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Partnership Forums are the means by which the OECD Development Assistance Committee provides a venue for non-governmental actors to express their points of view and to offer their own contributions to development policy and strategy. In December 2000, the DAC and the Development Centre held a Forum on ways of integrating civil society into policy formation in developing countries, and to identify obstacles to such involvement. Participants agreed that civil society's role in poverty-reduction strategies had been an important element in succesful implementation.
This book contains 8 papers presented at the Forum, covering experience in a variety of countries with a variety of stakeholders. The wide-ranging discussion concluded that civil-society participation in policy making not only enhances efficiency in implementation, but also contributes to the creation of more pluralistic and democratic political systems.
Following a general update of the Genetic Toxicology TGs in 2015, the present Document was written to provide succinct and useful information to individuals unfamiliar with genetic toxicology testing, as well as experienced individuals wishing to obtain an overview of the recent changes that were made to the TGs during the recent round of revisions. It provides: 1) general background and historical information on the OECD genetic toxicology TGs; 2) a brief overview of the important types of genetic damage evaluated by these tests; 3) a description of the retained TGs; and 4) the issues and changes addressed therein during the revision process.
This publication examines the legislation and regulations governing the peaceful uses of nuclear energy in Eastern European countries. It covers eleven countries from Central and Eastern Europe and five countries from the Community of Independant States. The chapters follow a systematic format making it easier for the reader to research and compare information. This study will be updated regularly.
Failure at school: an old problem in a new context? In most OECD countries, there is some reluctance to acknowledge the problem of failure at school. And when the problem is acknowledged, it is not always easy to find effective means for combating it or, even, to agree on indicators of failure that would demonstrate its scale. What are the different manifestations of educational failure today? And what are the policies needed to address them?
This book aims to develop a deeper understanding of the nature of failure at school in OECD countries. It restates the problem as it confronts policy-makers today and presents new findings. It proposes a set of national and international indicators of failure and compares various forms of intervention aimed at improving student achievement in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Spain and the United Kingdom.
The phenomenon of social exclusion has become one of the outstanding problems on the eve of the 21st century. Even with the long-term trend towards rising general levels of affluence across OECD countries, large sections of our societies are missing out and for some prospects are getting worse. Learning -- in formal education and in a wide range of other community and enterprise settings -- represents one of the most important means of overcoming exclusion. While much is known about the impact of schooling for young people, the relationships between exclusion and adult learning are less well examined.
This study seeks to address this gap, focusing on 19 innovative learning initiatives that are making the difference in six countries: Belgium (Flemish Community), Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom (England). How well do these initiatives meet the learning needs of adults at risk of exclusion? How are they organised and what are their innovative features? These are the key questions answered, taking into account not only the point of view of the analysts, organisers and administrators, but also that of the adult learners themselves.
International trade has grown rapidly in recent years, thanks in part to the progressive reduction of tariffs and quotas through successive rounds of multilateral trade liberalisation. However, this progress brings to light one of the remaining weak links of international trade, which prevents countries from drawing full benefits from the advantages of open global markets: border bottlenecks generated by inefficient, outdated and complex trade procedures and formalities. This book brings together six studies that examine to what extent and in which ways the costs of inefficient border processes influence trade and investment flows, how institutional and political factors affect the design and implementation of efficiency-enhancing measures, whether the expected benefits of these measures enough to justify the expenses of putting them in place, and whether the expenses involved are within the reach of developing and least developed countries, especially in light of other development priorities.
The perceived potential of clean energy to support employment in the post-crisis recovery context has led several OECD and emerging economies to design green industrial policies aimed at protecting domestic manufacturers, notably through local-content requirements (LCRs). These typically require solar or wind developers to source a specific share of jobs, components or costs locally. Such requirements have been designed or implemented in the solar- and wind-energy sectors in at least 21 countries, including 16 OECD countries and emerging economies, mostly since 2009.
Empirical evidence gathered in this report shows however that LCRs have actually hindered international investment across the solar PV and wind-energy value chains, by increasing the cost of inputs for downstream activities. This report also takes stock of other measures that can restrict international investment in solar PV and wind energy, such as trade remedies and technical barriers. This report provides policy makers with evidence-based analysis to guide their decisions in designing clean-energy support policies.
This guide draws on the experience of, and policy dialogue between, member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Middle East and North African countries (MENA). It reviews common barriers to designing and implementing a strategy for administrative simplification and offers 22 approaches to overcome them, providing a synthesis of good practices among policy makers and practitioners working on cutting red tape.
Ensuring that LGBTI people – i.e. lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender and intersex individuals – can live as who they are without being discriminated against or attacked is a concern worldwide. Discrimination against LGBTI people remains pervasive, while its cost is massive. It lowers investment in human capital due to bullying at school. It also reduces economic output by excluding LGBTI talents from the labour market and impairing their mental health, hence their productivity. This report provides a comprehensive overview of the extent to which laws in OECD countries ensure equal treatment of LGBTI people, and of the complementary policies that could help foster LGBTI inclusion. The report first identifies the legislative and regulatory frameworks in the areas of civil rights, protection against discrimination and violence, as well as health that are critical for the inclusion of sexual and gender minorities. The report then explores whether these laws are in force in OECD countries and examines the margin for further improvement. Finally, the report investigates the broader policy measures that should accompany LGBTI-inclusive laws in order to strengthen the inclusion of LGBTI people.
This publication reflects the views of the IEA Secretariat but does not necessarily reflect those of individual IEA member countries. The IEA makes no representation or warranty, express or implied, in respect of the publication’s contents (including its completeness or accuracy) and shall not be responsible for any use of, or reliance on, the publication.
Unless otherwise indicated, all material presented in figures and tables is derived from IEA data and analysis. This publication and any map/figure/table included herein are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area. Please note that this publication is subject to specific restrictions that limit its use and distribution. The terms and conditions are available online at iea.org/t&c
What is innovation and how should it be measured? Understanding the scale of innovation activities, the characteristics of innovative firms and the internal and systemic factors that can influence innovation is a prerequisite for the pursuit and analysis of policies aimed at fostering innovation. First published in 1992, the Oslo Manual is the international reference guide for collecting and using data on innovation. In this fourth edition, the manual has been updated to take into account a broader range of innovation-related phenomena as well as the experience gained from recent rounds of innovation surveys in OECD countries and partner economies and organisations.
The Oslo Manual is the foremost international source of guidelines for the collection and use of data on innovation activities in industry. This third edition has been updated to take account of the progress made in understanding the innovation process, the experience gained from the previous round of innovation surveys, the extension of the field of investigation to other sectors of industry and the latest revisions of international standard classifications.
Development processes occur within a wider geographical area than local government, and in some cases encompass a broader scope than provincial or national governments. Thus substantial inter-governmental co-operation and public-private partnership are needed. This book identifies how development agencies and companies work, what they do and what constitutes success and value added. It explores international practices in a variety of locations and contexts, and defines both the success factors and the challenges associated with economic development agencies and companies.
The transition from nuclear power generation to decommissioning carries a number of safety challenges tied to human and organisational factors. This report discusses these challenges and brings together the experiences of members of the NEA Working Group on Human and Organisational Factors. It includes an overview and topical case studies from global decommissioning activities and sums up the good practices and lessons learnt to help organisations in their own endeavours to decommission nuclear installations. This report can be used as a guide for self-assessment for both licensee organisations and regulatory bodies to manage the human and organisation factors in the various phases of their decommissioning activities.
The economic performance of organic farms is mixed, with considerable variation in the yields achieved and the premiums received for products within and across OECD countries. This publication reveals that organic agriculture is disadvantaged by current agricultural support policies, and the proliferation of standards and labels has sometimes confused consumers and impeded trade. A key policy challenge is to ensure that both the positive and negative externalities of different agricultural production systems are taken into account.
Given their sheer magnitude, the payments made by companies for the purchase of oil, gas and minerals from governments or state-owned enterprises are of significant public interest. However, only a few commodity trading companies regularly publicly disclose information in respect of their payments to governments for the purchase of these publicly-owned commodities. This report makes a case for the development of a common global standard on transparency of payments that trading hubs, home governments and industry associations can use to ensure consistency, comparability and usability of data, building on the 2019 EITI Standard. Complementary measures by host governments and SOEs are necessary to set shared expectations across jurisdictions, including in producing countries. These include the adoption of disclosure policies as well as the inclusion of disclosure obligations in commodity sales contracts to set clear expectations on transparency of payments, and avoid potential conflicting requirements and bilateral negotiations.
The world’s largest gas producer and exporter, Russia has an enormous energy saving potential. At least 30 billion cubic meters – a fifth of Russian exports to European OECD countries -- could be saved every year by enhanced technology or energy efficiency. As the era of cheap gas in Russia comes to an end, this potential saving is increasingly important for Russians and importing countries. This book analyses and estimates the potential savings and the associated reductions in greenhouse gas emissions that could be achieved in the oil extraction (flaring), gas transmission and distribution sectors. It also describes Russia’s emerging climate policy and institutional framework, including work still ahead before the country is eligible for the Kyoto Protocol’s flexibility mechanisms and can attract financing for greenhouse gas reductions.