BELGIAN TECHNICAL COOPERATION ANNUAL …...Part 3 – Finances 53 Statutory Auditor’s Report 54 Annual accounts 55 Organisation structure 62 Publications 64 Address book 65 BTC-1

BELGIAN TECHNICAL COOPERATION ANNUAL REPORT 2007 ColophonEditor: Carl Michiels

Coordination: BTC Marketing & External Communication

Photos: BTC, Dimitri Ardelaen, Jean-Michel Clajot, Antonio Fiorente, Jan Crab

Translations: DSDB, Linguanet, Orakel

Graphic design: www.cibecommunicatie.be

BTC is registered as an EMAS company and the agency acquired ISO 14001 certification.

REG.NO.BE-BXL- 000008

BELGIAN TECHNICAL COOPERATIONPublic-law company with social purposes









Addresses bookletBelgian Technical Cooperation

Key figures 2007

250

200

150

100

50

02000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Turnover

x 1.000.000 €

Staff (January 2008)

Staff in Brussels 166

International experts 178

Central, Eastern and Southern Africa

Latin America

Asia

Volunteers for Development Cooperation 75

Partner countries for Belgian development cooperation:

Africa: —Mozambique, Niger, Uganda, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania and South AfricaPalestinian Territories —Asia: — VietnamLatin America: — Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru

Central, East &Southern Africa 51,0%

North & WestAfrica + Palestine 29,0%

Latin America9,5%

Asia 8,0%Belgium 2,5%

Geographical distribution of activities

Distribution of activities by sector

Turnover in accordance with the activities (€ millions)

General Information Cycle, Annoncer la Couleur, Kleur Bekennen, 10

Other development cooperation tasks awarded to BTC by third par-

Total 213

Health 28%

Education 18%

Governance 17%

Basicinfrastructure17%

Multisectoral 6%

Agriculture & food security 14%

Expenditures 2007 per country (Million €)

Rwanda

Mali

Tanzania

Senegal

Ecuador

Niger

Mozambique

Vietnam 7,71

Morocco

Burundi

Uganda

Peru

Palestinian Territories

Bolivia

Benin

Belgium

Burkina Faso

Cambodia

Ethiopia

South-Africa

Algeria

Laos

Cameroon

Côte d’Ivoire 1,71

Tunisia

Philippines

SADC

Addresses bookletBelgian Technical Cooperation

Key figures 2007

250

200

150

100

50

02000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Turnover

x 1.000.000 €

Staff (January 2008)

Staff in Brussels 166

International experts 178

Central, Eastern and Southern Africa

Latin America

Asia

Volunteers for Development Cooperation 75

Partner countries for Belgian development cooperation:

Africa: —Mozambique, Niger, Uganda, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania and South AfricaPalestinian Territories —Asia: — VietnamLatin America: — Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru

Central, East &Southern Africa 51,0%

North & WestAfrica + Palestine 29,0%

Latin America9,5%

Asia 8,0%Belgium 2,5%

Geographical distribution of activities

Distribution of activities by sector

Turnover in accordance with the activities (€ millions)

General Information Cycle, Annoncer la Couleur, Kleur Bekennen, 10

Other development cooperation tasks awarded to BTC by third par-

Total 213

Health 28%

Education 18%

Governance 17%

Basicinfrastructure17%

Multisectoral 6%

Agriculture & food security 14%

Expenditures 2007 per country (Million €)

Rwanda

Mali

Tanzania

Senegal

Ecuador

Niger

Mozambique

Vietnam 7,71

Morocco

Burundi

Uganda

Peru

Palestinian Territories

Bolivia

Benin

Belgium

Burkina Faso

Cambodia

Ethiopia

South-Africa

Algeria

Laos

Cameroon

Côte d’Ivoire 1,71

Tunisia

Philippines

SADC

ContentKey figures flapForeword 22007 highlights 4

Part 1 – Capacity-building 7Capacity - building 9Scholarships and internships 13International Services 17

Part 2 – Activities per country 19In Belgium

Fair Trade Centre 20General Information Cycle 20Voluntary Service for Development Cooperation 21Annoncer la Couleur 22Kleur Bekennen 23

AbroadCentral-, East- and southern Africa

Democratic Republic of Congo 24Rwanda 26Burundi 28Mozambique 29Tanzania 30Uganda 31South Africa 32Ethiopia 33

North- & West-Africa & Palestinian TerritoriesMali 34Cameroon 35Senegal 36Benin 37Niger 38Côte d’Ivoire 39Morocco 40Tunisia 41Burkina Faso 42Algeria 43Palestinian Territories 44

AsiaVietnam 45Cambodia 46Laos 47Philippines 47

South-AmericaPeru 48Bolivia 49Ecuador 50

Microprojects 51

Part 3 – Finances 53Statutory Auditor’s Report 54Annual accounts 55

Organisation structure 62Publications 64Address book 65

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Two major international meetings are on the agenda for 2008: the first in Accra, for a joint evaluation of the progress on the Paris Declaration and the second in Doha, to prepare an interim assessment of the agreements on financing for development five years ago. An in-depth analysis of what Belgium has done to meet the commitments will also be conducted there.

I am delighted that this BTC annual report looks at Belgium’s work to meet the commitments made in the framework of the Paris Declaration and would like to see the analysis at the heart of additional efforts to improve harmoni-sation and alignment in the years to come. Indeed the implementation of the Paris Declaration is a priority of the policy brief. A number of measures have already been taken in this regard:

First, at the eight Joint Committee meetings that will be held in 2008, —Belgian direct bilateral cooperation will be strictly limited to two sec-tors. This will mean a fairer division of labour between the donors in countries that are highly dependent on international aid, which should reduce transaction costs.Second, the 2008 budget will free up considerable extra resources to —be spent on new forms of aid – specifically, sectoral budget support and delegated cooperation.Third, efforts will need to be made to increase the coherence between —the governmental programmes of Belgian Development Cooperation and those of indirect players. In future, I also want to invite the indi-rect players to get more involved more in our indicative cooperation programmes.

Furthermore, we must avoid falling into the trap of making fulfilment of the Paris indicators an objective in itself. The effectiveness and results of our aid efforts can never be assessed only on the basis of this restricted group of indicators. Rather, our results in terms of combating poverty, capacity build-ing and sustainable growth are in the final analysis the true indicators of the effectiveness of our aid work. And those results do not depend only on what donors do, but also on the quality of policy adopted in the partner countries. We have to acknowledge that the best results are generally achieved in countries that make progress in terms of good governance and democracy. Moreover, alignment to national procedures is easier in countries that have improved the management of their public finances.

Compared to some of its neighbouring countries such as Germany, France and the United Kingdom, Belgian Development Cooperation devotes relatively limited resources to direct bilateral cooperation. The 2008 budget saw the start of a drive to catch up, with an increase of 36.9% (compared to activities in 2007) in the sums allocated to bilateral cooperation with our 18 partner countries. I intend to continue to up direct bilateral cooperation in 2009 and 2010, and it goes without saying that BTC is our partner of preference in this regard – the partner with which we can honour our commitment to increas-ing the amount and effectiveness of aid.

Charles MichelMinister for Development Cooperation

Foreword

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Concluded in August 2006, the Third Management Contract between the Belgian State and BTC came into force in 2007. The contract defines the dis-tribution of responsibilities between BTC and the Federal Administration, set-ting out, in particular, the accountability procedures our agency must follow in its capacity as manager of public funds. In implementing the projects and programmes entrusted to it, BTC now enjoys increased autonomy and has also been given a higher degree of responsibility. Furthermore, the Third Management Contract includes several new provisions which shorten the project cycle and therefore increase the efficiency of Belgian aid.

In order to assume this increased autonomy and responsibility more effec-tively, BTC strengthened its internal and external monitoring bodies in 2007. The Third Management Contract also requires BTC to provide new kinds of expertise, notably in terms of evaluating capabilities and new forms of aid (budget support, delegated cooperation, etc.). Not only BTC, but also the part-ners operating in the recipient countries have been given more responsibility for the implementation of the projects and programmes. Capacity-building is therefore an essential component of our mission with a view to ensuring the long-term sustainability and effectiveness of our efforts. This annual report will provide you with an overview of the different aspects of capacity-build-ing, including initiatives in the area of training. Every year BTC supports thou-sands of students both in Belgium and abroad, and some of them have in fact contributed their views to this publication.

BTC’s portfolio has expanded year after year. Thus, in 2007, the volume of BTC’s activities increased by more than 28% in comparison with the previous year. BTC is particularly proud of the trust several donors have placed in it and intends to make every effort to continue to deserve this trust in the years to come.Since April 2008, BTC has been authorised to carry out a range of tasks entrusted to it by the European Commission. This recognition of the agency’s effectiveness follows on from an external audit conducted in 2007 to evaluate BTC’s financial management as well as its compliance with the principle of non-discrimination and its international standing.

“We realised that we could provide development cooperation in the North too.” This statement by one of the participants in the General Information Cycle reflects the fact that the activities carried out by BTC in Belgium are also of vital importance. In 2007, some 1,000 people took part in an Information Cycle. For their part, the activities conducted under the “Annoncer la Couleur-Kleur Bekennen” awareness programme contributed to fostering a sense of world citizenship among several hundred young people.Thus, while promoting concrete support for development cooperation, BTC also helps to increase awareness of development issues.

BTC has become a valued partner in the Belgian development cooperation sector. As a modern and innovative development cooperation agency, it enjoys international recognition and of course BTC is determined to sustain this momentum into the future.

Carl MichielsPresident of the Management Committee

Foreword

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February: — &CO, BTC’s new magazine This month saw the launch of &CO, BTC’s magazine in DR Congo. The magazine focuses on the key stakeholders in Congolese society: state actors and civil society, journalists, associations, NGOs, students or citizens eager to contribute to rebuilding their country. The second issue (Forests in DRC) was published in June 2007, with the third issue (Special issue on mobility) following in November 2007.

February: — International conference on sustainable management of forests in the Democratic Republic of Congo On the initiative of the Minister for Development Cooperation and HRH Prince Philippe, BTC organ-ised an international conference on the sustainable management of forests in the Democratic Republic of Congo. More than 200 people, both Belgian and foreign, took part in the conference, which was held from 26 to 27 February and brought together politicians, scientists and representa-tives of both the private sector and non-governmental organisations. Following on from this conference, BTC published its third Discussion Paper: What does the future hold for the forests in the Democratic Republic of Congo? Innovative tools and mechanisms for sustainable forest management.

March: — Joint Committee Belgium– VietnamThe Joint Committee Belgium – Vietnam met on Friday 9 March 2007 and signed a new Indicative Cooperation Programme (ICP) for 2007-2010. This programme allocates a budget of some €32 mil-lion to Vietnam, the highest budget ever given to the country to date. The ICP’s main priorities are, on the one hand, water and the environment and, on the other hand, good governance. With a popu-lation of 83 million and average annual economic growth of 8%, Vietnam is well on its way to becom-ing a middle income country (MIC). From this point of view, the conclusion of this new cooperation agreement could also be seen as an exit strategy for the country.

March: — Nigerien delegation on study tour to Belgium As part of the project to increase women’s income in Dosso region, a Nigerien delegation visited Belgium on an 18-day study tour (5 to 23 March). The delegation was made up of 15 women, elected officials and representatives of both civil society and the authorities, all of whom are involved in the project. The project has two aims: boosting women’s capacities through training and exchanging experiences, and raising awareness of development projects in Niger among institutions and the Belgian public.

March: — Joint Committee Belgium – DR CongoThe Joint Committee Belgium – DR Congo met in Kinshasa, and the two countries concluded an Indicative Cooperation Programme for 2008-2010. A total of €195 million has been assigned to the programme, giving an annual budget of €65 million. The last Joint Committee meeting had been held in 1990. The new programme focuses on healthcare, education, basic infrastructure (water and sanitation, energy, roads), agriculture and good governance. Belgium hopes to use the ICP to make a sustainable improvement to the Congolese people’s quality of life. It will do so by homing in on rebuilding the state and strengthening its institutions at national, provincial and local level. A second and equally important section of the programme involves ensuring that the local population has reliable access to high-quality basic services (education, healthcare, water, etc.).

April: — Cooperation agreement between BTC, the Algerian Ministry of Justice and the Federal Public Service Justice This agreement relates to the organisation of training courses for Algerian magistrates and the involvement of Belgian experts in seminars in Algeria as part of the project “Improving training and knowledge among senior officials in the Algerian justice system”. Since the project was launched in September 2004, around thirty magistrates, registrars and senior officials have been able to benefit from training organised by FPS Justice. In 2007 and 2008, around

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forty more senior officials from the Algerian Ministry of Justice will participate in various training courses concentrating on specific topics.

July 2007: — BTC chairs EUNIDA EUNIDA (European Network of Implementing Development Agencies) is a network of national cooperation agencies from various EU Member States. The network, of which BTC is a founding member, has been in existence since 2000 but only officially acquired EEIG (European Economic Interest Grouping) status in June 2006. This allows it to carry out specific missions on behalf of the European Commission. In July 2007, BTC takes up chairmanship of the network for one year.> www.eunida.eu

August: — End of bilateral cooperation with the PhilippinesOn 16 August 2007, the Belgian Integrated Agrarian Reform Support Programme organised a two-day event on the island of Panglao in Bohol province (Philippines). It marked both the completion of the third and final phase of BIARSP and the end of many years of bilateral cooperation between Belgium and the Philippines.

November: — European Development Days 2007The second European Development Days event was held in Lisbon from 7 to 9 November 2007. This European Commission initiative is geared towards all those professionally involved in development cooperation. The event’s main theme in 2007 was ‘climate change and development cooperation’. > www.eudevdays.eu

November: — King’s DayThe dominant theme for King’s Day (15 November) this year was Belgium and international coop-eration. Two young BTC representatives, who had been involved with the Voluntary Service for Development Cooperation, addressed the participants at an academic meeting at the National Palace. At the invitation of the presidents of the Chamber and the Senate, Alexia Sabbe and François Defourny shared their experiences of their first year working with Belgian Technical Cooperation (in Rwanda and Congo respectively) with the guests.

November: — A quest for world citizenship (Q4W): Kleur Bekennen conferenceTo mark its 10th birthday, Kleur Bekennen organised a conference on the concept of world citizen-ship on 29 November 2007. Over 200 people signed up for the conference, the international round table and the debates. Prof. Ervin Laszlo, a philosopher and Nobel Peace Prize nominee, gave a presentation on the possibility of creating a ‘global state’ as an alternative solution to the current world order.

December: — BTC’s 4th international seminar: The Urban Factor BTC held its fourth international seminar from 18 to 19 December 2007 – this year’s theme was urban development. Participants from both Belgium and further afield debated the role interna-tional development cooperation should play in promoting sustainable urban development. They also discussed how development agencies can improve their operational activities in urban settings to prompt a shift from projects implemented in urban settings to real ‘urban projects’ and sustainable urban development. Following on from the seminar, BTC published its third thematic brochure, The city, a development (f)actor, in January 2008. The brochure draws on examples from three BTC projects (in Kinshasa, Quito and Ho Chi Minh City) to show how development cooperation can help people deal with the social, economic, environmental and cultural consequences of urbanisation.

2007 highlights

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Part 1: Capacity-building

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Key steps on the way to aid effectivenessAid effectiveness has been a key concern of the international

community since the end of the 1990s. Donors and development

organisations began to realise that choosing divergent approaches

and different requirements was taking a heavy toll on the countries

they aimed to help. For this reason, donors and partner countries

launched discussions to harmonise the different approaches and

requirements.

Monterrey, 2002

The movement picked up pace with the International Conference on Financing for Development, held in Monterrey (Mexico) in 2002. At this conference, the international community acknowledged the need to increase funding for development cooperation, and more besides. Both donors and partner countries expressed the desire to ensure aid is allocated as effectively as possible.

Rome, 2003

In 2003, representatives of major multilateral development banks, bilateral and international organisations and donor and partner countries met in Rome for the first High-Level Forum on Harmonisation (HLF Rome). They committed to improving the management and effectiveness of aid and agreed to monitor progress made in these areas before the next meeting in 2005.The Rome Declaration on Harmonisation of Aid set out an ambitious pro-gramme of activities:

Ensuring that harmonisation efforts are adapted to the country context —and that assistance is delivered in accordance with partner country priorities;Working to streamline donor practices and procedures; —Identifying ways to amend policies, procedures, and practices adopt- —ed by individual aid organisations and donor countries to facilitate harmonisation;Using the best principles and good practice criteria in the international —development community as a basis for harmonisation.

Paris, 2005

The international community met again in 2005, in Paris this time. Over one hundred governments, bilateral and multilateral organisations, regional devel-opment banks and international institutions ratified the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness at the High-Level Forum in the French capital. They pledged to take specific actions to boost aid efficiency.

Accra, 2008

The third High-Level Forum, due to take place in the Ghanaian capital in September 2008, will capitalise on what was achieved at previous meetings. Representatives of governments, development banks and organisations, international institutions and new donors, private foundations and civil soci-ety will examine how much progress has been made in applying the Paris Declaration and assess what remains to be done.

Source: www.accrahlf.net

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Part 1 : Capacity-building

Capacity-building

Be that as it may, capacity-building is a process that must be led from the inside. Impetus should be given by the partner country and not the donor community, although the latter may take action to accelerate the process. Considerable external encouragement and support for changes and increased involvement of civil society could provide the necessary boost.

Capacity-building is a slow and complex process. Development partners must be aware of this complexity and take it into account in their activities. It is advisable to look at discussions from a long-term point of view, but develop-ment partners are often eager for ‘quick wins’.

Capacity-building, particularly at organisational and institutional levels, is all too often associated with reforms. Reforms may well be essential – and it is interesting to note that they are supported by the international com-munity – but an excessive dose of reforms could prove counter-productive. Furthermore, gradual reforms frequently turn out to be more sustainable than a clean-sweep approach. Development partners should ensure that their initiatives are not harmful and do not have negative effects, as happens when the best local workers are taken on by international development organisa-tions. Initiatives cannot aim to facilitate this sort of brain drain.

International expertise can be a valuable asset for capacity-building, on the condition that it takes account of the complexity and context of a given situa-tion and devises an appropriate strategy. International experience is impor-tant for developing a better idea of a partner country’s problems, but there is a risk that this experience will lead to a ‘copy/paste approach’, with solutions being carried over to other countries as they are.

> The challenge of capacity development: working towards good practice, OECD 2006

Recent reflections on development cooperation have been characterised by a shift in focus, from goods and services provision by international donors towards strengthening stakeholders in partner countries, with a view to facili-tating provision of essential goods and services to the population. An increas-ingly broad consensus is emerging on the reasons why capacity-building is a vital factor in development cooperation activities. Above all, capacity-building is a condition for the sustainable development of a country, and it is also nec-essary for boosting aid effectiveness. But despite this consensus, despite the realisation of how important capacity-building is and despite increased finan-cial efforts, capacity-building has still not been as successful as expected. Of course, there is no magic formula that guarantees sustainable results in the short-term in all situations, but it could be valuable to examine the suc-cesses and failures of capacity-building and try to learn lessons from what has happened.

What is capacity-building?

According to the OECD, capacity is the ability of people, organisations and society to manage their affairs successfully (OECD 2006). This definition does not make any reference to specific goals as such, nor does it explain the meaning of “successfully”.Capacity-building is the process aiming to strengthen, create, adapt and safe-guard a society’s capacities. This takes place at three different levels:

institutional, —organisational, —individual. —

Some important lessons

The three levels of capacity-building are not always taken into account in prac-tice. All too often, creation of capacities focuses on the individual level - edu-cating and training people. Too little attention is given to the fact that people are working in an organisation and that better-trained staff members do not automatically guarantee better results for the organisation. Furthermore, people are mobile. Sustainable creation of capacities at organisational level must ensure that organisations – primarily public institutions – are not overly dependent on individuals. Institutional level must be interpreted in a broader sense. For successful capacity-building, it is vital to remember that individu-als and organisations work in a specific institutional context. Development partners and beneficiaries should pay particular attention to all significant factors in this context, such as professional recognition and encouragement, career management and wage policy. It goes without saying that good man-agement is also essential. The different aspects and levels of capacity-building are interconnected, which implies that the issue should be understood from a global point of view. The opportunities and restrictions are determined by the institutional framework, and, consequently, so is the result achieved by an organisation or individuals. When an organisation’s legitimacy is called into question, we cannot expect it to achieve sustainable, positive results – even if it has been supported at individual and organisational levels. In a weak environment, capacity-building is still a useful exercise, although its impact is diminished somewhat. To increase impact in this context, it is useful to tackle the insti-tutional level at the same time. A number of environmental factors, such as peace, economic growth and political and social trends conducive to good governance, can also speed up the process. Factors hampering capacity-building include civil servants’ salaries, which are sometimes so low that they cannot support their families.

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Belgian Development Cooperation

In recent years, Belgian development cooperation has made every

effort to apply the new aid paradigm. Capacity-building, whether at

individual, organisational or institutional level, has become a pri-

ority in all of BTC’s projects and programmes. A few examples are

given below. Capacity-building is even the sole objective of some pro-

grammes, such as the scholarship programme (p. 13).

Laos and Cambodia: Training Facilities

Since 2004, BTC has been providing Cambodian and Laotian people with free access to a wide range of high-quality seminars, scholarships and training programmes. Training usually takes place in the country itself or in the sur-rounding area. The level of education remains very low in these countries, so the aim of these short, flexible training programmes is to meet highly diverse demands extremely quickly. The programmes directly help people or groups (from civil society or ministries) who would not normally have access to other programmes due to a lack of resources or basic knowledge. The ‘Training Facilities’ therefore appear to be a useful complement to larger-scale pro-grammes. So far, over 3,000 Cambodians have benefited from the programme, as have almost 6,000 Laotians.

Mozambique: knowledge transfer

In 2002, BTC launched a project to help Mozambican authorities rebuild the country’s health infrastructure after the devastating floods of 2000. Passing through the budget of the Mozambican state, Belgian aid went directly to the Investments Department of the Ministry of Public Health, which is in charge of reconstruction efforts.

As part of this project, BTC sent a technical assistant (an architect) to Mozambique to help the relevant department of the Ministry of Public Health to accelerate reconstruction efforts. The Belgian expert helps those in charge of the Ministry to manage investment plans, prepare construction projects and ensure tendering procedures are monitored efficiently. Concretely, his responsibilities include drawing up master plans for hospitals and health cen-tres, organising project teams and standardising models and methods.

The Belgian architect is fully integrated into the Mozambican ministry – he cooperates closely with BTC’s local partner under the supervision of the Mozambican department head and works to strengthen the Mozambican decision-making process. This method is an excellent way of guaranteeing knowledge is transferred effectively while allowing local structures to contin-ue operating with their own methods. Belgian structures do not replace part-ner country structures, nor are there two parallel management structures.

The Mozambican authorities believe this approach to be so valuable that the country has asked for more European Union technical assistance to be based on precisely this principle.

Burkina Faso: support for basic education

Direct financial assistance for basic education in Burkina Faso, provided between 2005 and 2007, allowed BTC to learn some important lessons with regard to aid effectiveness. Financial assistance and a Belgian expert’s involvement in joint sectoral dialogue constituted an important factor in encouraging the development of the state’s public finances and basic educa-tion sector.

There are various advantages to this approach. Unlike so-called ‘clas-sic’ projects, aid is directly aligned to the state’s structures. When several donors provide direct, aligned financial assistance, they will automatically harmonise by targeting the same execution circuits. Coordinated action by several donors and the national partner, with a focus on the national pro-gramme, acts as a strong impetus in favour of institutional development and national capacity-building.

Sectoral dialogue is a strategic platform bringing together the national part-ner and the main donors to discuss the national sectoral programme. The platform is the basis of all analysis of the programme’s development in terms of external contributions, meaning it is a place where stakeholders can jointly identify external support mechanisms, including technical assistance. Donors should develop tools to ensure that the identification and formulation of their sectoral support projects ties in with joint social dialogue and no longer takes place in a bilateral context.

DR Congo: institutional support to the Ministry of Agriculture

Agricultural development is the driving force behind both the economic revival of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the fight against poverty, which is the first of the Millennium Development Goals.However, a consistent institutional framework must be restored if DRC is to relaunch its agricultural sector. The restructuring of DRC’s Ministry of Agriculture is a prerequisite, and the move must promote the application of an efficient, decentralised agricultural policy. Key stakeholders in the process are the government, elected officials and civil society. Restructuring can also happen with the involvement of local communities by making the most of new energy emerging from local governance.As the constitution grants the provinces responsibilities in managing land and agricultural and forestry programmes, it is vital to support provincial plan-ning processes in the government’s place.

Supporting decentralisation is a key issue. It can be done by establishing agricultural councils in provinces, building up genuine partnerships between public operators, private operators and professional organisations for agri-culture, and so on.As regards the organisation of the ministry itself, decentralisation will involve transferring responsibilities to local representative bodies and local profes-sional organisations.There are plans to build up capacities in analysing, forecasting and monitor-ing/evaluating programmes, sectors and projects at all levels.

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Capacity-building: also relevant for Belgium

The main objective of the Paris Declaration is to improve the effectiveness of development cooperation activities. One of the declaration’s main principles is that assistance provided by development partners should be tailored to the priorities and strategies of the countries they aim to help. This means that the developing countries themselves are responsible for their own progress and development partners should not take their place. In this context, we often talk about ownership. This also means that if a beneficiary country does not have the necessary capacity to steer projects, its development partners will dedicate a substantial proportion of aid to capacity-building.

Capacity-building aims to bolster beneficiary countries so they can take charge of their own development. From this point of view, capacity-building does not only apply to individuals following training courses, but also to insti-tutions receiving assistance in improving their organisation and operation and, by extension, to the whole environment, which must be shaped into an enabling environment.This strategic adaptation requires a particular sectoral skill that must be able to generate technical added value. We do not only need specific skills for this – we also need personal skills to help kick-start dialogue and coordinate activities. In other words, technical assistants must be very communicative. They should be facilitators with considerable international experience and they must be able to pass on their knowledge effectively.

In the light of this situation, BTC commissioned a study1 on ‘technical assist-ance’ in 2006. The study is an overview of technical assistance that highlights strengths and weaknesses and puts forward key questions with a view to facilitating fundamental choices. How can BTC attract and retain the experts it needs to successfully conduct its capacity-building mission? And how should capacity-building within BTC be organised to ensure that technical assistants bring real added value to beneficiary countries?

Based on a detailed analysis of its internal skills, BTC is concentrating its efforts on a strategy that allows it to anticipate new needs in time. The agency is also involving decision-makers and the authorities in the process. Furthermore, BTC should build up its network of Belgian and foreign partners with a view to facilitating its search for technical experts and identifying pos-sibilities for specialist training. Similarly, it is vital to define instruments for transferring new knowledge to colleagues.

Each year, BTC organises an international seminar on a specific topic. Recent topics were healthcare, education, the Paris Declaration, and finally, urban development2. These seminars are the ideal opportunity for development pro-fessionals to discuss the latest methods and developments with colleagues from all over the world and to compare these with real situations. BTC also has a tradition of holding summer seminars for technical assistants. At these seminars, international trends in the sector are analysed in the context of BTC’s bilateral operations. The common theme to all of these events is capac-ity-building i.e. ensuring that technical staff have the necessary knowledge to promote capacity-building in beneficiary countries.

1. Changing minds and attitudes – Towards improved Belgian Technical Assistance. BTC Reflection and Discussion Paper, 2006/01, 95 p.

2. The Urban [F]actor, Challenges facing sustainable urban development. Documents from the sem-inar are available on www.btcctb.org . The publication accompanying the seminar includes the speakers’ presentations, questions and answers and recommended reading.


Synergies for communicat-ing on aid effectivenessA joint communication strategy for Accra 2008

The annual meeting of OECD’s network of communicators (Devcom), which was held from 6 to 7 November 2007 in Lisbon, doubly empha-sised aid effectiveness. Richard Manning* himself opened the ses-sion by suggesting that all members should discuss a joint commu-nication strategy for the third summit on aid effectiveness. The idea is for all partner countries supporting development to speak with one voice. How can the members of the network contribute to the forum’s objectives? How can they draw up a joint action plan?

Raising public awareness: a lesson for communicators

In its 2007 report on development cooperation, OECD announced its intention to use the experience it had gained for educational pur-poses by taking twelve lessons from DAC Peer Reviews. Lesson 4 gives details of strategy in terms of raising public awareness. Public awareness of, and support for, development co-operation is funda-mental. Peer reviews demonstrate that strong public support is the best guarantee of political and legislative support for strong and dynamic national development programmes.

The public recognises that the degree of poverty and inequality in the world is both a humanitarian issue and a risk to all our futures. However, there is widespread scepticism about whether official aid is effective in tackling it and whether scarce public funds should be devoted on more than a token scale to purposes outside the country of origin. Encouraging public debate on aid effectiveness and show-ing how the impact of aid is improving the lives of poor people could be ways of winning support.

* At that time, Richard Manning was Chair of the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC)

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Study visitsStudy visits, which usually last one week, are only for people benefiting from BTC projects. Study visits involve a trip to Belgium to familiarise participants with a specific sector of activity or ministry and enable them to learn lessons from what they see.In 2007, Belgium coordinated around ten study visits, with a total of 60 participants.

Rwanda – Support to strengthen justice. —As part of this project, which is jointly managed by BTC and the Rwandan Ministry of Justice, three members of the Rwandan Public Prosecutor’s Office paid a week-long study visit to the Belgian Ministry of Justice in Brussels. The Public Prosecutor’s Office requested this visit as it wanted some ideas on how to modernise the way it handles cases and improve the services it provides to the people.

Senegal – Supporting sanitation in the town — of Saint-Louis.

BTC organised a study visit to Belgium for seven Senegalese officials from the town of Saint-Louis. Their project relates to urban waste man-agement and an engineered landfill site. The aim of the visit was to show the Senegalese delegation as many waste management systems as possible at all different levels (regional, provincial and municipal) with a view to guaranteeing an efficient and environmentally-friendly method of solid household waste management. The study visit also helped create lasting ties between the Senegalese authorities and Belgian stakeholders in the area of waste management.

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Scholarships and internships

In addition to its projects and programmes, Belgian bilateral cooperation offers people a wide range of education and training possibilities: master’s degrees, scholarships for doctorates, scholarships for internships, schol-arships for further study, and so on. Training, transferring knowledge and acquiring skills are essential activities for beneficiary countries to be able to take responsibility for their own development.

In 2007, 1,498 scholarships were awarded for training in Belgium.

Training in Belgium Number %

Scholarships and internships in Belgium 1 249 84 %

Scholarships awarded as part of a BTC project

140 9 %

Scholarships managed by BTC on behalf of other donors

109 7 %

Total 1 498 100 %

A further 3,000 local scholarships were also awarded (see below).

Scholarships and internships in Belgium

Scholarships from bilateral cooperation are awarded for master’s degrees, complementary master’s degrees, doctorates and internships for further training. They tie in with Belgian development cooperation’s geographical, sectoral and thematic priorities.

Geographically speaking, 59% of scholarship recipients come from Sub-Saharan Africa (mainly the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Burundi), 16% from North Africa/Palestine, 11% from Asia and 7% from Latin America.

Looking at the distribution of scholarship recipients according to areas of interest, we can see that many of them choose to study sciences (15%), medi-cine (13%), with a particular focus on public health, and economics (13%). Other areas of interest are agriculture/veterinary medicine (11%), infra-structure (11%), social policy (9%), energy (7%) and finally, education and psychology (5%), environmental sciences (5%) and law (5%), with a focus on human rights issues.

Latin America 7%

Sub-SaharanAfrica59%

Asia 11%

North Africa andPalestine16%

Other 7%

Economics 13%

Infrastructure 11%Sciences 15%

Medecine/pharmacy13%

Agriculture/veterinary medicine 11%

Other 6%Education/psychology

5%

Political/Social9%

Energy7%

Environment5%

Law 5%

Scholarships run on behalf of other donors

Since 2001, BTC has been running the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Belgian scholarship programme. This is not only the result of the outstanding reputation Belgian training courses enjoy abroad – it has also sprung from fruitful cooperation between BTC and various institutions, hospitals, univer-sities, Mol Nuclear Research Centre, companies, ministries and higher edu-cation institutes. In 2007, BTC coordinated 109 scholarships for the atomic energy agency. Scholarship recipients came from Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Argentina, Bosnia, Romania, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Syria. The main areas of focus for training were nuclear medicine, agriculture and the environment.

Local scholarships

An increasing number of students are benefiting from local scholarships, a type of scholarship that is awarded for training in a student’s own country or a neighbouring country. These scholarships can also be awarded for short training activities such as work experience, participation in seminars and col-loquia, and so on.Local scholarships have been more and more successful in the last four years – in 2007, BTC awarded around 3,000 of them. At the moment, local scholar-ships account for a little over 30% of BTC’s scholarship programme.

Issiaka Dembele (Mali)Issiaka Dembele is Malian. He coordinates the NGO Mali-Enjeu’s efforts against child trading. He already holds a

master’s degree in law and would like to specialise in chil-dren’s rights.

His request to BTC for a local scholarship was granted, allow-ing him to follow a two-year master’s course at the University of Dakar in Senegal, as the course he wished to study was not avail-able in Mali.The knowledge he will acquire will allow him to defend chil-dren’s rights more effectively, dealing with areas such as treat-ment of children who have been victims of trafficking or violence; access to housing, food and healthcare; training or support for reintegration.

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testimonials

Haleama Al Sabbah, scholarship recipient, PalestineHaleama Al Sabbah, aged 40, is a nutritionist. She is currently con-ducting research in the Public Health department of the University of Ghent and intends to submit a doctoral thesis on eating habits among Palestinian teenagers.

How do you think your work will help Palestine?I will be the first Palestinian doctoral student in the field of nutrition. I hope that this will encourage Palestinian universities to begin offering specialised courses and research programmes in the area. There is currently demand for lecturers to teach these subjects to students, and I want to be able to continue my research.

Do you intend to work on projects linked to nutrition or will you concentrate on academic work? I’d like to cooperate with organisations working in the field to help teenagers, women and children in the area of nutrition, since, thanks to my studies, I have already developed a vision and gathered ideas and I have the necessary skills to help these sections of the population.

Moreover, all in-depth research on these groups makes it possible to identify their problems more accurately, so intervention and prevention programmes can be put in place against chronic illnesses like diabetes and hypertension, for instance.

Why do you want to work with teenagers?Most nutrition projects in my country focus on women and children. Teenagers are not seen as a priority. This may be due to lack of funding, but it could also be because there is little interest in this age group in Palestine.

What specific issues affect these teenagers? We studied disorders in teenagers’ eating habits – these are related to both nutrition and psychological problems. Sometimes, the two are linked. We observed a high occurrence of such disorders in the Gaza area.

Could you tell us about the assistance you’ve received from BTC during your stay here? BTC is already giving me a monthly salary! It’s not very high (€1,000), but it lets me conduct my research. However, I’m not satisfied with my housing conditions. I live in a rented room, and living in a room for four years is nei-ther easy nor comfortable. For doctoral students, accommodation is both a workspace and a living area, and even a base for a social life.

Do you intend to return to Palestine?It all depends on the situation over there. I don’t know how the situation will develop in the country. It’s highly likely that I will return, but I’m not sure. Sometimes I think about aiming for post-doctoral qualifications and continu-ing my studies in nutrition.

Do you like your life here in Belgium?Yes. Personally, I like Europe. It’s safe and I feel at ease here – there are no checkpoints and I can go where I please without anyone asking what I’m thinking.

Ibrahim Hannanou Katinka, scholarship recipient, NigerIbrahim, aged 26, is a quality control engineer at the Nigerien Ministry of Trade. Thanks to a scholarship from BTC, he is currently studying for a complementary master’s degree in food science and technology at the University of Gembloux.

How will your studies boost your skills? This master’s course covers all aspects of food technology. We study food production and conservation methods, nutritional components and, above all, we learn to identify a product’s quality criteria.

This type of scholarship allows officials to pursue further training, which is really essential for the development of poor countries in the South. We can build up contact with people who are familiar with the relevant field and are aware of the challenges faced by our country.

Once I get back to Niger, I will be able to put everything I’ve learned into practice and pass on my new knowledge to other people. From a development point of view, I think it’s good to give poorer countries logistical and financial support, but it’s vital to develop their stakeholders’ capacities. With these scholarships, BTC is taking action in both areas, and that is very important.

What capacities does Niger need? The most important thing is to foster knowledge and research in agronom-ics, which is a key area for Nigeriens. The country repeatedly suffers from food shortages and we lack the scientific capacities to ensure that we get the best possible production yield, whether from agriculture or livestock farming. We’ve also been very badly affected by the consequences of global warming.

How can quality control, your specialism, contribute to Niger’s economic development? Onions are Niger’s second-biggest export. To give you some idea of the fig-ures involved, we produce 400 million tonnes of onions a year and they are exported to other countries in the subregion. We would like to introduce a quality label for our most famous onions, Galmi onions.

Without quality standards, we can’t break into the European and American markets. The quality of our onions is very high, but they don’t look good enough to be sold in Europe and America. Producers must be able to improve conditions for storage, transport and conditioning. This complementary train-ing could have a massive impact on our project to introduce quality labels for Galmi onions.

What’s your life like in Gembloux?It’s good to live in a quiet area so I can focus on my studies! (laugh) People in Gembloux are very open and welcoming because they’re used to seeing people from the four corners of the world come to study here. Besides, there are 39 different nationalities in my university residence! Since we’re all from the South, we’ve come to realise that we all have the same prob-lems and we exchange points of view on ways to find solutions. This has been a very enriching experience for me, from both a scientific and a human point of view.

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Alicia Pabón, scholarships officer – Ecuador Alicia Pabón was born in Quito, Ecuador, a city perched high in the Andes at an altitude of over 2,800 metres.

How long have you worked as a scholarships officer at BTC? I’ve been working for BTC since 2002. They initially recruited me for my administrative profile, and I gradually took over responsibility for scholar-ships and micro-projects.

I interact easily with other people, which is a valuable characteristic when working with young scholarship students. It’s important to evaluate what young people want and what they expect when they apply for a scholarship.

How do you think BTC’s scholarships bring added value to Ecuador’s development? The scholarships have added value in two areas – expertise and openness to the world. Study scholarships abroad, particularly in Europe, are neces-sary because they allow Ecuadorian graduates to increase their level of education.University courses in Europe are of higher quality than here in South America. This is particularly the case for medical courses. Studying abroad allows people to broaden their horizons and experience other cultures and customs, which can also be very enriching.

Is it worth sending students to Belgium? Wouldn’t it be better to build the capacities of Ecuadorian universities? The two aren’t mutually exclusive – providing scholarships can also give a boost to the Ecuadorian academic world. And the scholarships definitely bring added value in the way they open people’s minds to the world.

What areas of knowledge do BTC scholarships focus on?The primary focus of BTC scholarships in Ecuador is healthcare and rural development, but they also deal with cross-sectoral issues such as gender, AIDS and children’s rights. We mainly need doctors specialising in public health, economists and educa-tionalists. The Ecuadorian government is prioritising support for the develop-ment of the health and education sectors.

Do BTC’s activities correspond to the country’s needs?There’s always room for improvement. I think Ecuador needs support from development cooperation with a view to building its institutional capacities. This will allow us to develop our public institutions and help the people who live in rural Ecuador.

How do you choose scholarship recipients? During the selection process, we try to favour people from the provinces and women, who still suffer discrimination in terms of access to education and training. We also take account of the economic conditions in which applicants live.Another important factor is knowledge of foreign languages. People here can’t learn foreign languages if they don’t live in major towns, which is a seri-ous problem. That’s why we only offer 8 to 10 scholarships in our interna-tional programme, while we run 158 local and regional scholarships.

Study scholarships in Ecuador train young people to be accountants, compu-ter experts, health assistants or nurses. We send our post-graduate scholar-ship students all over South America.

What do you think of young Ecuadorians?They strike me as very ambitious and curious about everything. They aren’t fatalistic, like many people from my generation. They have a real thirst for knowledge, they’re open to the world and they’re confident of their own capacities. This is a fantastic new development – maybe it’s a positive aspect of globalisation.

How do you follow up on scholarships? I invest a lot of time in our young scholarship students. I contact them regu-larly to see how they are adapting and to monitor their work. I talk to them a lot. If I wasn’t passionate about my work, it’d be useless! I may be just a drop in the ocean when it comes to improving living conditions in my country, but in spite of everything, I hope to play a part in its development.

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International Services

The International Services department represents BTC within Eunida (European Network of Implementing Development Agencies), a network bringing together implementing development agencies from seven EU member states, as well as four observers. BTC has held the presidency of the network since July 2007.

After fruitful cooperation with the European Commission in crisis and post-conflict situations in Lebanon (Improvement of criminal investiga-tion at all points in the criminal justice chain – lead donor: FIIAPP, Spain) and Palestine (Temporary International Mechanism – lead donor: GTZ, Germany), Eunida has implemented an institution-building programme to support the government in Haiti (lead donor: FCI, France), jointly funded by the European Commission, Spain and France. Its aim was the quick provision of high-level strategic support to identify the gov-ernment’s priorities and determine what type of organisation would be necessary for applying them. This initiative put Eunida’s added value into perspective, particularly its capacity to rapidly mobilise public-sector experts in complex conditions.

www.eunida.eu

When they created BTC, Belgian legislative authorities wanted to make the new organisation’s expertise available to other national and interna-tional organisations fighting poverty. This is the role of BTC’s International Services department (IS), which came into being in 2003.

In 2007, IS helped to bolster direct bilateral cooperation, ensured the development of synergies with other donors, contributed to the application of the Paris Declaration and the European code of conduct and made its expertise available to partner governments, with capacity-building as its priority.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, IS mainly performs activities linked to water, governance and health. The Water programme, which is the result of a concerted effort by several donors (Belgium, the United Kingdom, the European Union, France) aims to guarantee sustainable access to drinking water for two million people.

The Programme for the Restoration of Justice in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a joint programme run by Belgium, the European Union, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, builds up judicial capacities in the area, which was the most severely affected by the conflict.

As for the healthcare sector, the World Bank has entrusted BTC with the management of two projects for modernising the health districts of Mbandaka (in Equateur Province) and Mongala. Activities in these districts are part of a larger-scale project aiming to support healthcare in five prov-inces (the support project for rehabilitating the healthcare sector).

In Mali, BTC, acting on behalf of the European Union, is providing sup-port for reforming decentralisation. The aim of the Regional Development Support Programme for the North is to give a new impetus for local devel-opment in the regions of Kidal, Timbuktu and Gao. The programme is com-mitted to boosting the capacities of stakeholders in these three regions as regards strategically planning and implementing a form of regional development that is coherently and jointly conducted at local, regional and national level.

In 2007, BTC also acted through IS to mobilise European funds in Tanzania, Rwanda and DRC, in the framework of the Water Facility.

In Ecuador, BTC is working closely with Lux-Development on a project to build and equip Macas general hospital in Morona-Santiago Province. BTC also supports the process to reform the healthcare sector through the PASSE programme (Programa de Apoyo al Sector Salud en Ecuador), which is funded by the European Commission.

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Part 2: Activities per country

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Fair Trade Centre

The Fair Trade Centre is a Belgian federal government body aimed at provid-ing direct support to fair trade. It is run by BTC.

The centre has various tasks: coordinating the Fair Trade Week; supporting producer organisations in developing countries; establishing a Fair Trade Observatory; and organising discussion platforms and meetings between the sectoral players.

The Fair Trade Centre organises the national Fair Trade Week every October in conjunction with the main organisations in the sector.

Promotions and special product displays in a range of sales outlets, media campaigns, celebrity events and backing from businesses and institutions: all combine to make this special week the fair trade event of the year.

The Fair Trade Week also raises awareness of fair trade. Today, 86% of indi-viduals responsible for household purchases have heard of fair trade – a sub-stantial improvement on 2002, when only 32% knew about it.

As in previous years, the Fair Trade Centre commissioned a study on the market for fair trade products in Belgium, as well as a poll amongst consum-ers. These surveys provide fair trade players with the information they need about the market situation in Belgium and the Belgian public’s perception of fair trade.

In 2007 the Be Fair Awards, trophies awarded for the two best Belgian fair trade initiatives, were won by Mondoh and Ethicstore. Mondoh brings togeth-er local Belgian products and certified fair trade ingredients from countries in the South. Ethicstore is an on-line store for fair trade products.

2007 saw the Fair Trade Centre substantially stepping up its support to fair trade producers by financing different innovative projects. This took the form of two feasibility studies (on fair trade certification for marginalised soya producers and gold) and also of the establishment of an international com-pany for selling Amazon nuts – a company in which producers will own a third of the shares.

In total, the Fair Trade Centre financed 23 projects: nine in Africa, eight in Latin America and six in Asia.

In 2007 the Fair Trade Centre organised various round-table discussions between Belgian players in the sector to define, amongst other things, a common set of basic objectives and priorities for fair trade.

2007 was the last full year of the first General Information Cycle imple-mentation agreement, giving us the perfect opportunity to reflect on the programme’s relevance by asking the sectoral players about their training needs.

It was also a year for capitalising on the experience acquired since the pro-gramme was taken on by BTC in 2002, as well as implementing the recom-mendations of the 2005-2006 effectiveness study that surveyed former participants.

Nearly 1,000 participants

In 2007, 525 participants took part in the French-speaking programme and 436 in its Dutch-speaking equivalent. With eleven cycles (in French and Dutch) organised throughout the year, each programme attracted an average of 44 participants.

Each Information Cycle ends with a wrap-up discussion. In addition to written evaluations by the individual participants, there are small-group discussions to pinpoint the main benefits the participants have gained from the training. Here are some extracts from what they had to say:

“The training course boosted our motivation and desire to get involved in development work. […] The course expanded our vision of development work to include the overall picture. […] We also have a more realistic view of cooperation, involving critical assessment of what is going on. […] We now realise that doing development work in the North can be just as useful as going to the South.” Participants in the April 2007 Information Cycle.

“We learned that ‘development’ is an extremely complex issue and that it is essential to have an understanding of the environment in which you are operating. […] Now we have a more ‘modern’ view of development than the clichés and stereotypes we had before.” Participants in the July 2007 Information Cycle.

Sectoral organisations in Belgium

In 2007 consultants examined the needs of the sector for short courses on development issues. In all, almost 150 players from the international solidar-ity sector in Belgium were surveyed.

The results of the study show that the Information Cycle is “generally appre-ciated by the surveyed organisations. Its main benefits are that it provides people who don’t really have experience of development cooperation with a good general overview of the sectors involved and broadens the horizons of technical experts specialising in a specific issue. The organisations see the main aim of the Information Cycle as informative: in their view, it is about providing information, raising awareness and possibly general upgrading; they definitely do not see it as contributing to the professional or skills train-ing of their staff.”

In 2008, the new agreement will use the results of this analysis and the les-sons learned from the monitoring and evaluation process to plan and launch a revised Information Cycle that retains the advantages of the previous version while modernising and adapting the Information Cycle to meet the identified needs of the sector and its target group.

General Information Cycle

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Part 2: Activities in Belgium

The Voluntary Service for Development Cooperation (VSDC) gives volunteers the opportunity to have their first professional experience in the develop-ment cooperation sector.

This new project was launched in 2006, but it was in 2007 that it began to take shape and face up to the realities of international development cooperation.

Over this period, the team was able to take ownership of the project and, on the basis of initial work and debriefings, they began to think about what improvements and adjustments would be desirable.

Various different approaches were adopted: ‘volunteers’ will now be known as ‘Junior Assistants’, local partners will be involved in coaching volunteers and VSDC’s values (citizenship, professionalism and self-development) will be clearly defined and eventually implemented throughout the different stages of the project.

VSDC runs its annual selection process in January and, based on this, con-ducts two training programmes and sends recruits into the field in June and December.

This year, there were initially 258 candidates, 75 of whom passed the selec-tion process for inclusion in the recruitment pool. Of these, 43 were then trained and posted abroad. This brings the number of active volunteers in the field in 2007 up to 79, including the 36 who were selected in 2006.

Although it is impossible for this text to give details of all the added value volunteers have brought to projects, it seems clear, on the basis of evalua-tions and initial visits to the field, that their work is highly appreciated by both coaches and local partners. Project participants also emphasise the volun-teers’ contribution to creating an encouraging environment for the project.

It is noteworthy that all of the 29 volunteers posted abroad in 2006 asked for their contracts to be renewed at the end of their first year, and that all of these requests were accepted by the coaches and local partners.

The first contract year was concluded with individual and collective debrief-ing. Many lessons were learned from this process, and these can be used to improve BTC’s activities.

Young people have been very enthusiastic about VSDC from the outset. VSDC’s page quickly became one of the five most visited pages on the BTC site, with the number of visitors sometimes even exceeding 3,000 a day when applications are open.

Another important aspect of the project is its activities to make the Belgian people more aware of development. The volunteers’ blog was launched with this in mind: www.blogcooperation.be. This vital communication tool will become a platform for exchanges between volunteers and all those inter-ested in international development cooperation.

Voluntary Service for Development Cooperation

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Annoncer la Couleur

2007 saw the tenth anniversary of the development education programme Annoncer la Couleur (ALC). The programme – a Federal Development Cooperation initiative – is conducted in partnership with the provinces throughout Belgium’s French Community.

Since it was launched ten years ago, ALC has led campaigns underpinned by partnerships, joint ventures and synergies with the development education sector. Drawing on these experiences, the programme has developed active, participatory educational approaches to raise young Belgians’ awareness of North-South relations, with a special emphasis on developing the capacity of players in the education sector.

Training days in Brussels and the provinces give teachers and activity lead-ers the chance to try out education packs before subsequently using them with their own classes and groups. Indeed, what is special about ALC is that it supports educational and youth actors by developing their skills and also supporting their awareness-raising work by offering them loan instruments, methodological advice and a programme of local cultural activities (thea-tre, didactic exhibitions, films followed by debates, etc.) to encourage young people to ponder the topics raised by the campaigns.

The completion in 2007 of Planetanime, a range of almost 250 educational tools developed by over 80 organisations in French-speaking Belgium is an example of the valuable and diverse partnerships between Annoncer la Couleur and the development education sector. This simple and fun range is currently available on loan both from provincial sponsors and online at www.annoncerlacouleur.be.

In 2007 work began on revamping the website to make it a more interactive, fully fledged educational tool.

Finally – following migration, democracy and globalisation – cooperation was the theme covered in 2007 with the development of an educational pack Cooper’Action, explorons ensemble un monde plus juste [Cooper’Action – exploring a fairer world together]. Faced with the individualism in society and the harmful effects of unbridled competition, ALC sought to make people think about collective solidarity, alert youngsters to the forces and difficulties at play in cooperation in a group or between social groups in both the North and the South.

In this light, a new training module was developed, comprising two days of teaching during which the instructors consider the importance and benefits of cooperative practices with an eye to enhancing solidarity with the South.

In 2007, the programme involved 27 groups of youngsters in projects, or almost 2,000 in all. 15,000 young people participated in a cultural awareness-raising activity and 1,000 teachers attended a day of training, thus indirectly sensitising nearly 20,000 youngsters.

> www.annoncerlacouleur.be

Part 2: Activities in Belgium

Kleur Bekennen

Kleur Bekennen is an awareness-raising programme that promotes and sup-ports active world citizenship amongst children and young people. Schools can contact Kleur Bekennen for advice on global education in schools, train-ing, financial support, free loans of educational material and over 600 work-shops relating to diversity, sustainable development, peace, human rights and the world’s North-South divide.

In 2007 Kleur Bekennen gave over 157,000 pupils, teachers and trainee teach-ers a taste of world citizenship, with Kleur Bekennen staff providing guidance and support to more than 700 Flemish schools in their efforts to introduce pupils to other cultures. There was also a chance for all schools in Flanders to compete for top prize in the second world citizenship competition.

To mark ten years of the programme (1997-2007), Kleur Bekennen organised additional activities in a number of provinces. In Ghent and Leuven over 400 people took part in global workshops, presentations and debates. Singer Ronny Mosuse provided entertainment with the story of his trip to Congo and a live performance.

On 29 November 2007 the Quest for World Citizenship congress once again attracted more than 200 devotees to debates and presentations on world citizenship. Kleur Bekennen invited a number of experts to take part in dis-cussions, including professors Ervin Lászlo, Hendrik Pinxten, Paul Cliteur, Eric Corijn and Ludo Abicht and international speakers from the Development Education Research Centre in London, the Global Education Network Europe (GENE)1 and the Dutch National Commission for International Cooperation and Sustainable Development (NCDO).

In its drive to keep abreast of social developments, Kleur Bekennen brought out three successful new publications in 2007:

Dertig visies op wereldburgerschap [Thirty visions of —world citizenship], in which thirty people with a clear vision of world citizenship take a critical look at Kleur Bekennen’s vision statement.Expeditie Exchange [Exchange Expedition] — , in which Kleur Bekennen gives schools tips on contact with projects and schools in the South. This guide reflects the increasing importance of the so-called ‘fourth pillar’.Wereldburgerschap op school [World citizenship in —schools] is the result of intensive cooperation between development education, the educational sector and NGOs in response to schools’ demands for a sustainable global policy.

Building on its success in 2006, Kleur Bekennen organised three expert forums: the first on teaching and education (March 2007), the second on diversity (May 2007) and the third on media education (June 2007). As in the previous year, these attracted a great deal of interest.

In 2007 Kleur Bekennen launched the first electronic platform on world citi-zenship in schools. New links and comments related to this topic are added to its blog (http://kleurbekennen.wordpress.com [in Dutch]) daily. As with all Kleur Bekennen initiatives, the central focus here is on quality.

Kleur Bekennen also contributed material and funding to television reports on globalisation (see www.globalisering.org [in Dutch]).

Kleur Bekennen continues to maintain its frequent contacts with all the Flemish education networks, the education inspectorate and the Flemish Education Ministry. Internationally, Kleur Bekennen is expanding its network by developing con-tacts with the Dutch National Commission for International Cooperation and Sustainable Development (NCDO), Global Education Network Europe (GENE) and the Development Education Association (DEA2).

In 2008 the programme will be reworked to make it even more efficient in future. > www.kleurbekennen.be

1. European global education platform of which Kleur Bekennen is a member.2. UK global education agency

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Following a nine-year interruption, partly due to the civil war, Belgium and the Democratic Republic of Congo resumed cooperation in 2000. Since then, BTC’s involvement has been increasing constantly. The bilateral cooperation’s portfolio of projects and programmes for 2000-2012 (initiatives that are completed, planned, underway and in preparation) is worth over €470 million. Since 2002, BTC has also been implement-ing projects on behalf of other donors (including the World Bank, DFID, the European Union, AFD, the Japanese govern-ment and the Dutch development cooperation agency), with a particular focus on healthcare, good governance and basic infrastructure. After the free, democratic elections of 2006, DRC and Belgium held a Joint Committee in March 2007; the last had been held in 1990.

At the 2007 meeting, the two countries signed an Indicative Cooperation Programme setting out the aims, sectors and themes of cooperation between the two countries for the 2008-2010 period. The Programme is worth a total of €195 million, or up to €65 million per year.

The programme takes into account the Congolese govern-ment’s agenda, its strategy to boost growth and reduce pov-erty, and the principles of harmonization and alignment of aid as outlined in the Paris Declaration.

Five sectors were identified as priorities for cooperation: healthcare, education, basic infrastructure (water, sanitation, energy, roads), agriculture and good governance. In accordance with the Paris Declaration’s principle of align-ing aid, the Indicative Cooperation Programme focuses on the following key concerns of the Congolese government:

encouraging good governance and cementing peace —through institution-building; strengthening macroeconomic stability and growth; —improving access to social services; —fighting HIV/AIDS; —bolstering agriculture and rural development; —promoting community dynamics. —

Belgium wants to contribute to a sustainable improvement of the Congolese people’s living conditions. It considers the main ways of achieving this objective to be rebuilding and strength-ening the State’s institutions at central, provincial and local level. A second – and equally important – area of focus con-sists of ensuring that the people have access to good reliable basic services. The decentralisation process is also essential. With a view to maximising the involvement of the beneficiaries in the

decision-making, the provinces have been granted increased responsibilities in several key sectors, including primary, sec-ondary and vocational education, medical services, agricul-tural programmes, urban and rural development and water supply.

Institutional support DRC is currently trying to work its way out of a multifaceted crisis that played a major part in the breakdown of the public sector. For five years now, BTC has been making efforts to support DRC through projects and programmes designed to boost social cohesion but also through institutional support provided to several ministries by high-level experts. BTC is funding the work of several experts to support three ministries and one state office.

Three experts are currently working at the Ministry —of Planning. Their mission consists of: strengthening capacities in formulation, implementation and follow-up of macroeconomic and sectoral policies; improving the coordination, planning and follow-up of external aid; improving draft policies as regards regional planning and land development; and building the ministry’s insti-tutional capacities in line with the Paris Declaration’s implementation and monitoring plan. One expert is supporting the General Secretariat for —Agriculture at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Livestock Farming. Three experts are assisting the Ministry of Transport. —Two of them, a civil aviation specialist and a transport policy expert, are working in the Minister’s office, while the other, a specialist in harbour management, is involved with the National Transport Office.

Seven new institutional support projects are currently being formulated. They will be implemented in the Civil Service, Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Interior, Budget, Planning, Transportation and Communication minis-tries and the provincial parliaments. The overall aim is to encourage the gradual decentralisation. For this to be achieved, it will be necessary to build ministry staff’s human resources capacities and ensure the ministries are able to develop strategies and policies in all the areas for which they are responsible. Based on this, it will be possible to implement a form of targeted structural institutional sup-port across a larger number of ministries, using a more cohe-sive and coordinated approach.

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Democratic Governance

BTC provides support in all areas through the project to reform Congolese public administration. This complex reform is implemented by establishing various reform structures within the Congolese administration and by strengthening civil servants’ capacities. Belgian civil servants provide signif-icant amounts of support in the form of individual mentoring. This project’s support has already enabled 29 reform struc-tures (operational cells and strategy committees) to be put in place in Kinshasa. In their work, these cells aim to stream-line responsibilities, structures and jobs in the Congolese central administration. The project is being coordinated from within the Ministry of the Civil Service, which is responsible for steering the reform. Belgium is providing up to €4 million in funding until June 2008 and plans to extend the project to 2011, with a budget of €5 million to €10 million. The project works in synergy with other donors supporting governance in DRC (including UNDP, the World Bank, DFID and the European Union), who are in dialogue with the Congolese government within the Thematic Group for Administrative and Political Governance (GTGPA).

The project also cooperates closely with another Belgian project, which is providing support to the Ministry of Health’s Department of Studies and Planning by performing an institu-tional audit to ensure the necessary reforms are taking place in public administration.

In the east of DRC there is an urgent need to strengthen the position of executives and support staff in all state services (prisons, judicial police, civil and military public prosecu-tor’s offices and civil and military courts and tribunals). In 2006, four donors (Belgium, the European Union, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands) set up REJUSCO, a project to restore justice in DRC. The €15.7-million project, which is executed by BTC, aims to restore the judicial system and the rule of law. Concretely, this project involves fighting impunity in the areas worst affected by the war, rebuilding prisons and courts, training those who work in the justice system (judicial police officers, investigators, and so on) and combating both ordinary crime and war crimes. The programme puts in place tools to ensure that there is a high-quality justice system in the provinces in the east of DRC while increasing the public’s awareness of their rights.

Looking to the future

A key challenge for BTC will be to continue adapting its activi-ties to institutional and political developments in DRC. To do this, it will need to maintain and build up its operational capacities, its know-how and its range of services to make sure that these are sufficient to meet commitments made by Belgium and other donors.

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Part 2: Abroad

The latest Indicative Cooperation Programme (ICP), adopted at the 2006 Joint Committee meeting, reflects Rwanda’s priorities as set out in the Vision 2020 plan and the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) as well as a commitment to coordinate with other development partners.

The ICP provides for a 2007-2010 budget of €140 million broken down across four priority sectors, with 44% going to rural development (agriculture, rural energy, water and sani-tation), 29% to health, 9% to education, 9% to good govern-ance (decentralisation, strategic planning and justice) and the remaining 9% to multi-sector interventions.

Direct budget support

In a first for Rwanda, and in line with the wishes of the Rwandan authorities, €26 million - 19% of the overall ICP budget - will be allocated as budget support for the health-care, education and justice sectors.

This reflects the fact that the best option for the Rwandan government is general or sectoral budget support and HR capacity building.

On balance, implementation of the new ICP in 2007 was very successful since all the formulations planned for that year were carried out on time and resulted in specific signed agreements and implementation of activities at the start of the following year. These related to: support for the horticul-tural sector (€4 million), support for criminal investigations (€4 million), two projects to support electrification of rural communities (€15 million) and implementation of a capacity-building programme for the public administration (€5 million). In addition, at the partner’s request, two budget support pro-grammes focusing on health (€8 million) and education (€8 million) had been successfully prepared and finalised by the end of 2007.

The interventions that have been prepared are based entirely on the country’s general or sectoral strategies and incorporate a holistic appreciation of its social, cultural and economic realities.

Moreover, the local authorities view BTC’s follow-up/evaluation of projects as a model of transparency, partnership and efficien-cy and a benchmark for the management of external assistance.

Finally, it goes without saying that, with a view to sustainable development, BTC-managed projects and programmes in all fields devote a significant chunk of their budgets to capacity building of line ministries and other stakeholders as well as local government staff and personnel involved in day-to-day implementation of activities.

Capacity building

One major initiative adopted by the latest Joint Committee was the creation of a capacity-building support programme. The genocide of 1994 left a void in the public administration, affecting infrastructure but also impacting on strategic plan-ning and the numbers of qualified staff.

Although reconstruction is under way, the functioning of insti-tutions is still far from optimal due to a number of capacity-related constraints. As in many countries, capacity building is a permanent feature of interventions financed by develop-ment partners, but it is heavily fragmented and channelled via projects relating, in most cases, to particular sectors or to highly specialised sub-sectors.

Nonetheless, in Rwanda as elsewhere, it is important to build local capacities with a view to drawing up sustainable devel-opment strategies based on participative approaches.

Rwanda has established a Multi-sector Capacity Building Programme (MSCBP). Implemented by the Human Resources and Institutional Capacity Development Agency (HIDA), its role is to coordinate and support preparation and implemen-tation of capacity-building measures.

The Belgian development cooperation programme aims to assist HIDA in its main tasks, namely to develop human resources through training and upskilling and strengthen the organisational capacity of public bodies.

In the same field, the project to support development and imple-mentation of the Rwandan Ministry of Public Service and Labour (MIFOTRA) strategy on vocational training for adults is helping MIFOTRA to define a national coordination framework in this sector. Practical BTC-backed measures aim to support the min-istry in establishing a good match, both national and regional, between the labour market and available vocational training.

Institutional support

BTC is helping to provide institutional support for the overall strategic planning process used by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MINECOFIN).

In an original move that ties in with the objective of harmo-nisation advocated by the Paris Declaration, the project is contributing to a joint fund aimed at, amongst other things, financing training activities for MINECOFIN staff and those of other technical ministries and local authorities and pur-chasing the equipment and software needed for institutional development.

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A BTC expert has been assigned to MINECOFIN to help it achieve its objectives. Working in perfect coordination with the other development partners, BTC is thus helping to build strategic planning capacity at the central, sectoral and decen-tralised levels and in terms of controlled management of public expenditure planning.

Education

In the education sector, Belgian development cooperation is contributing to €11.5 million of sectoral budget support (SWAP), which the Ministry of Education (MINEDUC) will use to fund basic education and improve the quality of its services.

In this context, a working group comprising development partner and MINEDUC representatives ensures a regular exchange of ideas and initiatives which helps to boost the ministry’s strategic and budget planning capabilities.

Alongside this, BTC also contributes to a joint capacity-building fund for the education sector through the provision of a permanent consultant. In the same sector, the support project for basic education in Rwanda has a capacity-building component which underpins the quality of the intervention. As well as revising science curricula, the project aims to publish school textbooks, purchase teaching equipment for the coun-try’s 620 lower secondary schools, train the staff respon-sible for the quality of science teaching and also train staff from the institutions that monitor teaching (the Inspectorate General and the Examinations Council).

These examples only scratch the surface of what is a much more in-depth and multifaceted system. Indeed, the capac-ity-building approach underlies most of the projects pre-pared and carried out by BTC in Rwanda in all the sectors in which it operates, from healthcare to rural energy develop-ment, justice to agriculture, decentralisation support to the environment.

Targeting all of the country’s human, scientific, technical, administrative, institutional and financial resources, capac-ity building is about delivering assistance that meets the needs experienced by the Rwandan people. Though it may not always enable rapid disbursements in the same way as infra-structure building or equipment supply, it is vital for harmoni-ous and sustainable development and effective and account-able governance. To conclude, we should acknowledge a major initiative relating to the volunteer programme. In consultation with local offi-cials, proposals have been put forward to get young Rwandan

professionals working alongside BTC’s junior experts, where they will enjoy the same sort of support and guidance from activity managers as their Belgian counterparts.

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Part 2: Abroad

In accordance with the new Indicative Cooperation Programme 2007-2009, Belgium’s bilateral assistance to Burundi has gradually shifted away from an approach based on the direct provision of public services to the population in need, and is increasingly focusing on capacity building as well as on institutional and organisational support for Burundian public partners.

Capacity building in the context of post-conflict reconstruction Currently, responsibilities are being transferred mainly to the executive personnel of technical government departments with a view to strengthening their role as regulators and pro-viders of quality public services.

To this end, Belgium is implementing numerous training and support programmes for members of the police force as well as for personnel in the vocational training and basic health-care sectors and the judiciary, in addition to providing equip-ment and infrastructure, which are still essential in the con-text of reconstruction.

The recent development of four projects to provide institution-al support to the Ministries of Health, Education, Agriculture and Justice highlights the increasing shift of bilateral coop-eration towards the provision of assistance with planning and coordination activities as well as in terms of ensuring the effective long-term management of human resources in gov-ernment departments.

Belgium’s efforts to help with the reconstruction of the Burundian State are based on the broadest conception of assistance: not only the Burundian Government but also Parliament and the judiciary are receiving significant support. A balanced approach to bilateral assistance is important in a fragile democratic system such as exists in Burundi. It is equally important to adopt a perspective of long-term support and to give special attention to “conflict sensitivity issues”.

Improving on existing practices In concrete terms, gearing the current bilateral cooperation activities to capacity building involves promoting better prac-tices, a change in attitudes and the adoption of new concepts by the executive personnel of the targeted public institutions in Burundi.

The police force The continuing professional development programme imple-mented as part of the project to assist the National Police of

Burundi provides individual training modules open to all mem-bers of the police force.

This training programme is resulting in increased motivation and the effective acquisition of new skills by police constables and sergeants. The seminars conducted in cooperation with the Belgian police on the subject of community-based policing are undoubtedly promoting the adoption of this concept and its integration in the strategies and policies of the Ministry of Public Security and the Directorate-General of the National Police.

Healthcare The provision of further training for healthcare personnel and specialised equipment under the National Leprosy and Tuberculosis Control Programme is another good example of bilateral cooperation with tangible results.

Between 2004 and 2006, the national cure rate for tuberculo-sis increased significantly, up from 36% to 66%. According to studies conducted at project management level, these results flow directly from the intense training and support received by community health workers, nurses and doctors under this nationwide programme.

Consultancy Fund In addition to the many individual capacity-building pro-grammes developed on a bilateral basis, Belgian cooperation is currently providing Burundian ministries and public serv-ices with a Fund for the financing of consultancy services in the short, medium and long term.

The Fund provides for the financing of national and interna-tional experts to support the central administration as well as public institutions’ decentralised structures with a view to improving administrative organisation, providing better insti-tutional support and developing more efficient management structures, among other goals.

This kind of close support is provided on a daily basis (often over a period of several months) and is flexible in order to respond to actual needs. Thus, for example, the National Education Ministry will be offered international expertise during several months to develop a sectoral education plan.

These activities, carried out in close cooperation with the personnel of the Ministry, make it possible to transfer knowl-edge and skills in the area of planning and budgeting, thus ensuring ownership of the goals and objectives of the sec-toral plan. The plan will guide the policies of the Ministry for

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several years, offering all the various development partners a structured framework for their assistance activities.Bilateral cooperation also aims to provide support for the coordination of foreign assistance to Burundi. To this end, BTC will assign an international expert to the National Aid Coordination Committee (CNCA) of Burundi for a period of two years to support the implementation of its action plan.

Assistance will focus more specifically on the development of effective strategies to deploy, implement and monitor/evalu-ate official development assistance in accordance with the principles of the Paris Declaration.

The Permanent Secretariat of the CNCA will be backed, throughout the operational phase, by the Burundi Development Partners’ Coordination Group (GCPD), which brings together the development partners involved in international coopera-tion in Burundi, among them BTC.

Mozambique is a pioneer in developing Poverty Reduction Strategy Programmes (PRSPs). While continuing to focus on extending and enhancing social services, such as health and education, the current PRSP also emphasises the need to foster growth by creating an environment where the private sector can flourish (by promoting reforms that improve gov-ernance and reduce the cost of doing business). BTC activities in Mozambique support this PRSP in a general way (through its involvement in budget support) and through targeted sup-port for enhancing the Public Finance Management system and health infrastructure.

BTC supports reform and enhancement of the Public Finance Management System by making contributions to a Common Fund, together with five other donors and the government of Mozambique, and providing a technical assistant for follow-up. BTC is currently the ‘lead donor’ in this common fund. A recent external evaluation found that BTC created ‘added value’ through donor coordination and the active role it plays in dialogue with the government of Mozambique about the reform programme.

BTC is involved in health infrastructure through the Post-emergency Reconstruction Programme, which supports the Ministry of Health in reconstructing hospitals and health centres in the southern provinces. BTC also runs a capacity-building programme for the Infrastructure Department at the Ministry of Health which closely mirrors the department’s strategic objectives. The programme’s dynamic approach, with its strong focus on improving the quality of systems and capacity building through knowledge transfer, will ensure that BTC’s support will have a sustainable impact.

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Part 2: Abroad

The current indicative cooperation programme (2003-2007) between Belgium and Tanzania covers nine sectors, with the main focus on local government reform, education, the environment and infrastructure. Two national strategic docu-ments provide a reference framework for development coop-eration in Tanzania: Mkukuta, the national strategy for growth and reduction of poverty, and Vision 2025 which outlines the medium-term development goals for Tanzania.

The Tanzanian government and the development part-ners agreed on a Joint Assistance Strategy for Tanzania (JAST), which serves as a basis for implementing the Paris Declaration in Tanzania.

The strategic documents mentioned above define the devel-opment objectives and stress the need to try and improve effectiveness while abiding by the principles of harmonisation and alignment of development cooperation on which Belgian bilateral cooperation is based. The aim of the Belgian cooper-ation is to assist the Tanzanian government in building capac-ity in various areas through supporting the Local Government Reform Programme, integrating project implementation into existing systems and providing individual scholarships.

Decentralisation

The Local Government Reform Programme (LGRP) is one of the Tanzanian government’s main reform programmes aiming to empower local government authorities to become capable leaders and coordinators of socio-economic development, public service delivery and poverty reduction in the areas for which they are responsible. The establishment of the Local Government Development Grant System (LGDGS), providing formula-based discretionary grants to districts and munici-palities, forms part of this decentralisation-by-devolution drive. Since 2006 Belgium has been working closely together with other development partners (the EU, the World Bank, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden) to support the LGDGS using a pooled funding mechanism.

District capacity building

Belgian bilateral cooperation projects in Tanzania are inte-grated into the districts where they are being carried out. The project management teams consist of district staff and stake-holders from the communities concerned, assisted by nation-al technical advisors. The purpose is to promote ownership of the project by Tanzanian authorities, with an active role for the beneficiaries. Technical advisers are recruited nationally, as proposed by the JAST, and are primarily involved in institu-tional capacity building meaning that day-to-day activities can be undertaken by the district staff.

In 2007, three environmental projects were launched, turning the environment into an important sector for Belgian bilat-eral cooperation in Tanzania. An international technical advi-sor assists the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism (MNRT) in coordinating the three activities, improving cooper-ation and coordination between all the stakeholders involved and building up capacity in natural resources management within the ministry.

The present capacity of local government authorities limits the rate at which projects can be implemented. Therefore top priorities for BTC are improving service delivery systems and enhancing capacity in existing human resources with a view to creating a conducive environment for sustainable development.

Scholarships

In 2007, 111 people were awarded Belgian government scholarships. Of these, 101 were awarded for postgraduate studies at local universities and ten for masters or PhDs in Belgium. Since many of the beneficiaries are civil servants, these scholarships make a major contribution to capacity building in Tanzanian institutions.

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uganDaThe first General Agreement on Development Cooperation was signed and agreement reached on the Indicative Cooperation Programme for 2005-2008 worth €24 million at the first Joint Meeting for Bilateral Cooperation between Uganda and Belgium in February 2005. This new coopera-tion programme prioritises the Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP) and is fully integrated into the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework. In addition to project activities cov-ering the environment, education and good governance, the nub of the cooperation programme focuses on budget support for those sectors in which Belgium has proven experience in Uganda: health and decentralisation. A new joint committee meeting to discuss the next cooperation programme is sched-uled in 2008.

Institutional capacity building

The Kampala Integrated Environmental Planning and Management Project aims to improve the quality of life of poor communities in three slums in the Ugandan capital by building up institutional capacity and improving environmental and housing conditions. The project arranged for a high-level delegation of eleven political leaders and technical staff from Kampala City Council to participate in a field trip in June 2007 to the Tan Hoa Lo Gom urban upgrading project in Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) which BTC has been involved in implementing. One of the key lessons learnt was that providing basic infra-structure (water supply, sanitation, drainage, roads, electric-ity and telephone networks) encouraged residents to upgrade their houses.

The delegation was also impressed with the way the Ho Chi Minh City authorities had boosted economic growth yet had been able to retain a clean and healthy environment through efficiently collecting solid waste and planting large numbers of trees and shrubs on roadsides. The delegation returned to Kampala full of new ideas and with an agenda for improving solid waste management and making the city a more attrac-tive place.

Challenges in public procurement

Although the legal framework for public procurement (the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act) is gen-erally recognised to be good, its application on the ground continues to be a real challenge. Virtually all Ugandan author-ities have to struggle with a lack of capacity, leading to a lack of procurement plans, poor record-keeping, splitting or failing to aggregate procurement contracts, conflicts of interest for authority staff and interference in the procurement process by politicians and technical staff.

So as to improve this situation, the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority and BTC designed a capacity-building training course for the partner authorities. The main objectives were to provide training on the legal framework and best practices in procurement and to discuss the challenges posed by implementation of the procurement and disposal reforms. The course targeted both political and technical staff, who are key players in procurement. During the course the roles of both parties in the procurement proc-ess were explained. Conflicts in the process between politi-cians and technical staff were discussed and resolved. Best practices were shared, which will lead to improvements in the local government procurement process.

The trained local authorities are now expected to establish smoothly operating procurement mechanisms which will increase the effectiveness and efficiency of service delivery.

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Part 2: Abroad

The second Belgium-South Africa Joint Committee met in Brussels on 10 November 2006. The two countries signed a €24 million indicative cooperation programme for 2007-2010 focusing on sectors such as land reform, health care and capacity building. The cooperation projects are coordi-nated and harmonised with the activities of the European Commission and other EU Member States to ensure that aid is efficient, harmonised and aligned (Paris Declaration).

The ultimate objective, as requested by South Africa, is to end development cooperation by 2010 so that both countries can enter into full political and economic relations in order to meet the Millennium Development Goals.

Respect and mutual understanding are the focal point of cooperation between Belgium and South Africa. This attitude is underpinned by a flexible approach during implementation that allows project and programme strategies to be adapted in line with evolving policies in South Africa. Belgium is not involved in budget support but provides additional fund-ing for specific programmes that are strategically aligned with departmental priorities and plans of action through the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) fund. This funding strategy is viewed in a very positive light, offering the departments a flexible ‘top-up’ to their existing budgets.

Land reform

Land and agriculture play a crucial role in the country’s economic performance, particularly through employment, agricultural production and environmental sustainability. Belgium’s support of Land Reform started in 1998 with a con-tribution towards the official information campaign. Over the years the programmes have become more specialised start-ing from the validation of claims and now go beyond the strict notion of restitution and redistribution, focusing on post set-tlement support of all land beneficiaries. The strategy, which aims to provide a perspective, vision and direction for the government and its partners in post-settlement support, was handed over to the minister and endorsed by our partner in October 2007 and publicly launched in February 2008. In view of this in-depth involvement Belgium is now more recognised as the main player and has been accorded delegated coopera-tion funding from DFID that it can apply to South African land reform. The scholarship support programme for local univer-sities is one of the Belgian mechanisms used to strengthen the capacity of practitioners in national and local government as well as development organisations in the areas of land reform and natural resource management.

One important point for consideration is how to strengthen the abilities of the partner and in so doing, develop their insti-

tutions. Education, training and exchanging experiences are essential when consolidating the impact of projects and pro-grammes over time. Experience has shown that training and mentoring initiatives make a meaningful contribution to the partner when focused, and prove to be more significant for the identified individuals, who are immediately empowered to change their environment through projects in the health care sector.

Belgian cooperation in South Africa has received much rec-ognition in the areas of land reform and health care due to good collaboration with the relevant partners. This has the potential of opening doors for BTC to other forms of coopera-tion beyond 2010.

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Although Ethiopia has not been one of Belgium’s partner coun-tries since 2003, BTC will continue to have a presence there until mid-2008 in order to complete two current projects:

Support for teacher training reform (Teacher —Development Programme, TDP); Project for the prevention and disposal of obsolete —pesticides.

In mid-2007 it was decided that the project for the preven-tion and disposal of obsolete pesticides would be carried out autonomously by the Ethiopian partner since, after three years, the Ministry of Agriculture (with Belgian co-manage-ment) had developed sufficient capacity to properly continue the project.

From providing a service to improving the system

Belgium contributes to capacity building in the education sector through the national teacher training reform pro-gramme (Teacher Development Programme (TDP)). The TDP is implemented by the Ministry of Education and local edu-cational authorities. The programme is funded by six coun-tries: Belgium, Sweden, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Finland. They put their contributions into a shared basket and engage in a common policy dialogue with the Ethiopian government on how to spend the money.

The success of a joint fund depends to a large extent on the partner’s capacity. After all, it must be possible for the Ethiopian authorities to properly ‘absorb’ the considerable financial resources under management. During the prepara-tory phase, a capacity analysis must be carried out to uncov-er any weaknesses, and then sufficient attention should be paid to capacity building. To this end, the Ethiopian Teacher Development Programme releases funds for the appropriate expertise and training.

After three years of implementation we are seeing tangible and sustainable results: the education system in Ethiopia has been radically restructured, and teacher training and the body of teachers are now professionally managed. This is a fine example of how budget support and the accompanying policy dialogue can lead to fundamental improvements in the system.

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Part 2: Abroad

The Indicative Cooperation Programme (ICP) 2004–2007 for Mali was allocated a budget of €30 million. Taking into account a number of previously agreed programmes still under way, BTC managed – in the course of 2007 – nineteen programmes and projects in eight different areas, namely health, education, decentralisation, hydraulic works, rural development, private-sector development, sanitation and conflict prevention.

BTC is active in six of the country’s regions: Gao, Timbuktu, Mopti, Sikasso, Koulikoro and Kayes.

With two actions in the area of education (PISA II) and health (Health and Social Development Programme – PADSS), BTC is fully committed to providing sectoral budgetary assistance for a total value of €16 million.

In terms of capacity building, the Expertise Support Programme (PAEX) was particularly successful in 2007. PAEX is a highly flexible, easily deployable and very effective instru-ment to implement cooperation and strengthen the capabili-ties of the partner countries. It makes it possible to finance various forms of technical support – with timescales ranging from a few weeks to a few years – in response to the needs of ministries and local public institutions.

The experts assigned to the projects (and accountable to BTC) work, in practice, under the direct supervision of a local official. Given that they have no specific project to manage, these experts can work “neutrally” in the organisation to which they are attached and can devote themselves entirely to institutional support and capacity building.

Support is provided by cooperating on a day-to-day basis with local public officials, which also enables a better perception of the support given. The activities carried out by technical assistants include adapting work methods so as to make them more rigorous, promoting the exchange of relevant informa-tion within the host administration and playing the role of a facilitator between stakeholders in order to solve any prob-lems that might hinder institutional development.

Healthcare

The Expertise Support Programme also enabled the fund-ing of a nine-month technical assistance programme at the Planning and Statistics Unit (CPS) of the Health Ministry.

The technical assistant started by identifying and document-ing a number of key challenges for the sector. By sharing this analysis with all the partners, including those on the Malian side and the technical and financial partners, it was possi-ble to develop a constructive political dialogue between the actors concerned and to draw up a number of action plans.

Thanks to his institutional position, which provided him with an unbiased approach as well as with a good understanding of the internal functioning of his ministry, the technical assist-ant rapidly adopted the role of an intermediary between the Health Ministry and its technical and financial partners.

Furthermore, being free from other duties, he was able to devote himself to strategic research and the drafting of docu-ments which his Malian colleagues, engrossed as they were in their daily tasks, did not have the time to finalise.

Technical assistance actively contributed to the success of the Healthcare Human Resources Development policy, which is a key goal for the sector.

The sharing of good practices implemented in other coun-tries (research visit to Senegal with the Deputy Director of the CPS), an in-depth review of international literature on the subject, and the availability of methodological support were also decisive factors in ensuring the good results achieved.

Currently, support for the Healthcare CPS is provided through regular follow-up visits and the training of staff on specific issues.

Rural areas

The Planning and Statistics Unit for the Rural Development Sector also requested a technical assistant to be assigned to it, initially for a period of eighteen months. This inter-min-isterial body encompasses the activities of the Ministry of Agriculture, Stockbreeding and Fishing, and the Food Security Commission. It is called upon to play a leading role in the evaluation of long-term rural development policies.

In this perspective, the CPS is responsible for the external evaluation of the ninety-odd projects and programmes devel-oped in the sector with the financial assistance of more than twenty-five technical and financial partners. The task of the technical assistant was to set up a nationwide monitoring and evaluation system in line with international quality standards.

Based on the concepts of appropriate training, accountabil-ity and motivation of personnel, the technical assistant ena-bled the CPS to devise its own standardised system, named “Result-Oriented National External Monitoring” (MENOR). This system, modelled on a similar methodology used by the European Commission, was applied to evaluate twenty-one projects for a total funding value of €300 million.

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The first Project Evaluation Review for the rural develop-ment sector was approved, published and disseminated in December 2007. The technical assistant also contributed to other significant outcomes such as the creation of a secto-ral database for the projects and the development of the first Three-year Plan of Activities of the CPS.

As part and parcel of the overall monitoring and evaluation system, all these tools will help Mali and its partners to carry out a joint analysis of the objective results of the projects and programmes developed in the sector.

Within the framework of the implementation of the Paris Declaration, these actions are a concrete example of effec-tive harmonisation, result-oriented management and mutual accountability.

Thus, over a period of eighteen months, the technical assist-ant promoted the transition from the logic of mere “capacity building” to a logic geared to the long-term implementation of capabilities, which enables the transfer of responsibilities to national personnel on a sustainable basis as part of the effort to establish quality public services.

An additional sixteen-month assistance period was requested in order to consolidate the achievements made thus far and to set up a permanent funding system for the sector by including it in the government budget.

In 2007, BTC also prepared the drafting of the new Indicative Cooperation Programme 2008-2011 by organising a discus-sion workshop with all the actors on the ground. The need for increased concentration (both sectoral and geographical) and the need to ensure the coherence of all cooperation instru-ments (programmes, projects, grants, research and consul-tancy funds, etc.) were the two main recommendations that emerged from this workshop.

As Cameroon is no longer one of Belgian Development Cooperation’s partner countries, BTC is closing its Representation office there for good at the end of May 2008 once it has supervised full implementation of the last indica-tive bilateral cooperation programme.

Two projects financed by Belgium are coming to an end, the first relating to the development of seven health districts in Cameroon’s Extrême Nord province, and the second support-ing the economic and social development of Baka pygmies in the country’s Sud province. Thanks to the consolidation of the two projects’ consultation bodies together with the aware-ness-raising and training programmes laid on for project col-laborators, the lasting impact and sustainability of the initia-tives are assured.

Funding from the European Union enabled the launch in 2005 of a project to encourage home care for people suffering from HIV/AIDS. The project promotes voluntary early screen-ing and is helping to reduce all forms of exclusion which only worsen the feelings of helplessness experienced by patients. Since that time, the funding provided by the Global Fund has enabled this strategy for community health care to be taken up by the local NGO GIC-Avenir Femmes under the aegis of the international NGO Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO). Institutional support for all the activities has been guaranteed by a good working relationship with the ministries for public health and social affairs.

The second project to benefit from financial support from the European Union was launched in January 2007 as part of the bilateral project supporting the Baka pygmies. It specifically focuses on effective management of tropical forests, thereby complementing the socioeconomic solutions provided by the Belgian project. This project runs until the end of 2009.

> www.agefo.eu

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Part 2: Abroad

Another Joint Committee meeting was held between Belgium and Senegal in November 2006. At this meeting, the two countries signed an Indicative Cooperation Programme for 2007-2009.

This agreement focuses on two sectors: the social economy and basic hydraulic and sanitation infrastructure. As far as the social economy is concerned, the agreement emphasises support for both the action plan for microfinance and the partnership development plan for microfinance and micro-health insurance. Three specific agreements were also signed by the Joint Committee, namely the agreements relating to the support programme for conducting studies and assessments, the waste-water decontamination project in Saint-Louis and the support project for vocational training for women.

Belgian development cooperation is concentrating its efforts in the regions of Kaolack, Fatick and Diourbel – it already works in these areas and has built up experience there.

Health

The support project for the Diourbel medical region (budget: €8.2 million) has helped to increase the capacity of local healthcare structures to take action in six key areas: promot-ing individual and collective hygiene; improving infrastructure and supplying equipment; completing a health referencing/cross-referencing system; ensuring better access to basic generic medication; building the management capacities of district and regional management teams and finally, set-ting up a rural telephone system. This is a pilot project and has been particularly useful for the Senegalese Ministry of Health. In fact, the Senegalese authorities will be able to use this project’s model as a base for similar projects at national level, with support from other donors.

BTC has also been conducting a support project for healthcare systems in the Kaolack and Fatick medical regions (budget: €9.2 million). Study tours to Tunisia and Burkina Faso contrib-uted to boosting the functional and organisational capacities of the health districts in these regions, while continuing to promote dialogue between different stakeholders.

BTC is also involved in two new initiatives for Senegal: establishing a health insurance system for school pupils via community health insurance funds and decentralising gen-eral surgery to health centres, whereas it was previously only available at regional hospitals. These two projects will bring significant added value to the Senegalese healthcare system.

senegalThe creation of a health insurance system for school pupils is based on a contract between schools and health insurance funds: pupils’ contributions to the health insurance fund are systematically included in their tuition fees. This initiative represents a major challenge for all those involved, i.e. four health insurance funds, 24 schools, eight suppliers and four district management teams.

The initiative to decentralise general surgery is being imple-mented on the basis of a partnership agreement between the Ministry of Public Health, the Faculty of Medicine and the project. Its aims are to give health centres additional resourc-es, attract more trainee doctors to health centres and ensure these doctors have the appropriate equipment to perform surgery, medical imaging, transfusions and laboratory work.

Water and sanitation

As regards hydraulics, BTC’s activities are part of the National Water Supply and Sanitation Programme Action Plan for the Millennium Development Goals (PEPAM).Its project for improving and strengthening the water supply in the groundnut basin (€15 million) aims to continue the man-agement of the Associations of Borehole Users (ASUFOR) and shore up the associations’ initiative, which resulted in the creation of the Groundnut Basin Solidarity Union (in which women play a key role) in 2007.

Following this project, Senegal and Belgium concluded a cooperation agreement for the sub-programme Water Supply and Sanitation Action Plan for the Millennium Development Goals – Groundnut Basin (PEPAM-BA) in December 2007. This programme, which has a total budget of €11 million, will be launched in the Kaolack, Kaffrine, Fatick and Diourbel regions in April 2008.

The support project for cleaning the city of Saint-Louis (budget: €2 million) aims to improve solid waste management in the city. It was launched in 2005 and will be completed in 2008. The project includes the construction of an engineered landfill site and the creation of transfer stations and an appro-priate logistics system.

A study tour to Belgium, organised by the Institut Eco-Conseil (Eco-Counselling Institute), contributed to building the capaci-ties of various local and national stakeholders involved in waste management in Saint-Louis and managing the city’s engineered landfill site.

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Benin’s development policy aims to reduce the proportion of the rural population living below the absolute poverty line from 27% in 2001 to 13.5% in 2015. The 2004-2007 coopera-tion programme between Belgium and Benin intends to help meet this target by supporting the agriculture and healthcare sectors and bolstering decentralisation.

Agriculture

Support in this area focuses on capacity development for stakeholders on the ground. Since 2004, the support project for the rural community in the Atacora and Donga depart-ments (PAMRAD) has provided assistance to over 300 cashew nut producers’ cooperatives via the Regional Union of Cashew Nut Producers (URPA).

Thanks to this collaboration, URPA has significantly improved the management of its products’ marketing conditions. It is now in the position to build up trade relationships with other stakeholders in the field, thus improving the quality of its range of services.

URPA makes considerable efforts to introduce technologi-cal innovations for maintaining plantations. The services it offers in this area help it to expand its member base, thereby increasing its financial resources and laying the foundations for development.

Based on a pilot project in two municipalities of the Atacora and Donga departments (North Benin), this support project for the rural community is also contributing to the emergent market gardening sector. It targets market gardeners in rural and peri-urban areas and has attracted the interest of four other municipalities of Atacora and Donga.

Health

Capacity-building is also relevant for state structures with a view to improving the quality of the services they provide. Support for implementing a haemovigilance system in hos-pitals is therefore a great innovation in terms of integrating transfusion into healthcare services.

The haemovigilance committees, which were set up and trained with the support of the project for improving transfu-sion safety in the departments of Atacora, Donga, Mono and Couffo (PASTAM), are a positive example in this area. The committees allow hospital staff to be more involved in the transfusion process and help improve the overall quality of care related to blood transfusion.

Benin’s Ministry of Health has launched a programme to extend this model to all the hospitals in the country.

Decentralisation

Finally, with a view to the decentralisation process currently underway in Benin, assisting those in charge of management and local development will also be a major challenge in the coming decades.

Beninese-Belgian cooperation is fully committed to taking up the challenge – in late 2007, it launched a support programme for implementing municipal development plans in four depart-ments of Benin, in the aim of building up local stakeholders’ capacities to perform their new duties.

New cooperation agreement

In March 2008, Belgium and Benin signed a new coopera-tion agreement for 2008-2011. As before, the programme will continue to focus on agriculture and public health. Special attention will also be given to the decentralisation process currently underway in Benin.

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Part 2: Abroad

The aim of the Indicative Cooperation Programme (ICP) adopted by the Joint Nigerien-Belgian Committee in 2003 is to assist Niger in implementing its Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS). To this end, the following priority sectors for develop-ment were identified: healthcare, including the fight against AIDS/HIV; basic education; rural development, with special attention to stockbreeding; water resources management; decentralisation; and, lastly, gender issues.

The ICP centres on the implementation of national develop-ment programmes by the Nigerien Government, which favours a shift from a project-based approach to a programme-based approach. The indicative amount budgeted by the Joint Committee for bilateral programmes implemented during the 2004–2008 period is €42.33 million.

A Development Cooperation Volunteer Programme was adopted by the Nigerien authorities in November 2006 and is being implemented successfully. Seven Belgian volunteers are currently assigned to bilateral activities.

Empowering women through literacy

On the initiative of a volunteer, a pilot project in the area of functional literacy is being carried out in five villages in the Dosso region. This practical research project intends to improve the social and economic status of women, taking their immediate needs as a starting point. The aim is to improve the cost-effectiveness of their income-generating activities and to teach women new rural production techniques.

Eradicating female illiteracy is a priority task. Both in rural and urban areas, the economic activity of women is an essen-tial source of income for families. Appropriate training ena-bles women to increase the revenues they generate.

Women are also being encouraged to take on a leadership role in decision-making bodies. This is the case in the fifteen municipalities covered by the Dosso region project to increase women’s income.

Aware that taking part in decision-making processes at higher levels is a means of empowerment, an increasing number of leading women wish to participate directly in this process. Thus, in Dosso, several women decided to take part in the management boards of microfinance institutions. At this level, they are in a better position to influence the allocation of credit to women in the region.

The pilot project is being implemented in different contexts, given that some villages have already benefited from previous literacy campaigns. The decentralised authorities (responsi-

ble for the Promotion of Women and Children and for National Education), civil society and the municipalities are all actively involved in this experience. The second phase of the project should pave the way for the implementation of female literacy strategies on a larger scale in the Dosso region and the coun-try at large.

Improving public health

Over the past three years, support has been provided to the Research and Planning Unit of the Ministry of Public Health. The unit, which is responsible for the nationwide training of personnel in planning strategies, is being supported by three technical assistants, including one international assistant and two national ones.

Belgian cooperation has made it possible to integrate all the activities of Niger’s health structures into a single plan and to allocate adequate material resources – whether provided by the Nigerien State or by international donors – to each activ-ity. A representative of the Belgian Embassy plays a leading role in this process. This is the first time that such an effec-tive integration of resources from different agencies has been achieved in Niger.

Integration has made it possible to optimise the use of the limited resources available in the country. In particular, it has enabled implementation of the new policy aimed at providing free healthcare services for mothers and children. The pro-vision of free healthcare is resulting in a dramatic increase in the number of visits to hospitals and healthcare centres. An important prerequisite for this to happen is that available funding be effectively channelled to the appropriate health-care structures.

Following completion of this assistance programme, the per-sonnel of the Ministry will be able to continue the planning and integration process into the future.

Training for surgeons

For the past sixteen years, Belgium has been providing sup-port for the Orthopaedic and Traumatology Department of Niger’s leading healthcare facility, the Niamey National Hospital. Significant capability improvements have been achieved with a modest annual budget of €125,000.

This project supported the creation and functioning of a traumatology department which carries out more than 1,100 major traumatological-orthopaedic operations every year, providing equal treatment for all patients, regardless of their social or economic status.

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Since 1997, thanks to the support provided for the training of general surgeons, the number of surgeons has increased from six to forty-seven. At present, the need for continued support – with a view to ensuring the long-term sustainability of the services – is limited to management activities.

The project provided participatory support for basic sur-gery training in hospitals throughout the country. Courses in trauma and orthopaedic surgery were offered to medical students at the Faculty of Medicine, from which one hundred students graduate on average each year.

Support for Azawak cattle breeders

The quality of Azawak cattle has steadily improved over the past two years thanks to a project to support cattle breeders. The initial stage of the project involved increasing the capacity of the state-owned Toukounous breeding station, which aims to improve the genetic quality of Azawak breeding stock.

Since the start of the project, some 1,000 Azawak breeding cattle have been distributed among breeders in sedentary as well as nomadic areas. Owners of herds of at least 35 head received supervision and support in order to improve breeding techniques, including, in particular, the management of the herd (feeding and watering), the fight against inbreeding and veterinary care.

The efforts of the personnel involved in the project have therefore led to an improvement in breeding techniques, which in turn has enabled a significant increase in the weight and hence in the market value of the cattle as well as an increase in milk production. By acquiring new skills, stockbreeders have thus been able to generate additional income. Furthermore, they have achieved better nutrition for their families, given that milk is consumed mostly by women and children.

In spite of the socio-political challenges of recent years, cooperation between Belgium and Côte d’Ivoire has remained on course, focussing on rural development, decentralisation and health.

Health

In Moyen Comoé, continuing its efforts to shore up the region’s institutions, BTC went on providing general support to train healthcare workers in the region. This enriched the Ivorian national policy on healthcare quality and accessibil-ity, in particular by publishing a handbook called the Minimum Activity Package (Paquet minimum d’Activités, PMA) for hospitals and an accreditation guide that can be used in all healthcare districts of the country.

The satisfaction survey carried out in 2007 among external users of 22 healthcare establishments indicated an overall satisfaction level of over 90% in Abengourou and over 84% in Agnibilékrou. Bearing in mind that the project is scheduled to end in 2008, a plan designed to ensure that what has been achieved is not lost has been approved by the respective decentralised authorities, regional healthcare structures and Ivorian Ministry of Health and Public Hygiene.

Agriculture

In the domain of rural development, Belgian Development Cooperation continued projects aimed at professionalising the fisheries sector in the eastern part of the country and dairy farming in the south. It also maintained its support for the private initiative in livestock farming.

As a result, the dairy project produced a basis for a structured, peri-urban dairy industry near Abidjan, including the finalisa-tion of a viable technical economic model and the establish-ment of a farmers’ cooperative. Before this project ends in June 2008, it will aim to consolidate the level of organisation among the actors involved in this nascent industry.

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Part 2: Abroad

The privileged nature of cooperation between Morocco and Belgium was confirmed by the development of the Indicative Cooperation Programme (ICP) 2006-2009, which has a budget of €40 million.

Given the widening poverty gap between the rural and urban populations as well as between the genders, it was agreed to develop strategies aimed at combating poverty in rural areas, with special attention to women.

To this end and also in order to maximise the benefits to the populations, the concentration of activities in rural areas was intensified, focusing, in particular, on the Souss-Massa-Draa and Tafilalet regions in the South of the country as well as on the more vulnerable and disadvantaged areas of the Rif, in the North.

The programme identifies three priorities: the first is to pro-vide access to drinking water and to implement wastewater collection and treatment projects in the targeted rural areas; the second objective concerns agriculture and, more specifi-cally, rural development in southern Morocco; lastly, the pro-gramme aims to provide training placements for early school leavers in rural communities.

In accordance with the principles of the Paris Declaration, this new ICP reflects the aim of both partners to move beyond a project-based approach towards a programme-based sec-toral approach. The ICP is designed to strengthen the over-all capabilities of the targeted rural population as well as of the public institutions responsible for providing the services concerned.

Thus the ICP is fully in line with the anti-poverty strategies and priorities of the Moroccan Government, including, in par-ticular, those underlying the National Human Development Initiative (INDH), which aims to reduce socio-economic ine-qualities and poverty through capacity-building, economic efficiency and human development.

Éducation

In the area of education, Belgian assistance focuses on strengthening and expanding the provision of training place-ments, which is the most effective means of enabling early school leavers to participate in the employment market.

Every year, some 240,000 young people drop out of school before or upon completing their basic education. On the other hand, the intake capacity of vocational training institutions is limited to 56,000 places, i.e. barely one-fifth of demand. Thus, placement schemes – where in-company training accounts

for 80% of the syllabus and is supplemented by the study of general and technical subjects – effectively meet the educa-tional needs of these young people by providing them with valuable skills.

BTC is conducting two projects geared to the general strat-egy of promoting and supporting this institutional reform in education. More specifically, the aim is to secure the future of the crafts, fulfil the manpower requirements of the agricul-tural sector and meet the newly emerging needs in the urban services sector.

Rural development

A similar dynamics is unfolding in the area of rural develop-ment, where Belgian cooperation – which concentrates in the South of the country – must address complex development challenges simultaneously involving social, economic and environmental factors.

In fact, the degradation of the soil as well as of water resources, leading to increased drought, requires innova-tive and comprehensive solutions. The aim is to assist the Ministry for Agriculture and Rural Development in devising and implementing effective strategies aimed at raising living standards in rural communities – moving beyond the needs of the agricultural sector as such, on the basis of the principles of equity, solidarity and participation.

This approach also aims to promote a sense of ownership and responsibility among users of natural resources and to dis-seminate the concept of public good. By taking into account not only economic but also social and environmental challeng-es, these integrated rural development and oasis-protection projects are intended to make the most of the production capacity of the countryside as well as to diversify the sources of revenue available to farmers, generally improve the living standards of the rural population (especially women) and, last but not least, protect natural resources and the environment.

Drinking water

As part of the efforts to improve access to drinking water and rehabilitate rural areas, special attention must also be given to strengthening institutional capabilities as well to harmo-nising and coordinating the assistance provided. Through the provision of financial aid, a number of implementation guide-lines were developed within the framework of two initiatives implemented jointly with the National Drinking Water Office (ONEP), i.e. a programme to improve the supply of drinking water to rural areas and a specific sanitation project for the towns of Tinghir and Zagora.

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This new approach, based on the lessons taken from the Belgian experience, aims to strengthen the role of the ONEP, which has been entrusted by the Moroccan Government with the task of ensuring access to drinking water for the country’s population as a whole. The programme to improve the supply of drinking water to rural areas, for example, aims to raise the living standards of the population in the Souss-Massa-Draa regions by making drinking water of adequate quality available in sufficient quantities.

Special attention will be given to the social and participatory dimension of the programme, given the shortages faced by rural communities in terms of infrastructure and basic social services.

In order to ensure efficiency and sustainability, an institu-tional support unit was set up to strengthen the ability of the ONEP’s decentralised services to address the social dimen-sion and promote and efficient management of water costs.

By concentrating on three sectors and two rural regions, the programme for Morocco has enhanced its relevance and operational efficiency. Partnership and capacity-building at all levels are the values on which it is based, leading to a dynamic and rigorous implementation of the anti-poverty poli-cies developed for the benefit of the rural population.

By focusing on high value-added technical areas and working in cooperation with relevant and efficient national partners, Belgian assistance has significantly increased its positive impact, sustainability and effectiveness.

Since the ‘traditional’ bilateral cooperation programme is drawing to a close (as decided by the Belgian government in 2000), BTC is setting up a strategy aiming to entrust its Tunisian partners with executing the final projects.

Tunisian institutions already have the appropriate capacities for conducting activities and achieving results. For this reason, the National Solidarity Fund (FSN), the National Wastewater Management Agency (ONAS) and the National Centre for the Training of Trainers and Educational Engineering (CENAFFIF) were made responsible for implementing the three final projects, which focused on integrated rural development in the north-west, sanitation in the towns of El Kef and Zaghwan and support for establishing a skills development unit for trainers. The total budget for the three projects is over €5 million.

With a view to meeting objectives as well as possible, BTC still provided its Tunisian partners with the support they required via technical assistance, whether on a permanent (FSN) or one-off basis (ONAS and CENAFFIF).

In the context of the project for integrated rural develop-ment, BTC also aims to strengthen civil society stakeholders, enabling them to assist rural populations more effectively. Income-generating and microcredit activities are therefore assigned to Tunisian NGOs, which play a vital role in aware-ness-raising and training for the poorest people, thus helping them become actors in their own development.

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Part 2: Abroad

burkina fasoSince the meeting of the Belgian-Burkina Faso Joint Committee in 2003, the implementation of the 2003-2007 Cooperation Programme has been based on the guidelines of the Paris Declaration and has thus focused on two social sectors – public health and basic education – as a matter of priority.

Management procedures have been brought in line with those followed in Burkina Faso by setting up a streamlined co-man-agement system and establishing local partnerships with the ministerial structures responsible at regional level as well as with several associations and research centres. These part-nerships are based on specific agreements and conventions.

Two priority sectors: health and basic education

In 2007, Belgium made a major contribution to the develop-ment of the health districts in the Central Plateau region in terms of geographical coverage. Thanks to new buildings and equipment provided, the radius of the areas covered by healthcare training in the region has been limited to five kilo-metres, compared with the national average of eight.

In terms of human resources management, Belgian expertise in essential surgery contributed to strengthening the capacity of the Boussé, Ziniaré and Zorgho health districts.

As far as the fight against AIDS is concerned, training was provided for community organisations in the development and management of micro-projects. The anti-AIDS campaign was strengthened through awareness activities at Ouagadougou University. No less than 10,000 students took part in these training activities.

As regards education, Belgian Development Cooperation contributed to improving access to basic education by build-ing and equipping schools as well as by providing finance and support for different purposes and activities, including teach-er-training programmes.

The gross enrolment ratio in the provinces of Kourweogo, Oubritenga and Kadiogo rose from 51% in 2002 to 74% in 2007. Among girls, in particular, it increased from 42% to 44% during the same period, against a forecast of 43%. Within the framework of the 10-Year Plan for the Development of Basic Education (PDDEB), BTC provided a full-time technical expert to take part in the political dialogue on the develop-ment of a sectoral approach.

The results of two studies on the quality of primary education made it possible to fine-tune this technical support.

Other cooperation sectors

Belgian cooperation in the stockbreeding sector – centring on a project to support the improvement of the Azawak bovine breed, which is well-adapted to the Sahelian climate – pro-vided an example of excellence.

In 2007, this project resulted in an increase in milk produc-tion and higher revenues for local stock breeders. It also contributed to strengthening the technical and organisational capabilities of stock breeders and helped pave the way for the creation of the National Union of Azawak Stock Breeders of Burkina (UNEAB).

Finally, the year 2007 saw the completion of the major cross-sectoral programme started in 1999 in the provinces of Oubritenga, Kurweogo and Kadiogo (PPOKK).

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BTC’s work in Algeria is aligned with national sectoral poli-cies. By emphasising capacity building in its various projects, BTC and the Algerian government are working hand-in-hand to improve the quality of national policy in the sectors of healthcare, water, environment, rural development, gender and institution building.

Urban transport

In terms of capitalising on good practice, the project to help bring maintenance of the Algiers urban and suburban trans-port company (ETUSA) up to standard has been by far the most successful. After some 30 months of ongoing technical assistance, the project operated without foreign technical assistance for the last 20 months of its implementation.

During this period, the main objectives were achieved, most notably implementing bus rehabilitation using in-house skills. Moreover, thanks to the training centre developed as part of the project, ETUSA was able to achieve national relevance.

Support for the Council of State

Capacity building and the transfer of know-how are the main areas of cooperation and are also developed in projects such as institutional support for the Ministry of Family and Women’s Affairs and support for the justice system and Algerian Council of State.

Another successful project in this field aims to develop the expertise of members of the Algerian Council of State. Building directly on the judicial reform programme launched in 1999, this project dovetails perfectly with Algeria’s pri-orities as set out in, for example, the EU-Algeria Association Agreement, whose stipulations include specialist training for magistrates and the creation of administrative courts and enlarged judicial areas.

With the general aim of improving the operation of the Algerian Council of State, a programme of short training courses and seminars for magistrates and technical and administrative staff has been put in place.

The programme should help deliver better administrative management, increased specialisation and effective informa-tion management. Substantial results have been achieved through the seminars organised so far, which have gone beyond the strict framework of bilateral cooperation, thanks notably to the involvement of representatives from Councils of State in several countries (Belgium, France, Egypt, Turkey, Spain, Portugal, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Senegal, etc.).

With a view to closer collaboration, a consultation proc-ess between the Belgian and Algerian Councils of State has been launched. This will make a positive contribution to the project’s development whilst also cementing long-term rela-tions between the two institutions.

As a middle-income country, Algeria has shown a sustained commitment to extending cooperation to the strategic areas of institutional support and capacity building. BTC’s work adheres closely to this strategy.

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Part 2: Abroad

As an entity with limited powers and control over its territo-ries or borders, Palestine can be considered a ‘fragile state’ or a ‘quasi-state’. It is a heavily aid-dependent country. The last few years have seen no improvement in the economic sit-uation there and also rising unemployment. Palestine is also in a conflict situation, especially in Gaza, which is currently excluded from most donors’ development budgets.

In recent years, the Indicative Cooperation Programme (ICP) between Belgium and Palestine has focused on poverty reduction, sustainable human development, and partnership. Several sectors have benefited from our support, including rural development, public health, institutional development, educational and vocational training, local government and capacity building.

Infrastructure

The projects BTC implements in Palestine focus very much on capacity building. One example is the Local Infrastructure and Capacity-Building Project (LICP). Local Government Units (LGUs) are trying to meet citizens’ increased demand for serv-ices, so LGU staff have to be well trained and professional. LICP has been providing municipal capacity-building support (at both the human and institutional levels) and budget sup-port in areas such as financial management, planning, and service provision. The project has continued building small-scale infrastructure to improve services and the general con-ditions for socioeconomic development. Workshops, coaching and also study trips to Egypt and Belgium have convinced the beneficiaries to opt for institutional improvements geared towards achieving results. The LICP team receives lots of requests from various other LGUs.

In addition, LICP has become a source of information and a resource for activities by other donors, such as JICA, UNDP, and GTZ. Accordingly, the lessons learned by LICP and its successes will be collated and made available to all relevant parties as a reference work for anyone implementing a simi-lar project.

Public Health

In the health sector, BTC has occupied a niche in combat-ing non-communicable diseases, mainly for tertiary health-care (cardiac care), making treatment available to all. It has achieved this over the past few years by providing technical expertise and institutionalising both a reliable intensive/car-diac care unit in Ramallah and a catheterisation unit in Gaza, which serve over 1.3 million inhabitants. These achievements should be capitalised in the future.

BTC has set about continuing to contribute to the improvement of curative and preventive health care by reducing morbidity, disability and mortality due to cardio-vascular diseases. To this end, it has given Palestinian staff efficient training, both in Ramallah Government Hospital and in Belgium, obtaining excellent results.

BTC has identified the need for a National Cardiology Plan in Palestine. In December 2007, the formulation of a cardiology and neonatology program for the West Bank and Gaza, for an amount of 5 million euros, was set up.

Technical and vocational education and training constitute one of the main building blocks of the ongoing 5-year plan adopted by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (2006-2010). This project will support vocational education and training in Palestine through curriculum development, building up train-ing capacity and institutional capacity-building.

New cooperation programme

On 4 March 2008, a meeting of the Belgian-Palestine Authority Joint Committee held in Ramallah set the priorities for cooperation between the Belgian and Palestinian govern-ments from 2008 to 2011. Belgium has earmarked a budget of EUR 50 million. The government cooperation programme will henceforth be limited to two main sectors, education and community building, and take the form of assistance provided to local administrations. The cooperation programme has been aligned with the Palestinian Reform and Development Plan (PRDP) for 2008-2010.

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palestinian territories vietnamVietnam is amongst the fastest growing economies in the world, having dramatically reduced the poverty rate from 58% in 1993 to 16% in 2007.

The country’s economic growth has been largely driven by labour-intensive exports with low value added. As the country recently joined the WTO, significant challenges in its competi-tion in global trade lie ahead. Accordingly, Vietnam needs to increase the value added by its economy by making the trans-formation from a labour-intensive economy to a knowledge-based one. To make the change, it will need technical assist-ance and capacity building.

Since Vietnam will soon graduate as a middle-income coun-try, the volume of Official Development Assistance (ODA) will diminish. This will endanger critical safety nets and basic service provision to some of Vietnam’s most marginalised groups. It also underscores how vital it is that Vietnam put its ODA to optimal use.

In March 2007, the Vietnamese and Belgian governments reviewed the indicative cooperation programme covering the period 2007-2010, aligning it with Vietnam’s socioeco-nomic development plan. As a result, the new focus is on two sectors, namely water and sanitation on the one hand, and governance, capacity building and institutional strengthen-ing on the other. Sound institutions with competent staff are indispensable.

Capacity development as an engine of sustainable growth

To increase aid effectiveness, the Paris Declaration urges donors to integrate their capacity development efforts into comprehensive, government-run, sectoral capacity-building plans. BTC is doing this successfully in the education sector. Its project Teacher Training in the Northern Highlands of Vietnam is introducing modern Active Teaching & Learning (ATL) concepts. The systematic, theoretical and hands-on training on ATL simultaneously provided for teachers, head teachers and provincial education managers in 14 north-ern provinces is steadily building capacity at all institutional levels. The project is not only facilitating the application of innovative ATL methodologies, but also prompting education managers and policymakers to reform and modernise the national education system.

At the organisational level, the Dairy Development Project spawned an organisation that brings public- and private-sector dairy stakeholders around the table. Dairy Vietnam is recognised nationwide by the dairy industry as the key organ-isation for exchanging information and developing new strat-

egies for the sustainable growth of the sector. Dairy Vietnam is linking up with regional initiatives on dairy smallholders’ development and generating opportunities to truly benefit from the lessons learned in the nation and the region.

BTC is also providing capacity-building aid at the individual level, the main thrust of this effort being made through its partnership with the Vietnam Women’s Union (VWU). Since 1997, BTC has strengthened the institutional capacity of the VWU to manage micro-credit programmes for poor rural women. At the time of writing, 55,000 poor women were ben-efiting. However, since planning is not always rational, loans do not always generate additional income. Consequently, phase 3 (2007-2010) is complementing these financial servic-es with business development training and related services. A Technical Assistance Fund has been set up to enable 100,000 poor, economically active households in 17 target provinces to procure tailor-made business development services.

In line with its commitment to the aid effectiveness agenda, BTC will continue striving to further integrate its capacity-building objectives into 100% partner-led and coordinated capacity-building programmes.

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Part 2: Abroad

For the bilateral programme in Cambodia a deliberate choice was made to focus on health care and education. Projects in the country are concentrated in the provinces of Siem Reap, Otdar Meanchey and Kampong Cham. As Cambodia is no longer a Belgian development cooperation partner country, no more new projects are being launched there. The focus of all efforts is therefore on consolidating existing projects so that they can be handed over in full to our Cambodian partners.

Consolidation of existing projects

Capacity building is key to the future of these projects. Experience and technical know-how have to be passed on to the government authorities and the partners. Methods for achieving this include national seminars, technical meetings and workshops for experts from the ministries and organisa-tions involved.

The aim of the education project is to enable the Cambodian government to continue building and maintaining schools based on the new school model. With this in mind, a special strategy was developed at the outset of the project. For the construction side of things, local school committees compris-ing village, school and parent representatives are set up and trained to carry out small-scale activities, oversee construc-tion work and ensure sustainability. Builders and ministry officials receive technical training on the school model and construction techniques. This training emphasises the impor-tance of establishing participative school committees and covers the monitoring and evaluation system.All technical documents relating to the construction of schools are kept up to date using special software and published on a website for the technical ministries. During the construction phase, the project experts regularly participate in national technical working groups in which they can share their expe-rience and give advice to policymakers.

The top priority of the health project is capacity building at the various levels of the health pyramid. The project has already supported a variety of courses covering a wide range of skills, such as specialist training in midwifery, anaesthesi-ology and surgery, hospital administration, team building and communication aimed at changing people’s behaviour. The project also ensures that provincial and district hospitals are better administered by setting up boards and management committees, administering operational tools automatically and refining health information systems.

The final phase of the project aims primarily to develop central-level capacity. To this end, project experts engage in policy dialogue and national and regional seminars and work-shops are organised for experts from the technical minis-

tries and health organisations. In these forums the project’s results are discussed and analysed and experts come up with new ideas for Cambodian health policy, such as funds for the very poorest members of society and performance-related incentives for health staff.

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With a budget of approximately €15 million, the Indicative Cooperation Programme agreed between Belgium and Laos for 2002-2006 focused on education, healthcare and rural development in the provinces of Savannakhet, Saravane, Champasak and Vientiane.

Since 2004, Laos has no longer been one of Belgium’s part-ner countries. Most of the projects there came to an end in 2007, and there are now just two projects going on which will continue until early 2009: one providing support for vocational training and the other carrying out activities in the healthcare sector.

A participatory programme

BTC has undertaken a number of ground-breaking ini-tiatives to promote capacity building and human resources development.

The province of Champasak’s vocational training support pro-gramme involves teachers and pupils in renovating buildings, producing teaching aids and making furniture for the dormito-ries. This approach, called Training with Production, enables the beneficiaries to both train themselves and at the same time play a direct role in improving their infrastructure.

One of the major challenges of the project supporting the reform of the health sector in the provinces of Vientiane and Savannakhet is to provide thorough training and coaching (given by external experts) for province and district health service providers. The aim is to increase their management capacity so that they can reform their health system and make the health districts more effective by identifying problems themselves and finding appropriate solutions.

This project, implemented in close cooperation with the Laos Ministry of Health, is considered a pilot for reform of the health sector as it enables new models and procedures to be tested.

laosThe Belgian Integrated Agrarian Reform Programme Phase III (BIARSP-3) was designed to consolidate and mainstream the results achieved in the previous two phases into the regu-lar work done by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR). The third and final phase entailed breaking with the past, as the immediate target group shifted from farming communi-ties to service providers. By focusing on DAR’s organisation, BIARSP-3 became an institutional development project, using the Local Development Fund (LDF) and Institutional Capacity Building (ICB) as the focus in a process of change.

BIARSP-3 introduced 4 useful organisational capacity-building tools:

Teamwork in Action — , a programme for cooperatives and rural communities aimed at exchanging experience with regard to good practices. It was accompanied by a competition that mustered enthusiastic support;The Comprehensive Rural Entrepreneurial —Academy (CREA), focusing on municipal staff with a view to enhancing their entrepreneurial, leadership and rural development skills; Comprehensive Assessment Forum — (CAF), a self-assessment workshop for provincial staff, based on the European Forum for Quality Management; Six-Sigma — : a group of 30 national DAR staff versed in this methodology with a view to bringing about internal organisational improvements. The participants made exposure visits to Singapore and Australia, where the methodology is successfully being used by the civil service.

The four ICB programmes adopted a learning approach with top-level guidance, combined with experiments in the field, and successfully contributed towards BIARSP-3’s main-streaming objective.

BIARSP-3 ended in August 2007, effectively ending a decade of Belgian direct bilateral support to the Philippines.

philippines

BTC-47

Part 2: Abroad

BTC is currently implementing the Indicative Cooperation Programme agreed by the Joint Committee in April 2005. The Governments of Belgium and Peru decided to focus on three priorities: ensuring good governance through commu-nity building; developing the social economy; and improving healthcare by providing access to basic social services.

Health insurance

As part of its budgetary assistance to the public healthcare system (which is subsidised by the Peruvian State) in the regions of Ayacucho, Apurímac and Cajamarca, BTC set up a technical support team for the “Seguro Integral de Salud” (comprehensive health insurance system – SIS).

This support, provided by Peruvian experts in the area of health insurance, aims to act as a catalyst for change in order to help the institution to meet the major challenges involved in providing health insurance for all, including the 13 million Peruvians living below the poverty line.

A number of important procedures and work methods were developed and integrated into the SIS system in various areas, including cooperation with regional governments, the reimbursement of drugs and healthcare services, the devel-opment of synergies with other social programmes promoted by the Peruvian Government, and the assessment of the sys-tem’s beneficiaries.

These innovations – introduced in the SIS through the experts provided by BTC – made it possible to set up a “per capita advance payment system”. This in turn enabled the implementation of major prevention programmes in disad-vantaged areas, including rural communities, where health indexes have improved, especially among women and chil-dren. Another advantage has been a significant shortening of the time required for the Ministry of Health to receive reim-bursement for the SIS.

This positive dynamics is shared by several agencies involved in the management of the public healthcare system, among them the Ministry of Health, the SIS, the Ministry of the Economy and Finance, international institutions such as the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), as well as the various donors concerned, including the United States, the European Union and of course Belgium, which is the main donor to the SIS system.

At a Latin American congress on health insurance, held in Chile, the Peruvian delegates presented the experience

acquired by the SIS. Subsequently, as part of several follow-up activities, BTC organised an international seminar in Lima – with the participation of Belgian academics – to evaluate the programme and submit recommendations to the SIS.

Two years on, the effectiveness and efficiency of the SIS have improved significantly and public funding of its activities has tripled.

For a number of years now, BTC has also been providing support for the Defensoría del Pueblo, an ombudsman serv-ice that acts as mediator between citizens and the State. Furthermore, the agency assists the National Commission for Development and Life Without Drugs (DEVIDA) as part of a project for the prevention of drug abuse and the rehabilitation of drug abusers. Lastly, in 2008, BTC will start implementing a project to provide support for the National Directorate for Small and Micro Companies, which forms part of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection.

peru

BTC-48

boliviaBTC faces three main challenges in Bolivia: meeting the expectations of a multi-ethnic, multicultural society with a high poverty rate; committing itself to the country’s National Development Plan and finally, complying with the legal pro-visions aiming to boost aid effectiveness by aligning it with national procedures.

The current programme’s main purposes are to improve access to healthcare services in urban and rural settings, manage the water supply and increase the incomes of small farmers by encouraging them to produce wood, fruit, vegeta-bles and camelids in line with the market.

Belgian Development Cooperation also uses basket funding to support the work of the Defensor del Pueblo (ombudsman’s office), which is responsible for bringing society together and ensuring human rights and basic freedoms are respected.

BTC’s current programme in Bolivia chiefly aims to build capacities at national level. This is why each project includes a section for training technicians to work on the projects, but also for training in national institutions.

In 2007, the non-project scholarship and internship pro-gramme gave 16 scholarship students the chance to study in Belgium, while another 1,049 were able to participate in train-ing programmes in Bolivia.

Alternative farming

For a long time, the Cochabamba Tropic has been a focus for programmes aiming to foster the growth of crops other than coca. These programmes based their strategies on the size of their investments, but they failed to give enough attention to the key groups.

However, the Project for the Full and Sustainable Use of Forest Resources in Cochabamba Region closely involves stakehold-ers in all decisions made as part of the project’s activities.

As a result, the project’s methods have been adopted in their entirety by the six federations of small producers and the five municipalities in question.

Water management and participation

After being a source of conflict for many years (due to flood-ing, damage to infrastructure and loss of farmland), water has now become the driving force behind integrated local devel-opment through the control and management of the basins flowing through the Andean region (Cochabamba).

In this context, the creation of joint platforms for civil society and local and regional authorities and institutions has led to joint decisions on measures for managing drinking water and irrigation systems. These platforms also provided an oppor-tunity to discuss issues around health services, education, diversification and governance collectively, involving every-one and taking account of the local situation.

This participative process not only brought the people togeth-er to discuss an area of common interest, i.e. water – it also convinced all those involved that sustainable management of water and natural resources is the key to development.

The process culminated in the creation of a collective vision, which has since been adopted by the municipality.

BTC-49

Part 2: Abroad

The new Indicative Cooperation Programme (ICP) for the 2007-2010 period is designed to improve living conditions for Ecuadorians in rural areas. The five provinces to ben-efit from Belgian cooperation are Carchí, Imbabura, northern Pichincha, Esmeraldas and Manabí.

Following the change in the intervention logic, i.e. from a project-based to a programme-based framework, the ICP will focus on two sectors: rural development and health, clean drinking water and sanitation. Indeed local and regional gov-ernments in the beneficiary provinces were able to play a much more active role in the formulations completed during the second half of 2007.

A new Constitution is currently being drafted in Ecuador, which once a new National Constituent Assembly is sworn in will bring about sweeping changes to the institutions of the State – changes which will require a new framework of rela-tions with government institutions.

Various projects under the 2001-2006 ICP are currently being finalised and have clearly demonstrated the need for capaci-ty-building at local level.

The main strategy adopted by the various projects and pro-grammes is to shore up local capacities, which is considered key to developing sustainable processes, and in so doing to focus on developing professional skills, training and reinforc-ing human capital. In this regard, institutional players are crucial allies.

Support from the technical assistant (TA), i.e. his experience and ability to convey knowledge is vital in ensuring that the work carried out is sustainable. The TA’s expertise helps to build up the institutional, technical and financial capacities of the partners involved and this, in turn, results in enhanced efficiency and impact of the project and better sustainability of the processes. It also lends added value to transmitting and applying new working methods.

With regard to healthcare, steps have also been taken with the municipality of Quito to establish access to universal health insurance. In this context, the Salud de Altura project has focussed its activity on improving healthcare services. The project aims at providing high-quality, accessible serv-ices geared towards the most vulnerable part of the popu-lation. The project currently has over 25,000 users in the Metropolitan District of Quito – far more than originally hoped.

The Programme for Participatory Management, Decentra-lisation and Environmental Development, Health and Tourism

in the Municipality of Ibarra (PRODESIMI), in which the Ministry for Public Health is involved, is developing strategies to decentralise healthcare, thereby making services avail-able at local level and transferring responsibilities to local authorities.

Capacity has also been developed to promote tourism given the substantial potential in the Imbabura region. Accordingly, the tourist train running from Ibarra to San Lorenzo has been brought back into service on the Ibarra–Salinas sec-tion (45-km route). Some 408 tourism promoters have also attended training workshops and one of the most visible out-comes has been the renewed economic activity in communi-ties involved in tourism activities.

In terms of rural production development, the Programme for Developing Healthy Meat Production in North Ecuador (PROCANOR) in Imbabura, Carchí, southern Esmeraldas and northern Pichincha focussed on improving the quality of meat products and on producing and marketing the latter. It also provides support for building up livestock production and the use of technology within the process, rating of rural veteri-nary surgeons (community sponsors), management of higher-quality abattoirs, refrigeration franchises, storage facilities, restaurants and supply centres and preventing diseases such as cysticercosis and others. It also aims to improve animals’ genetic make-up and to establish a culture of eating healthy meat.

As a result, the livestock industry in northern Ecuador now has an extra 155 men and women trained to support the pro-duction of healthy meat by small- to medium-sized producers.

The processes borne out of the aforementioned programme have been made sustainable thanks to the respective region-al governments having taken over control of them; said gov-ernments have also made a significant financial and technical contribution to the project. To date, four municipalities have officially made provision via a municipal ordinance for setting up a Regional Meat Chain Committee bringing together pro-duction and commercial stakeholders to drive forward poli-cies that support the sector and help it to produce healthy, high-quality meat.

Belgian cooperation has also been active in the sector of social infrastructure in the south of the country in the provinc-es of Loja and Zamora Chinchipe via the Social and Productive Infrastructure Development Programme (PROLOZA) .This programme is designed to put in place conditions to pro-mote local capacity-building by jointly implementing projects in such areas as improving educational infrastructure and

ecuaDor

BTC-50

making drinking water available to outlying communities as well as providing specific training in rural and local develop-ment. The programme is being conducted within the frame-work of the agreements concluded between Ecuador and Peru to promote peace between the two countries.

The processes being implemented to promote local capac-ity-building include those conducted in partnership with the Regional Programme for Development of Southern Ecuador (PREDESUR) via which substantial improvements have been made in policies designed to establish transparent manage-ment of public tenders. Socio-organisational methods have also been applied to social monitoring activities and to the management of irrigation systems.

Together with the Federation of Small Coffee Producers in the Southern Regions (FAPECAFES) and its base associa-tions, the necessary physical infrastructure has been put in place to supply, process and market the goods produced. Internal management tools have also been developed (plans, control and follow-up systems, trusts) via capacity-building workshops.

Together with the VVOB and its Cooperation Programme for Technical Education in Agriculture and Livestock Management in the Province of Loja (PROCETAL), the applied education on offer in 17 rural technical colleges specialising in agriculture and livestock management has been enhanced. The infra-structure has improved and new equipment is available. The improvements have meant that practical activities are now possible and training is run by directors, teachers, students and heads of households. The Ministry of Education has also now firmly established these processes in southern Ecuador and is also financing them.

The scholarship programme is continuing to benefit the coun-try substantially. In 2007, 169 Ecuadorians received scholar-ships (11 in Belgium, 13 in Latin America in general and 145 in Ecuador itself).

micro-intervention programme

Alongside the development actions taken by BTC in part-ner countries, a plethora of projects are implemented on a smaller scale. These projects are known as ‘micro-projects’ or ‘micro-interventions’.The main objective of a micro-project is to provide direct sup-port for activities that are of collective economic, social and cultural importance. Such projects offer financial or logisti-cal assistance to the implementation of civil society and local authority initiatives.In 2007, a budget of €3,307,000 was earmarked to finance some 367 micro-projects in 17 countries.

Book Diom (Senegal)

In Ponty, a poor district of the Senegalese capital Dakar, residents have joined forces to combat poverty. One of them, the mechanic Aliou Camara, decided to take some disadvan-taged young people under his wing and teach them to repair engines, to weld and to paint vehicles.

Belgian Development Cooperation is supporting this project, which promotes the training of young slum-dwellers by funding the purchase of a number of machines, including a compressor.The profits generated by the use and hire of these machines go towards training for youngsters (more specifically trans-port and food costs) and support for the district primary school (buying school books and equipment) and workshops for manufacturing toys and objets d’art made out of recycled materials.

In the final analysis this project benefits the whole district, starting with young apprentices, who without Aliou’s aid would have probably ended up on Dakar’s streets.

Development and identity of the Nampag cultural association (Peru)

Ciro Alegrio is an Indian community that lives at the very heart of the department of Amazonas in Peru. Nampag works to protect and promote Awajún culture through tourism, folk-lore, crafts and the traditional use of medicinal plants. The micro-project supports Nampag in various ways: con-struction of an alternative tourism hostel, reissuing of a docu-mentary/audio CD, the design of a website (www.nampag.blogspot.com) and other activities that underpin this commu-nity’s subsistence, such as fish farming, poultry farming and breeding hamsters.

BTC-51

Part 2: Abroad

BTC-52

Part 3: Finances

BTC-53

Report by the College of Commissioners Report by the statutory auditors to the general meeting of shareholders of the company Belgian Technical Cooperation on the annual accounts closed on 31 December 2007 for the period 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2007.

In accordance with the relevant provisions under legislation and regula-tions and, more specifically, Article 144 of the Company Code which – by virtue of Article 29(1) of the law of 21 December 1998 establishing ‘Belgian Technical Cooperation’ as a public-law company – apply to Belgian Technical Cooperation, the statutory auditors are pleased to provide you with a report as part of their duties. The report includes their opinion on the annual accounts and the additional comments required.

1. Unqualified audit opinion on the annual accounts

The statutory auditors have audited the annual accounts for the financial year ending 31 December 2007, which were drawn up on the basis of the account-ing system applicable in Belgium and which show a balance sheet total of EUR 88,480,277 and a profit for the financial year of EUR 2,527,142.

Responsibility of the Board of Directors in connection with the preparation and sincere presentation of the annual accounts

The Board of Directors is responsible for preparing the annual accounts. This responsibility involves the development, implementation and supervision of internal control procedures connected with the sincere preparation and pres-entation of annual accounts that do not contain any significant material mis-statement due to fraud, errors, the selection and application of suitable eval-uation rules or by establishing reasonable accounting estimates as regards circumstances. Responsibility of the statutory auditors

The statutory auditors are responsible for giving their opinion on these annual accounts on the basis of their audit. The audit was carried out in accordance with the legal provisions and auditing standards applicable in Belgium, as laid down by the Institute of Auditors (IRE/IBR). The aforementioned auditing standards require that the audit be planned and performed to obtain reasonable assurance that the annual accounts are free from significant material misstatement.

In accordance with the aforementioned accounting standards, the statutory auditors implemented control procedures to collect audit evidence on the sums and information provided in the annual accounts. The auditors use their judgement to select these procedures as well as their evaluation of the risk that the annual accounts could contain significant material misstatement due to fraud or errors.

As part of this risk evaluation process, the statutory auditors took account of internal control procedures in force within the company for drawing up and presenting the annual accounts honestly in order to define control procedures suited to the circumstances but without the objective of expressing an opin-ion on the company’s internal control. The statutory auditors also assessed the accounting policies, the reasonable nature of the significant accounting estimates made by the company and the overall presentation of the annual accounts. Finally, the statutory auditors obtained the explanations and infor-mation required for their audit from the Board of Directors and the company employees. The statutory auditors believe that the audit evidence collected provides a reasonable basis for their opinion.

Opinion

In the opinion of the statutory auditors, the annual accounts closed on 31 December 2007 give a true view of the company’s assets and liabilities, financial position and results, in accord-ance with the accounting standards applicable in Belgium.

2. Additional comments

The Board of Directors is responsible for the preparation and contents of the management report and compliance with the Company Code and the articles of association.

The statutory auditors are obliged to include the following additional com-ments in their report, which do not modify the audit opinion on the annual accounts:

The management report includes the information required by law and —is consistent with the annual accounts. However, the statutory auditors are not able to issue an opinion on the description of the main risks and uncertainties to which the company is exposed or on its situation, its likely development or the notable influence of certain facts on its future development. The statutory auditors can, however, confirm that the information provided does not contain any significant inconsistencies with the information that they became aware of during the performance of their duties.Without prejudice to certain formal aspects of minor importance, the —accounting records are maintained in accordance with the legal and regulatory requirements applicable in Belgium.The statutory auditors state that no transactions have been undertak- —en or decisions taken in violation of the articles of association or the Company Code. The appropriation of results proposed to the general meeting complies with legal requirements and the provisions set out in the articles of association.

Brussels, 5 June 2008

Jozef Beckers, Advisor to the Belgian Court of Audit —Didier Claisse, Advisor to the Belgian Court of Audit —Bollen & Mathay / BST Réviseurs d’entreprises (Company auditors), —represented by Chantal BollenBDO Atrio Réviseurs d’entreprises Soc. Civ. SCRL (Company auditors), —represented by Michel Grignard

CTB-54BTC-54

Annual accounts

Transparency and risk management

The following pages give a summary of BTC’s balance sheet and provide details of its annual accounts for 2007. The full annual accounts are available to the public and can be requested from the National Bank of Belgium (www.nbb.be).

As Belgium’s development cooperation agency, BTC has a duty to its share-holders to be transparent. This is why we also publish the cost structure of our operations as a complement to the annual report. The cost structure is a percentage breakdown of expenses according to the area of expenditure. This gives a clear indication of the percentage that goes to partner countries and beneficiaries.

A range of measures and instruments has been established to enable BTC to keep the risks linked to its activities under control. Firstly, BTC has a code of ethics for its entire staff. The code is underpinned by four key principles: respect, loyalty, impartiality and professional integrity. The code of ethics guarantees the integrity of all of BTC’s employees.

BTC’s operations are guided by a rigorous process-based approach. Process management sets out a systematic working method that assigns responsi-bilities and identifies risks. The core operational and financial processes per-taining to the projects and programmes are also described and documented.

Part 3: Finances

Cost structure

Local staff - country offices Country offices Vehicles Local staff - projects Management costs - Brussels Scholarships (Belgium and abroad) Technical assistants Operating costs - projects Subcontractors and consultancy Investments (projects) Financial support

26.2%

21.5%

10.9%

9.4%

8.4%

6.2%

5.2%

4.1%

3.7%

3.2%

1.1%

In 2007, BTC strengthened its internal audit procedures by recruiting two full-time auditors. They will provide independent and objective evaluation of BTC’s activities, with particular attention to areas for improvement.BTC is not immune to fraud and corruption, so the agency operates a zero-tolerance policy in this respect. As soon as it has been established that funds are being misused, BTC takes all the operational and legal decisions neces-sary to protect its interests and those of its contractors and beneficiaries.

In recent years, BTC has continually invested in people, methods and proc-esses with a view to preventing and combating corruption. These efforts will also be continued in the future. Since 1 January 2008, BTC has been a member of the U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre, a knowledge and advice centre that helps development organisations to deal with corruption in inter-national development cooperation efficiently. U4 has an extensive electronic information centre, which members can use to search for ways of fighting corruption. U4 also provides a platform (a database of projects and various initiatives) for member organisations to exchange their experiences in this field. Finally, U4 organises training courses for development workers (either over the Internet or in the country itself) on anti-corruption measures and strategies (www.u4.no).

BTC-55

Balance after appropriations and transfers (Figures in euros)

ASSETS 31/12/2007 % 31/12/2006 %

Fixed assets 1,808,030 2.0 1,436,344 2.5

Amounts receivable > 1 year

Sub-total 1,808,030 2.0 1,436,344 2.5

Current assets ≤ 1 year 65,995,917 74.6 14,371,909 24.9

Investments 11,872,130 13.4 29,135,965 50.4

Cash assets 2,224,769 2.5 5,362,051 9.3

Deferred charges and accrued income 6,579,431 7.5 7,466,831 12.9

TOTAL ASSETS 88,480,277 100.0 57,773,100 100.0

LIABILITIES 31/12/2007 % 31/12/2006 %

Equity 13,946,931 15.8 11,419,789 19.7

Provisions and deferred income taxes > 1 year

1,911,615 2.2 1,207,141 2.1

Amounts payable > 1 year

Sub-total 15,858,546 18.0 12,626,930 21.8

Provisions and deferred income taxes ≤ 1 year

Amounts payable ≤ 1 year 26,862,826 30.4 44,122,827 76.4

Accrued charges and deferred income

45,758,905 51.6 1,023,343 1.8

TOTAL LIABILITIES 88,480,277 100.0 57,773,100 100.0

The following ratios can be deduced from the figures given above:

31/12/2007 31/12/2006

Liquidity (Current assets in the short term/Amounts payable in the short term)

2.46 0.33

Solvency (Equity/Total equity) 15.76% 19.76 %

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Partie 3 : Finances

Les ratios suivants peuvent être déduits des données qui précèdent :

Appropriations and transfers

Profits made total € 2,527,142.

Profit to be appropriated (+) 6,290,460

- profit from the period to be allocated (+) 2,527,142

- profit carried forward from the previous period (+) 3,763,318

Appropriation into equity (appropriation into the legal reserve) (-) 126,357

Profit to be carried forward (-) 6,164,103

31/12/2007 31/12/2006

Turnover 213,416,163 166,384,808

Other sales and activities 22,967,182 20,866,645

Purchases 190,794,148 147,857,453

Services and other goods 8,308,634 8,317,106

Staff costs 34,112,405 29,208,998

Depreciation 723,657 682,673

Provisions for liabilities and charges 704,474 309,443

Other operating charges 62,647 88,938

Operating result 1,677,380 786,841

Financial result 823,754 224,475

Extraordinary result 26,008 -76,557

Transfers from/to deferred taxes

Taxes on the result

Result for the period 2,527,142 934,759

Transfers from/to untaxed reserves

Result from the period to be appropriated 2,527,142 934,759

Income statement (Figures in euros)

Part 3: Finances

BTC-57

BTC-58

Notes on balance sheet items – ASSETS

Fixed assets € 1,808,030

These fixed assets only refer to the assets at BTC’s head office and local representations.

Fixed assets realised as part of cooperation activities are covered in full when they are realised in accordance with the principle of transferring assets to a partner country at the end of a cooperation activity.

Intangible assets include various IT programs, primarily the Navision Financial® accounting program.

The fixed financial assets are composed of guarantees paid by local representations. No guarantee was paid for the head office.

Amounts receivable within one year € 65,995,917

Trade debtors € 65,840,021

Clients € 65,220,567

Invoices to be drawn up for cooperation activities that had not been invoiced by 31 December 2007 but which pertain to this period

€ 543,719

Credit notes to be received and advances paid € 40,190

Balance for supplier credit € 35,545

Other amounts receivable (incl. VAT) € 155,895

Investments € 11,872,130

Short-term investments € 11,872,130

Cash assets € 2,224,769

Bank accounts (for BTC head office and representations)

€ 2,224,769

Deferred dharges and accrued income € 6,579,431

This section contains the various charges to be carried forward and revenues acquired during activities under way:

Balances on the closing date of bank accounts for state-con-trolled cooperation activities; these are considered to be future charges and therefore not as cash assets.

€ 5,886,406

Charges to be carried forward € 528,350

Revenues € 64,943

Suspense account € 99,732

Part 3: Finances

Notes on balance sheet items – LIABILITIES

Equity € 13,946,931 Equity includes capital (€7,436,806), the legal reserve and the profit brought forward.

Provisions for liabilities and charges € 1,911,615

Provision for litigation (the provisions constituted in 2007 relate mainly to ongoing or potential litigation concerning redundancies)

€ 776,964

Provisions for liabilities and charges € 1,134,65

Amounts payable within one year € 26,862,825

This entry includes Trade payables € 3,459,233

Social security contributions to be paid € 26,954

Remuneration to be paid € 4,150

Provisions for holiday bonuses € 1,257,704

Other € 675

Advances received € 22,114,109

Net advances for 2nd and 3rd management contract

€ 14,533,849

5X (Article 6) € 2,141,060

Other donors € 5,439,200

Accrued charges and deferred income - liabilities € 45,758,905

This figure includes various charges to be posted in 2007 and income to be carried forward to 2008..

BTC-59

Notes on the income statement

The income statement has been revised in accordance with the provisions of the third management contract.Activities are subdivided into Article 5, Article 6, Article 7 (activities for third parties) and, from 2006, Article 9 (VSDC).Both the activity costs and the management costs are broken down according to these four ‘department’ codes.

Activities (direct bilateral)

State-managed Co-managed Sub-total

Advance 3rd management contract received in 2007

163,975,746.26

Actual turnover -106,851,421.07 -79,809,608.97 -186,661,030.04

Management fee

Flat rate

Profit -1,515,409.61

Turnover cf. National Bank of Belgium -106,851,421.07 -79,809,608.97 -188,176,439.61

Cancellation co-management 79,809,608.97 79,809,608.97

Payments into co-management accounts

-74,378,802.82 -74,378,802.82

Commitments in DRC -1,315,010.25 -1,315,010.25

DGDC turnover -108,166,431.32 -74,378,802.82 -184,060,643.71

Costs 106,851,421.07 79,809,608.97 186,661,030.04

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Part 3: Finances

Art. 5 Art. 6 Art.7 Art. 9 2007

Advance 3rd management contract received in 2007

155,725,746.26

Advance for emergency aid 8,250,000.00

Total -163,975,746.26

Actual turnover -186,661,030.04 -9,895,302.71 -12,739,311.82 -2,151,710.13 -211,447,354.70

Management fee -10,661.23 -335,811.22 -346,472.45

Flat rate -800.00 -35,039.20 -35,839.20

Profit -1,515,409.57 -71,086.45 -1,586,496.02

Turnover cf. National Bank of Belgium -188,176,439.61 -9,977,850.39 -13,110,162.24 -2,151,710.13 -213,416,162.37

Cancellation co-management 79,809,608.97

Payments into co-management accounts

-74,378,802.82

Commitments in DRC -1,315,010.25

DGDC turnover

Costs 186,661,030.04 9,895,302.71 12,739,311.82 2,151,710.13 211,447,354.70

BTC-61

MANAGEMENT BODIES:

General Assembly (Minister for Development Cooperation) —Board of Directors —Managing director —Management Committee —

MONITORING BODIES:

Government auditors (Development Cooperation & Budget) —College of Commissioners (Court of Audit & external company auditors) —Internal auditing —

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Chairman:

Yves Haesendonck —

Members of the Board of Directors: Jef Valkeniers (Vice-Chairman) —Claude Bougard —Xavier De Cuyper —Kathelijn De Decker —Luc De Lobel —Étienne Godin —Étienne Knoops —Leen Laenens —Jacques Lefèvre —Willy Peirens —Milan Rutten —

MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

Chairman: Carl Michiels —

Geographical Coordination Manager: Mario Goethals —

Sectoral and Thematic Expertise Manager: Jean-Pierre Luxen —

Human Resources Manager: Krista Verstraelen —

Finance and ICM Manager: Peter Pauwels —

Organisation structureAs BTC is a provider of public serv-ices, its organisational structure is centred on efficient management and intensive monitoring. BTC’s management and monitoring bodies respectively are responsible for these key areas of focus.

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•NORTH AND WEST AFRICA

AND PALESTINE

•CENTRAL AND EAST AFRICA

•ASIA, LATIN AMERICA

AND SOUTHERN AFRICA

•SCHOLARSHIPS

AND TRAINEESHIPS

•PUBLIC CONTRACTS

•SECTORAL AND THEMATIC

ExPERTISE

•INTERNATIONAL SERVICES

•MARKETING AND ExTERNAL

COMMUNICATION

•GENERAL INFORMATION CyCLE

•ANNONCER LA COULEUR

•KLEUR BEKENNEN

•FAIR TRADE CENTRE

•PAyROLL AND TRAVEL

•RECRUITMENT

AND SELECTION

•TRAINING AND SKILLS MANAGEMENT

•LEGAL ADVICE

•VOLUNTARy SERVICE

•CONTROLLING & LOGISTICS

•ACCOUNTING

•INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT

GeneralAccounting

ProjectsAccounting

chairman of themanagement committee

boarD of Directors

INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONRECEPTION

QUALITy MANAGEMENT

geographical coorDination

sectoral anDthematic expertise

humanresources

finances,information anD communication management

Internal Auditor

boarD of auDit

BTC-63

Publications

&CO, BELGIAN DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION’S MAGAzINE IN CONGO

In 2007, BTC published the first issue of its new magazine &CO. The coun-try had recently held its first elections in many years and a new Indicative Cooperation Programme was due to be signed – in this context, circum-stances seemed favourable for communicating with the Congolese popula-tion and encouraging national ownership of cooperation activities between Belgium and DRC. &CO aims to launch a dialogue between all stakeholders in Congolese society and provide a better overview of the reality faced by Congolese people.

&CO 2, SPECIAL ISSUE ON FORESTS IN CONGO

The second issue of &CO dealt with the main topics discussed during the international conference on sustainable management of forests in DRC, which was held in Brussels from 26 to 27 February 2007. It comprised accounts by people for whom the forests are a living environment or a source of liveli-hood, as well as articles on the value of Congo’s forests and a pull-out map of the forests and the five regions included on the UNESCO world heritage list.

&CO 3, SPECIAL ISSUE ON MOBILITy

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, like everywhere else, communication routes impact on the country’s development. Indeed, reconstruction, regional integration and establishing peace in the DRC depend largely on its transport infrastructure.

NEW THEMATIC BROCHURE: THE CITy, A DEVELOPMENT (F)ACTOR

The increase in the world’s population over the next few decades will be mainly fuelled by the expansion of cities in developing countries. In 2007 - for the first time in human history - there were more people living in the world’s towns and cities than in the countryside. Today, over three billion people live in cities or urban environments. The complex process that has led to this change is called urbanisation and has significant social, economic, environ-mental and cultural repercussions for society. As the fight against poverty is the main objective of development cooperation, it is only natural that develop-ment partners are paying special attention to support for sustainable urban development.

BLOGCOOPERATION.BE

The Voluntary Service for Development Cooperation (VSDC) was created in 2006 to give young people the chance to gain their first professional experi-ence in development cooperation. With the support of a coach, the young vol-unteers take part in a BTC project. The volunteers’ blog is a channel allowing them to provide information and exchange their experiences in this area, in the aim of making the Belgian public more aware of the main issues in devel-opment cooperation.

STUDIES

What does the future hold for the forests in the Democratic Republic of Congo? Innovative tools and mechanisms for sus-tainable forest management. BTC’s third Reflection and Discussion Paper is a continuation of the debates and discussions that were initiated at the international conference on sustain-able forest management in the DRC, held in Brussels on 26 and 27 February 2007. The publication is geared towards a well-informed audience wishing to gain a better understanding of the emergence of sustainable forest manage-ment in DRC.

WEBSITES

- WWW.BTCCTB.ORG- WWW.BLOGCOOPERATION.BE- WWW.KLEURBEKENNEN.BE- WWW.ANNONCERLACOULEUR.BE- WWW.BEFAIR.BE- WWW.EUNIDA.EU

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