Browse by: "2009"

The informal sector deprives states of revenues and workers of social protection. It also, however, frequently constitutes the most dynamic part of the economy and creates massive employment. Informal employment is ubiquitous and growing. The financial crisis that began in 2008 has made the management of informal employment even more challenging.  Responding to this emerging challenge is critical, not only for the well being of millions of workers but also for social development. Is Informal Normal? provides evidence for policy makers on how to deal with this issue of crucial importance for developing and developed countries alike. This book includes StatLinks, URLs linking charts and graphs to Excel files containing the data.

“In countries such as China, the exceptional scale of rural to urban migration amplifies the challenges from informality. This work provides valuable analytical results for understanding this major transformation, its problems and impacts.”

                       -Professor Li Shi, Beijing Normal University

“This volume is an important contribution to the current policy debates on the informal economy. It recommends providing support to the working poor in the informal economy, making formal structures more efficient and flexible and creating more formal jobs.”

                      -Professor Marty Chen, Harvard Kennedy School and WIEGO

“The strengths of this volume are many: evidence that “Informal Is Normal;” references to many newer studies and ways of thinking; the consistent three-pronged strategy; accessibility. Is Informal Normal? will serve as a reference in the literature on informality for years to come.”

                      -Professor Gary Fields, Cornell University

The Internet has been remarkably successful in developing greater opportunities for communication access - and economic growth and social development - for the first billion users. The majority of the next several billion users will be mainly from developing countries and will connect to the Internet principally via wireless networks. But there are substantial discrepancies in access to ICTs between developed and developing countries and also within countries, depending on factors such as gender, rural coverage, skills and educational levels.

 

This book examines how the market for internet traffic exchange has evolved and explores the coherence of policies pursued by developed and developing countries. It notes the increasing innovation occurring in a number of developing countries with competitive markets and discusses how liberalisation has helped to expand of access networks and make ICT services increasingly affordable and available to the poor. The report also highlights the employment, micro-entrepreneurial and social development opportunities which have emerged as access levels have risen among low-income users. The study notes that gateway service monopolies - still in 70 countries -  raise the prices for accessing international capacity and reduce the affordability of Internet access to business and end users.

The negative impacts of climate change will hit poor people and poor countries disproportionately, and further compromise the achievement of their development objectives. Integrating Climate Change Adaptation into Development Co-operation provides essential information and advice on how to facilitate the integration of adaptation into development processes. The objectives of this policy guidance are to: i) promote understanding of the implications of climate change on development practice and the associated need to mainstream climate adaptation in development co-operation agencies and partner  countries; ii) identify appropriate approaches for integrating climate change adaptation into development policies at national, sectoral and project levels and in urban and rural contexts; and iii) identify practical ways for donors to support developing country partners in their efforts to reduce their vulnerability to climate variability and climate change. While efforts to integrate climate change adaptation will be led by developing country partners, international donors have a critical role to play in supporting such efforts.

Under the Paris Declaration, donors and partner countries commit to “reform procedures and strengthen incentives - including for recruitment, appraisal and training - for management and staff to work towards harmonisation, alignment and results”. This commitment was based on the recognition that the needed changes to behaviour will not happen automatically as there are a number of up-front and long-term costs - institutional, financial and political. The importance of appropriate incentives in influencing managers and officials - and even more importantly political leaders - to bring about the necessary changes has been emphasised in a number of partner countries included in the Evaluation of the Paris Declaration.

If incentives are to shift across the board, determined leadership, reinforced by pressure from well-informed stakeholders in partner and donor countries, will be needed. This publication adddresses this need and aims to provide donor agencies with guidance on how to improve aid effectiveness, and to assist them in identifying their strengths, weaknesses and gaps in incentives for promoting aid effectiveness.

Despite the best of intentions, donors can inadvertently undermine statebuilding processes. When the resources they deliver or the reforms they advocate weaken rather than strengthen the state’s decision- and policy-making functions, their efforts can do more harm than good. Donors can also do harm by creating a brain drain away from state organisations – for instance, by hiring the most qualified civil servants. When aid is delivered in a way that actually acts as a disincentive to states to consolidate their own revenue base, this can retard the development of the state’s own capacity.  

How can donors ensure they do no harm? How can they be sure they intervene constructively in fragile situations? Do No Harm provides practical guidance based on the results of research undertaken on behalf of the OECD DAC International Network on Conflict and Fragility (INCAF). The book is based on comparative case studies of six countries (Afghanistan, Bolivia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nepal, Rwanda and Sierra Leone) and a comprehensive literature review. It addresses how the interventions of OECD countries may risk undermining positive statebuilding processes, and makes recommendations as to how this may be avoided in the future. Do No Harm is an important source to guide external engagement in situations of fragility and conflict, both at the policy and the field level.

This edition of OECD's annual Development Co-operation Report provides key statistics and analysis on the latest trends in international aid. Eckhard Deutscher, who recently took over as Chairman of the Development Assistance Committee, reports back on the Accra High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness and the need to step up our efforts to make aid work better for developing countries in this time of economic crisis. The report also addresses fragmentation, a major problem when aid comes in too many small slices from too many directions and - drawing on case studies from number of countries - offers five lessons on how the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness can be used to make the link between development policy and human rights, environmental sustainability and gender equality.

 

The title of the Development Co-operation Report has traditionally carried the date of the year preceding its publication. We would like to alert readers to the fact that, as of this issue, the title will reflect the actual year of publication. This issue will, therefore, be entitled Development Co-operation Report 2009. Please note that this Report incorporates data submitted to the OECD up to 15 November 2008; these data correspond to flows in 2007.

This second volume of the Partnership for Democratic Governance Series investigates whether ‘contracting out’ core government functions and services has been conducive to capacity development. Each case study discusses the evidence and emerging lessons of contracting out in fragile and post-conflict situations.

The chapters contained in this publication first appeared as contributions to the Partnership for Democratic Governance's collaborative online platform, PDF Online. Through this platform, users are able to post comments on discussion papers, send messages to the authors and easily find ifnormation relevant to the topics covered in this publication.

Selected as a 2009 Notable Document by the American Library Association Government Documents Round Table.