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Water and its improved governance are critical for economic growth, social inclusiveness and environmental sustainability. Three years after the adoption of the OECD Water Governance Principles, this report takes stock of their use and dissemination. It provides a water governance indicator framework and a set of evolving practices for bench-learning, building on lessons learned from different countries and contexts.
 
Based on an extensive bottom up and multi-stakeholder process within the OECD Water Governance Initiative (WGI), these tools are conceived of as voluntary methodologies to be carried out at country, region, basin and/or city levels to improve water policies. The indicator framework is composed of a traffic light system based on 36 input and process indicators and a checklist with questions on a number of more specific governance conditions. The framework concludes with an action plan to help prioritise steps towards better design and implementation of water policies.

This handbook is intended to assist the assessment teams and the reviewed jurisdictions that are participating in the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes (the “Global Forum”) peer reviews and non-member reviews. It provides contextual background information on the Global Forum   and the peer review process. It also contains key relevant documents and authoritative sources  that will guide assessors and reviewed jurisdictions through the peer review process. This handbook is also a unique source of information for governments academics and others interested in transparency and exchange of information for tax purposes.  

This handbook is intended to assist the assessment teams and the reviewed jurisdictions that are participating in the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information (the “Global Forum”) peer reviews and non-member reviews.  It provides contextual background information on the Global Forum and the peer review process.  It also contains relevant key documents and authoritative sources that will guide assessors and reviewed jurisdictions throughout the peer review process.  Assessors should be familiar with the information and documents contained in this handbook as it will assist in conducting proper and fair assessments.  This handbook is also a unique source of information for governments, academics and others interested in transparency and exchange of information for tax purposes.

COVID-19 has accelerated the digitalisation of working and social interactions. Global lockdowns to contain the pandemic have forced firms and workers to perform a wide range of daily functions through virtual means. This has led to greater uptake and acceptance of remote working, which will likely remain in the post-pandemic scenario. Governments and policy responses at the local and regional level can play a decisive role in supporting workers and firms in this transition. This report proposes a number of policy takeaways to guide short and long-term policy making to better prepare regions for what may be a ‘new normal’. The report relies on real-time subnational data to analyse changes in people’s mobility patterns and the determinants of remote working adoption across types of workers and regions. The report identifies different scenarios of settlement patterns that could emerge post-COVID-19, highlighting how changing patterns of work could impact on regional development and a range of policy areas, including infrastructure, healthcare and the environment.

Widespread school closures affected over one billion students during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The vocational education and training (VET) sector has faced particular challenges during the crisis, most notably the fact that the digital learning environments that most education institutions had to rely on during closures don’t work as well for practice-oriented learning – a core component of VET instruction – as they do for academic learning. This report looks at comparative statistics and policy information collected by the OECD across a number of education systems to track the impact of the pandemic on the VET sector.

This Report was prepared by the Committee on Fiscal Affairs to consider ways to improve international co-operation with respect to the exchange of information in the possession of banks and other financial institutions for tax purposes.

Taxis are an essential mode of transport for disabled and older people.  The combination of the personal service they offer, their wide availability and door-to-door operations enable them to respond particularly well to the travel needs of people with disabilities.  Although several countries have made progress in improving the accessibility of taxi services, much remains to be done. This joint ECMT/IRU study examines factors relating to the design and manufacture of taxi vehicles and considers practical measures to increase the production and use of accessible taxis.

This conference proceedings from the OECD Conference on Agricultural Knowledge Systems (AKS), held in Paris, on 15-17 June 2011, discusses a large range of experiences and approaches to AKS  explores how to foster development and adoption of innovation to meet global food security and climate change challenges. The conference considered developments in institutional frameworks, public and private roles and partnerships, regulatory frameworks conducive to innovation, the adoption of innovations and technology transfers, and the responsiveness of AKS to broader policy objectives.

Costly and lengthy regulatory barriers, accompanied by sluggish markets, have long been reasons for companies and their shareholders to look for alternatives to Initial Public Offerings (IPOs). A popular alternative has often been to pursue backdoor listing – often accomplished through a reverse merger, exchange offer, or rights offer, for instance. Because backdoor listings are often not under the strict oversight of listing rules and regulations, it is argued that they are prone to fraud and abuse. This report provides four regulatory strategies for consideration by policy makers in Indonesia, in order to support their efforts to improve listing and corporate governance standards.

This report provides insights on applying behavioural insights to improve public integrity in the public administration of the Slovak Republic. This report illustrates, through a stepwise application of the OECD BASIC toolkit, how corruption risk management policies can be improved through the identification and analysis of undesired behaviours, and through the design and testing of strategies to change these behaviours. Specifically, a randomised controlled trial was employed to test the effect of two behaviourally informed strategies to improve risk communication in the public administration. The results provided novel empirical evidence that: 1) providing support to public servants to better understand risks; and 2) exposing public servants to good leadership examples can improve their propensity to communicate risks. Moreover, it was found that feeling safe, trusting and being aware of risk communication channels also play an important role in improving risk communication. Based on the findings, this report provides recommendations to improve the risk management system of the Slovak Republic and inform the discussion on the upcoming National Anti-corruption Strategy, contributing to advancing the country’s efforts in curbing corruption.

The water supply and sanitation (WSS) sector in Moldova is not financially sustainable: tariffs do not typically cover operational costs and capital investments are heavily funded by external development partners. This report analyses several options for streamlining and strengthening domestic financial support mechanisms (DFSMs) in terms of both supply and demand, discusses different scenarios and recommends a number of actions to ensure effective DFSM implementation, notably: 1) sufficient investment for the implementation of targets and obligations set in the national strategies, the Association Agreement with the EU, as well as Moldova’s international commitments (water-related Sustainable Development Goals, and the “Water-to-all” commitment); 2) the financial sustainability of operators; and 3) the affordability of WSS services for end-users, especially low-income segments of the population.

Early equity for disadvantaged children can be achieved through nurturing, high quality early learning environments. However, without deliberate action, disadvantaged children face a 12 month development gap compared to their more advantaged peers in key early learning areas such as emergent literacy. Data based on direct assessments from 7,000 children in England, Estonia and the United States show what it takes to achieve a level playing field for disadvantaged children. These actions include supporting parents to regularly read with their children, having back-and-forth conversations and providing access to developmentally appropriate books. Links between parents and their early childhood education and care (ECEC) centre are also positively linked to children’s early development, as well as the provision and quality of ECEC. The latter includes a holistic approach to ensure children’s social-emotional skills are fostered, such as curiosity and co-operation, and ensuring children have a level of autonomy over their activities.

A major challenge facing the Republic of Buryatia, subject of the Russian Federation, is how to balance the task of protecting Lake Baikal – a unique water object and ecological system included in the UNESCO list of World Natural Heritage Areas – with the need for dynamic and sustainable socio-economic development of the republic.  This requires streamlining and improving water policy jointly with economic, administrative, information and other policy instruments. The recommendations in this report aim to help achieve this objective. They include the introduction of abstraction charges for irrigation water as a  natural resource; enhancement of state support to the water sector; and improvement of economic instruments for managing risks of water-related hazards (such as compulsory insurance and differentiated land tax rates in flood prone areas). A few innovative instruments are also recommended for pilot testing such as establishing limits for discharges of certain hazardous substances in a pilot area (e.g. Selenga river basin) and progressive development of market for tradable quotas for discharges of the “capped” pollutants; and introducing a charge (tax) on toxic agricultural chemicals (pesticides, herbicides, etc.) and synthetic detergents so that to create incentives for the reduction of diffuse water pollution.

How can the state of Puebla improve its education system? Within an international perspective, this report analyses the major challenges facing the state’s education system, current policy initiatives, and innovative practices. It highlights that a long-term strategy, a stronger capacity to lead improvements and reforms in four main policy areas are keystones for educational improvement. With insights from top performing systems and those with a similar reform trajectory, it sets out strategies for action to make change happen.

For a variety of reasons, energy use in the agro-food sector continues to rise, and in many countries, is highly dependent on fossil fuels, contributing significantly to greenhouse gas emissions. It is therefore becoming urgent to consider how the food supply chain can improve its energy efficiency. This report analyses ways of improving energy use in the agro-food sector in relation to both producers and consumers, and puts forward a set of policy recommendations that governments can introduce to meet green growth objectives and achieve sustainable development.