six

months to participate to a next Junior Programme

call.

• Openness to all Belgian NGOs. Fourteen NGOs

joined. As from the start in 2006, it was agreed that

the Junior Programme had to benefit all players of

the Belgian Development Cooperation, and not just

BTC. A three-year pilot phase with six NGOs was

positively concluded in 2012. With the start of the

new phase, now all recognized Belgian NGOs can

join and request Junior Assistants.

Due to cuts the Junior Programme had to reduce its

number of staff members at the head office and the

number of Junior Assistants in the field. Even though

there are more applications and openings for Junior

Assistants, the maximum of 100 was reduced to an

average of 70. In total, more than 730 candidates ap-

plied and the Junior Programme received a record of

142 job vacancies. After selection, in the autumn of

2013, in total 45 Junior Assistants joined a BTC project,

programme or Representation or an NGO (see table).

Due to the budget cuts the Junior Programme also

cancels one of its objectives: raising awareness among

the population in Belgium. 2013 consequently was the

last year that Junior Assistants had to contribute to rais-

ing awareness. In its last year, the blog attracted a

monthly average of 4,500 visitors. The Junior Pro-

gramme also supported the organisation of an exhibi-

tion by two Junior Assistants in Benin about the influ-

ence of voodoo in traditional health care in the West

African country. The exhibition was on display at BTC's

head office and later at the ULB campus. In the begin-

ning of 2014 it is on display in the municipality of Zoer-

sel.

Table: juniors per country

Country # juniors

Algeria 0

Burundi 15

Benin 3

Bolivia 1

Ecuador 4

Mali 1

Morocco 2

Mozambique 0

Niger 2

Peru 4

Palestinian Territory 3

Congo 0

Rwanda 0

South Africa 0

Senegal 3

Tanzania 3

Uganda 4

Vietnam 0

Total 45

28

Workforce Report Because of its special legal status, BTC falls under

several regulatory frameworks with regards to the rights

and duties if its employees, in particular the Law of 3

July 1978 on Employment Contracts and the Law of 14

December 2000 to Determine Certain Aspects of the

Organisation of Working Hours in the Public Sector.

Human Resources

BTC has several categories of employees:

Employees at the Brussels head office

Expatriates – employees who work abroad under a

Belgian employment contract:

o The international experts who are employed in

the country offices (Resident Representatives,

among others)

o The International Technical Assistants who work

in the projects and programmes

o The Junior Assistants of the Junior Programme

for Development Cooperation

National staff – employees who are hired locally

under a BTC contract

o At the country offices of BTC

o In the interventions of BTC in the partner coun-

tries

Head office

There are 187 staff employed at the head office (178.7

full-time equivalent). The average age of the employees

is 42. In line with the austerity measures demanded by

the State, BTC manages its head office human re-

sources as rationally and efficiently as possible. For

that purpose, a policy was introduced to not replace

staff whose fixed-term employment contract has ex-

pired and to proceed to an in-depth assessment of any

replacement demand (in case of prolonged absence).

83% of the employees work full-time; 17% work part-

time. 98% of the employees have an open-ended con-

tract; 2% have a fixed-term contract.

Expats

At the end of 2013, BTC had 251 expats. The drop

compared to 2012 can partially be attributed to the low-

er number of Junior Assistants. On 31 December 2013,

there were 66 Junior Assistants. They are 27 years old

on average. The Technical Assistance expats are 49

years old on average.

All expatriate employees work full-time. The employees

in the country offices, both expatriate and local staff,

have an open-ended contract.

Figure: Workforce at HQ

Figure : Expatriate staff

29

All Technical Assistants in the projects have an open-

ended contract with a period clause. After all, they are

hired for the duration of their project, but since projects

are often extended, it is necessary to provide a period

clause. Junior Assistants also have an open-ended

contract with a period clause.

National staff

On 31 December 2013, a total of 1193 local BTC staff

members worked in the partner countries, of which 179

worked in BTC country offices and 1014 in projects and

programmes.

Table: National staff per country (in country offices and projects)

Country office Projects Total

M F Tot. M F Tot. M F Tot.

Algeria 5 6 11 16 6 22 21 12 33

Burundi 11 3 14 146 37 183 157 40 197

Benin 10 3 13 80 25 105 90 28 118

Bolivia 5 3 8 12 8 20 17 11 28

Ecuador 1 5 6 19 15 34 20 20 40

Mali 5 2 7 41 8 49 46 10 56

Morocco 5 4 9 32 21 53 37 25 62

Mozambique 1 0 1 1 2 3 2 2 4

Niger 11 2 13 55 8 63 66 10 76

Peru 2 5 7 25 16 41 27 21 48

Palestinian Territory 2 3 5 7 8 15 9 11 20

Congo 16 10 26 165 37 202 181 47 228

Rwanda 11 8 19 99 26 125 110 34 144

South Africa 2 1 3 0 1 1 2 2 4

Senegal 5 4 9 47 8 55 52 12 64

Tanzania 8 2 10 22 7 29 30 9 39

Uganda 6 4 10 9 5 14 15 9 24

Vietnam 2 6 8 0 0 0 2 6 8

TOTAL 108 71 179 776 238 1014 884 309 1193

% 60 40 100 77 23 100 74 26 100

30

Men/Women

The majority of Technical Assistants are men, but there

is a gradual evolution towards a better gender balance.

In the Junior Programme, on the contrary, there is a

majority of women who apply and who are sent out as

Juniors.

The gender balance at the head office and the country

offices is relatively even.

Table M/F breakdown of personnel

Men Women

Brussels 45 % 55 %

Expats 81 % 19 %

Country offices 83 % 17 %

Interventions 80 % 20 %

Junior Assistants 33 % 67 %

Local staff

Country offices 60 % 40 %

Interventions 77 % 23 %

Geographic distribution

Overall, BTC employed 1631 staff in 2013. The geo-

graphic distribution is shown in the diagram below.

Salary policy

Head office

The Law of 21 December 1998 establishing BTC stipu-

lates that BTC salaries should be in keeping with the

salaries paid by the Belgian government. The salaries

of BTC staff may not exceed the salaries of civil serv-

ants of the federal government administration.

On top of the gross salary, employees get dinner

cheques, an (external) group retirement savings plan,

hospital and assistance insurance, and full reimburse-

ment of public transportation expenses.

In compliance with the salary policy that was approved

by the Board of Directors on 12/09/2006, new staff are

placed in a certain salary scale on the basis of a formal

job description and the corresponding function classifi-

cation. Salaries annually increase with seniority in the

function. The same salary scales are used for men and

women; so there is no difference between the salaries

of men and women.

All BTC staff can consult the function classification, the

job descriptions and the salary scales on the Intranet.

Expats

The salary policy for expatriate staff is in keeping with

the approach of the Federal Public Service Foreign

Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation

and takes into account the situation on the international

job market.

More specifically, it is based on a salary scale that is

inspired by a Hay classification, supplemented with

expatriate and hardship allowances. BTC also offers

customary expatriate benefits (housing, school allow-

ance...) and the necessary insurances. BTC respects

all legal fiscal rules.

82 out of 251 expats are foreign nationals; they hail

from 14 different countries.

The school allowance policy and the housing policy for

BTC's expatriate staff were reviewed in accordance

with the following principles.

With school allowances BTC aims to support conti-

nuity in education and offers each child of an expat-

riate the possibility to pursue his/her education in

the same school system or a similar one to the one

he/she was attending before the start of his/her

parent's BTC contract period. BTC reimburses

school expenses in the country of assignment within

82%

15%3%

Africa South America Asia

31

budgetary limits set by the agency. Such expenses

are considered supplementary and inherent to ex-

patriation.

In the matter of housing its staff and their family in

the country of assignment, BTC aims to:

Allow each staff member and his/her family to

live in decent conditions, taking into account

the constraints of the market and the housing

on offer at the place of assignment, while pay-

ing particular attention to safety;

Contribute financially on the basis of actual

expenditure up to a maximum amount set by

BTC, taking into account the place of assign-

ment, the function of the staff member and the

composition of the family.

This new policy has been in force since halfway 2013

and its effects will be assessed after one year.

Junior Assistants

The Junior Assistants are employed through the Junior

Programme for Development Cooperation. They get to

work for up to 2 years in a project. The Junior Pro-

gramme offers the same conditions to all Juniors, such

as an employment contract, a monthly salary, a 13th

month, housing, social security and the necessary in-

surances.

Junior Assistants are employed under a separate fixed-

term contract for the period of training and preparation.

The specific expat contract is only activated when a

Junior effectively leaves for the field.

Local staff

In the partner countries, BTC wants to position itself as

a fair and interesting employer on the local job market.

In practice, for every country, the median salary for

each function level is determined in relation to the me-

dian for the same level in similar organisations. On this

basis, salary scales are elaborated for the function

classification.

The introduction of the salary policy also means that

the basic salary evolves annually and can be adapted

to an increased cost of living.

In many countries where BTC operates, job market

conditions remain volatile and are affected by interna-

tional instances, donors or partner ministries and by

changes to the context such as inflation, foreign in-

vestments, exchange rates or the security situation.

Hiring local staff To pursue its mission, BTC wants to work with local

staff as much as possible. By coaching local staff and

by providing training opportunities, BTC also wants to

contribute to local capacity development in the partner

countries.

Everywhere, the recruitment procedures are open, ob-

jective and transparent. Local staff sign an employment

contract that has been approved by local legists and

that complies with local legislation.

Employee mobility Employee mobility is being encouraged. Employees

can take on a new job assignment in the field or in

Brussels in response to internal or external job open-

ings. In 2013, two staff members made the step from

the field to the head office and seven staff members

switched from the head office to the field.

BTC also has long-term backstopping missions (from 1

month to a maximum of 6 months) to the field.

Absenteeism Absenteeism at the head office, i.e. short-term absence

of less than a month, was 2.40%. This figure is close to

the 2013 private sector absentee rate published for

Belgium by Securex: 2.12%.

However, overall absenteeism amounts to 4.03%,

which is obviously better than the 6.26% figure pub-

lished for Belgium in 2013.

Staff turnover

Head office

There was a 4.8% staff turnover (resignation and de-

parture of employees) in 2013. This is a decrease com-

pared to 2012 (6.4%). Uncertainty on the job market

combined with rather "careful" HR management of su-

pervisors may explain this drop.

32

Table: Inflow at head office by age (2013)

Age M F Total

20 - 30 years 0 7 7

31 - 40 years 4 3 7

41 - 50 years 1 2 3

51 - 60 years 2 0 2

61 - 70 years 0 0 0

Total 7 12 19

Table: Outflow head office (reason)

Motif M F Total

Mutual agreement 1 0 1

Replacement contract 1 1 2

Fixed-term contract 0 7 7

End of mandate 0 0 0

Transfer head office - field 6 3 9

Resignation by employee 1 4 5

Dismissal 1 2 3

Retirement 2 2 4

Total 12 19 31

Table: Inflow expats (2013)

M F Total

Expats 41 14 55

Junior Assistants 15 30 45

Total 56 44 100

Table: Outflow expats (2013)

Expatriés M F Total

Retirement 1 0 1

Contract ending 42 8 50

Resignation by employee 5 2 7

Dismissal 4 2 6

Mutual agreement 1 0 1

Total 53 12 65

Junior Assistants M F Total

Contract ending 13 31 44

Resignation by employee 1 4 5

Dismissal 0 1 1

Mutual agreement 0 1 1

Total 14 37 51

TOTAL OVERALL 67 49 116

Career development

Since 2007 BTC has a career development pro-

gramme: the development circles. They enable the

supervisor to fully take up his/her role as the coach

and guide of his/her co-workers. They facilitate

communication, contribute to achieving objectives

and foster employee development. Development

circles are geared towards a better individual and

organisational functioning. They do not affect salary.

The necessary training sessions on applying the

development circles were organised and the Man-

agement Committee was informed about the im-

plementation of the development circles at the head

office and in the field. Further development and as-

sessment the development circles as a tool was one

of the major HR undertakings started in 2013.

33

A system for introducing competence management

at BTC was developed in 2013. Its implementation

was approved and prepared for 2014. The system is

consistent with choices made in the past. It uses

Hudson's 5+1 Competency Model, which forms the

basis for weighing functions at BTC. This approach

is in line with competence management applied by

the federal administration, with the addition of BTC's

values – respect, integrity, commitment and sense

of responsibility.

Learning & Development In 2013, BTC's training service evolved following the

HR reorganisation principles and also used the oppor-

tunity to pick up new trends in training, namely to not

just provide training, but also to open up to a wider

range of types of learning. Consequently, the service

was renamed ‘Learning & Development’ in 2013.

BTC and learn4dev

Like in the past, BTC was active in learn4dev, the inter-

national competence development network for donors

and development agencies. The network organises

joint training programmes, provides digital learning ma-

terials and encourages its more than 30 member organ-

isations to open up their training sessions to staff of

other member agencies. Moreover, it is where BTC

experts share experiences and knowledge with experts

from other agencies and donors such as the European

Union, GIZ or the World Bank. At learn4dev's General

Assembly in Bonn, which was jointly organised by GIZ

and the European Commission, the commitment to the

key tasks of learning and knowledge sharing was re-

newed.

Greater involvement of partners

In accordance with the Paris Declaration principles,

BTC aims to increase the involvement of the partner

countries in training and knowledge-sharing initiatives.

Both at the head office and in the field, partner country

representatives now systematically attend training ini-

tiatives.

From output to outcome: measuring effectiveness

How to guarantee that knowledge and skills that are

taught and acquired during training sessions are actual-

ly being used in practice? In every organisation, such a

transfer to the work floor is a major challenge to compe-

tence and knowledge management. As a learning or-

ganisation, BTC aims to provide an optimal framework

for developing the competencies of its staff. To better

map this process, Learning & Development now sys-

tematically surveys whether training offered effectively

leads to improved effectiveness of the staff member.

The first results are encouraging.

'Comprehensive' training moments

After increasing the training offer in the past and with a

better follow-up system of training sessions put in place

in the field, the total amount of formal hours of training

in 2013 more or less corresponds with the amount for

2012. Thus BTC achieved the targeted average five

days of training per staff member. However, the table

below, which only includes the hours of formal training,

still does not completely reflect the many learning initia-

tives taken at BTC. By better integrating competence

development and knowledge sharing in existing activi-

ties such as backstopping and Monitoring & Evaluation

these informal forms of learning become more and

more significant.

34

Table: Training hours 2013 (HQ and field)

2009 2010 2011 2012* 2013 Proportion H/F**

HQ Staff 6,545 8,257 12,275 12,077 9,525 40 / 60

Field staff 9,353 16,740 26,308 27,697 26,927 67 / 33

Total 15,898 24,997 38,583 39,774 36,452 60 / 40

Budget (€) 199,012 396,486 441,739 337,657 290,988

* These figures do not include all formal training sessions in the field.

** This ratio more or less corresponds with the men/women ratio at the head office and in the field for 2013.

Telework To better combine private life and a professional career

and to have employees work in an environment that

suits the performance of certain professional tasks,

BTC offers two specific work formulas:

Occasional telework allows staff members to work

at home for up to 15 working days per calendar

year. 60 employees used this formula in 2013.

Structural telework allows staff members to work at

home on one set day every week. BTC reimburses

the employee’s monthly Internet subscription. In

2013, the formula was used by 49 employees.

Social consultation The Basic Consultation Committee is the official body

where the employer and the three representative trade

unions meet. It convenes on a regular basis and is pre-

sided by the Chairperson of BTC's Management Com-

mittee. During these meetings, BTC, on the initiative or

at the request of the trade unions, presents the different

dossiers regarding BTC personnel. However, no indi-

vidual cases are ever discussed at these meeting. The

trade unions are invited to present their opinions at the

meetings.

The legal framework for the Basic Consultation Com-

mittee is the Law of 19 December 1974, organising

relations between public authorities and the trade un-

ions of their employees, and the decrees implementing

that law. The Basic Consultation Committee is part of

Sector Committee VII (RD of 30/7/2003, published in

the Belgian Official Gazette on 29/9/2003).

In 2013, the Basic Consultation Committee convened

five times.

Reorganisation of the HR depart-ment In 2013, a new HR structure was installed in view of

more effectiveness and support to the field:

The central services (legal service, payroll and trav-

el service) were clustered;

HR support: a new unit, which reached full capacity

on 1/10/2013 and which is aligned as much as pos-

sible with the new organisation of the Operations Di-

rectorate and optimally suits the functioning of the

Country teams. Three HR Partners are responsible

for various geographical areas under the coordina-

tion of an HR Manager, who also is the HR Partner

for the head office.

A fist HR Focal Points week was organised in October

2013. It allowed all partner country HR focal points to

assess the situation, to be informed about new HR

tools and to get in direct touch with their HR Partner,

who is their primary contact.

Several HR dossiers were started up in 2013. All of

these show how important an appropriate HR follow-up

and management policy within BTC is.

Recruitment and mobility

An internal audit was conducted on head office recruit-

ment processes. The conclusions and recommenda-

tions are presented in the beginning of 2014 to BTC's

new Board of Directors. BTC in 2013 still lacked an

appropriate ICT tool to manage the recruitment pro-

cesses and to implement the procedures approved.

35

Environmental Report

The environment is one of the transversal themes of

the Belgian Development Cooperation. Therefore, envi-

ronmental issues are addressed in head office activities

(internal mainstreaming) and in interventions in the

partner countries (external mainstreaming). This sum-

mary Environmental Report highlights the main envi-

ronmental guiding principles, landmarks and results for

2013 at the head office and in the field.

In 2013, two major initiatives that were started in 2012

were finalised. They show how important the environ-

ment and sustainable development is for the Belgian

Development Cooperation.

New Belgian Law on Development Co-

operation

On 12 April 2013, the new Law on Belgian Develop-

ment Cooperation was published in the Belgian Official

Gazette. In the law's general provisions sustainable

development is defined and the limits to (natural) re-

sources and the need for conservation is emphasised.

Chapter 3 – on the basic principles of development

cooperation – singles out gender and the environment

as transversal themes that need to be addressed in all

interventions. The law thus sets out the framework un-

der which BTC operates and to which it has to adjust its

operational strategies and principles of action.

External evaluation of environmental

mainstreaming in development coop-

eration

In 2013, the Service of the Special Evaluator of the

Belgian Development Cooperation had an external

evaluation conducted on how the environment is main-

streamed in Belgian (multilateral, bilateral, university,

NGO…) development cooperation channels. It also

aimed to assess how the Environmental Strategy Note,

which was drawn up by the Directorate General for

Development Cooperation (DGD) in 2002, was dissem-

inated and applied. The assessment also referred to

the report of Professor Jean-Pascal van Ypersele and

the mainstreaming of the environment in Belgium's In-

dicative Cooperation Programmes (ICPs) that are con-

cluded with partner countries.

The evaluation underlines the efforts made by the Bel-

gian Development Cooperation to mainstream envi-

ronmental aspects in the formulation and implementa-

tion of interventions. The evolution over time is signifi-

cant and more recent projects have mainstreamed the

environmental dimension best (environmental impact

studies, capacity development, choice of strategies,

specific activities, indicators...). Yet, efforts remain to be

made for mainstreaming to be more systematic and

profound.

Indeed, the evaluators estimate that mainstreaming the

environment stops short of actually "putting straight the

development path" towards more sustainability. "Identi-

fying and mitigating the environmental risks, strength-

ening partner capacities, promoting renewable energy

or good environmental practices will not suffice to target

development strategies towards more inclusive ap-

proaches." Even though this is a strategic matter rather

than an operational one, BTC will participate actively in

further discussions and activities undertaken in this

respect. New development cooperation programmes

identified and some programmes already being imple-

mented in Vietnam, Peru, Mozambique and Algeria are

forerunners in the search for more sustainability.

A new environmental strategy in the

making

Pursuant to the external evaluation, DGD has started

preparing a new environmental and climate change

strategy note for the Belgian Development Cooperation,

which will be finalised in 2014 and will serve as a

framework of reference for the actions of all actors of

the Belgian Development Cooperation.

A few landmarks of 2013

In Benin, workshops were held with international

and local experts on mainstreaming the environ-

ment in new programmes being formulated. A

knowledge-building document was written on good

environmental and gender practices from BTC pro-

jects in the health and agriculture sectors.

In Vietnam, the new climate-responsive water man-

agement and urbanism programme was launched in

3 provinces.

36

In Rwanda, several projects to promote renewable

energy were started up.

In Peru, the first phase of the PRODERN project, a

natural resource management project, was as-

sessed and the second phase – at a larger scale –

was started up.

In Burundi, a newsletter – L’écho des collines – was

published. It chiefly focuses on environmental as-

pects (brick-making and the manufacture and pro-

motion of organic waste heating bricks...), in particu-

lar in the street paving programme in Bujumbura.

Launch of the Environment Expert Group within the

learn4dev inter-agency network

(www.learn4dev.net/expertise).

Publication of a Guide for the construction of sus-

tainable and environment-friendly infrastructure

(www.btcctb.org).

Publication of "An environment-friendly day at BTC",

a flyer which can be downloaded from BTC's Intra-

net with tips for staff members.

Launch of an environmental blog to foster the de-

bate and knowledge-sharing on environmental is-

sues (www.btcctb.org/blog).

Detailed carbon footprint study and purchase of

1767 C02 Certificates to compensate emissions

caused by business-related flights and electricity

consumption at the Brussels head office.

The environment: Transversal theme

and sector of intervention

Further mainstreaming the environment in projects,

starting from formulation

Efforts to mainstream the environment in formulations

were stepped up in 2013. In the health sector, for in-

stance, more emphasis was put on sustainable mainte-

nance of infrastructure and the processing of bio-

medical waste in new interventions. The environment

was focused on in training sessions on construction

works or the rehabilitation of buildings as well as in the

"green" training sessions (on the maintenance and re-

pair of photovoltaic installations) or through the green-

ing of curricula (attention for environmental manage-

ment). In Morocco, the participatory elaboration of pro-

ject-specific environmental action plans enabled the

identification of environmental constraints and helped

the search for alternatives or mitigating measures.

These actions plans will be progressively implemented

in 2014.

More and more environmental projects

In addition to mainstreaming the environment, the envi-

ronment increasingly has become an intervention sec-

tor itself. Several countries, especially middle-income

countries, have expressed interest in Belgian Develop-

ment Cooperation efforts being focused on support to

resolving environmental issues. Urban climate adapta-

tion (Vietnam), the development of renewable energy

(Rwanda, Mozambique), waste management (Algeria),

rural sanitation and the promotion of sustainable agri-

culture (Morocco), and sustainable natural resource

management for the benefit of local people (Peru, Tan-

zania) are domains in which our partner countries are

facing problems. They are especially open to innovative

development cooperation where support in terms of

governance, capacity development and exchange of

technology can be combined. These are also domains

where Belgium can really showcase its know-how, with

respect to the institutional organisation as well as

through techniques and research.

Environmental performance at BTC's

head office

BTC's priority obviously is to implement interventions in

our partner countries. Still, it is BTC's head office that

should set the example and put into practice advice and

recommendations given to the field. This definitely ap-

plies to environmental management. In 2013, major

steps were taken with respect to our ICT infrastructure.

Energy and ICT

Server rooms are major energy consumers because of

air conditioning and back-up batteries that are to cover

for possible power cuts. BTC is undertaking to gradual-

ly outsource its ICT infrastructure and use web-based

"Software as a service". This solution requires less in-

frastructure and will significantly reduce energy needs.

The new screens used at BTC are LED screens, which

consume little energy, and the screens' auto sleep

mode is on. The new computers are progressively

equipped with SSD memory, which replaces hard disks

and requires less electricity.

Water consumption

In 2013, water consumption per person was 2.5

m³/FTE, i.e. slightly less than in 2012 and about 22%

less than in 2009. BTC's performance in this domain –

compared to the average of federal institutions – was

37

very good thanks to the responsible behaviour of staff,

the remarkable efforts made by maintenance staff and

the regular follow-up of all the meters in view of detect-

ing and repairing leaks or anomalies.

Consumption of electricity

In 2013, electricity consumption increased very slightly

compared to 2012, but average annual consumption is

still relatively low. More occupancy sensors and low-

consumption bulbs were installed and communication

with staff about daily good practice was further pur-

sued.

Gas consumption

Gas consumption (for heating) remained high at BTC

even though it clearly dropped in 2013 (- 13%). This

significant drop was chiefly due to the high tempera-

tures at the end of 2013. In terms of adjusted consump-

tion – which takes into account average temperatures –

the 2013 consumption decreased by 7% compared to

2012.

Paper consumption

Until 2011, paper consumption was estimated on the

basis of the number of copies made every month on

photocopiers. Since 2012, BTC has aligned itself with

the indicator used by other federal institutions ex-

pressed in weight (kilo) per year per person (FTE). In

2013, total paper consumption amounted to an average

of 31.5 kg/year/person, which is less than last year and

clearly below the federal average of 40 kg/year/FTE. All

publications of BTC are printed on 50% recycled FSC

paper using vegetable-based inks.

38

Financial ReportThe Financial Report is only available in French and

Dutch. Please refer to the Annual Report in one of

those languages on the website.

BTCBELGIAN DEVELOPMENT AGENCY

RUE HAUTE 1471000 BRUSSELST +32 (0)2 505 37 00 F +32 (0)2 502 98 62 INFO@BTCCTB.ORG WWW.BTCCTB.ORG