DGDC Annual report 2008 - Buitenlandse Zaken - Belgium

KINGDOM OF BELGIUM
Federal Public Service
Foreign Affairs,
Foreign Trade and
Development Cooperation
DGDC ANNUAL REPORT
2008
DGDC - Directorate-General for
Development Cooperation

A word about the form. This year’s annual report is the first to appear only in a CD
version rather than on paper. In addition, we are publishing this report together with
a report by BTC, our partner for the implementation of bilateral cooperation.
The financial report and the statistical data for 2008 are found, as usual, in the
annexes, at least as far as the global DGDC figures go. Other departments also contribute
to the total Belgian official development assistance (ODA), but these data were
not yet all available as we went to press.
Over the next few months, more detailed data will be available to be accessed via the
DGDC and BTC websites and via an expanded CD-ROM.
The DGDC 2008 annual report is a publication of the Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs,
Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation.
It is available free of charge in French, Dutch and English.

Table of contents
Foreword by Charles Michel,
Minister for Development Cooperation 2
1. International policy context: development agenda under pressure 5
1. Slow progress towards the Millennium Development Goals 7
2. Economic crisis hits poor countries 8
3. High food prices, global shortage 13
4. Climate-sensitive development cooperation 18
2. Aid Effectiveness 20
1. The international context 23
2. Belgian practice 27
3. Example of a new cooperation programme: Mali 29
4. Example of a new cooperation programme: Niger 31
5. Effective aid and the reality of fragile States 33
6. Managing for results 36
7. Aligning aid on systems in the partner country 39
8. Harmonisation with non-governmental actors 43
9. Effectiveness of multilateral cooperation 46
3. DGDC awareness-raising activities 49
4. Annexes 53
1. Belgian Official Development Assistance (ODA) 2004-2008 54
2. Multi-year bilateral obligations and budget aid 56
3. Multi-year NGO programmes approved in 2008 58
Organization chart 62
Abbreviations 65
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Photo on cover and on this page: Novo Mundo

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Foreword
Global poverty remains a stubborn and multi-faceted phenomenon.
The world of international cooperation is therefore in constant evolution,
looking for the most effective approach in order to deliver results and
make a sustainable impact on poverty. Belgian Development Cooperation
is resolutely committed to this dynamic. Last year was a year of extensive
consultations, various shifts, and a catch-up movement in terms of bilateral
programmes.
Our aim in this annual report is to show this evolution, and also, above
all, to spotlight the results of the work. That is easier said than done.
We tend all too often to make an annual report into an account of
activities: to show all that we have done, and how much money we have
spent.
What we are more keen to do, as we did last year, is to paint a picture
of what effects and what results we are achieving with our cooperation.
Obviously, what ultimately counts is the longer-term results on the
ground: after all, every type of development cooperation seeks at the
end of the day to improve living conditions for the poorest population
groups, who stand in greatest need. But this often requires many intermediate
steps. Donor countries should no longer attempt to make that
difference on the ground themselves. Our partner countries, with their
policy officials, their population and their institutions, are responsible
themselves and they have to own the development process. That means
that if we are to be genuinely effective in the longer term, we have to
adapt the way in which we cooperate, and sometimes to overhaul it
radically. In that sense, too, within our own administration and in our
relations with the various actors in cooperation, lessons have been
learned and results achieved about which we want to report.
2

Yet development cooperation does not operate in a vacuum. We have
observed major shifts over the past year in other policy areas - financial/
economic, climate, food prices. These are all crises with a major impact,
both on our partner countries’ scope for development and on development
cooperation budgets. Here, too, we want to linger for a moment
in this annual report and explain how we react to this with development
cooperation.
All of which means that this annual report is not just a backwards look, a
way of logging what has been done in the past, but also an invitation to
go the extra mile, to do better and to do more, for the challenges in the
short and medium term are huge.
There are various deadlines facing us in the next few years, by which
Belgium will have to account for the implementation of a number of
principles and declarations to which we have signed up.
In 2010, our cooperation will be examined by the Development Assistance
Committee of the OECD. This will entail the entire policy, the procedures
and the development programmes being submitted to a peer review by
two other members of this international organisation. In 2010, Belgium
will also be holding the European Presidency: a perfect opportunity to
drive the development agenda forward. In 2011 we will have to publicise
the progress we have achieved in the implementation of the Paris
Declaration and the Accra Action Programme on aid effectiveness, and
finally, in 2015, the world is awaiting the achievement of the Millennium
Development Goals.
Charles Michel
Minister for Development Cooperation
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International policy
context: development
agenda under
pressure
© Béatrice Petit
1. Slow progress towards the Millennium Development Goals
2. Economic crisis hits poor countries
3. High food prices, global shortage
4. Climate-sensitive development cooperation
5

In this chapter, the annual report focuses specifically on the consequences
of the crisis year of 2008 for developing countries. Belgium has also made
efforts to mitigate the negative effects of the economic and financial crisis
for the developing countries.
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International
policy
context: development
agenda under
pressure
1. Slow progress towards the
Millennium Development Goals
2008 was a turbulent year. While the world was completely
focused on the risks of climate change for the
South, we were buffeted by first a food and energy
crisis and then a serious economic recession. The
urgency of the unfolding events was one of the main
features shaping the world’s development agenda in
2008.
every country. The gender and education goals are
not likely to be met globally, but there is often still
some progress being made. The biggest disappointment
is the lack of progress on infant and maternal
mortality, and there still remains a major slippage
between progress actually made and what was
planned in terms of water and sanitary services.
But the international community continued to work
steadily through it all. The achievement of the
Millennium Development Goals (MDG for short)
by 2015 remains the most important policy framework.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon released
an MDG report in September 2008 which stated that
the progress being achieved is inadequate. According
to the report, the poverty goal is likely, globally
speaking, to be attained (thanks to strong economic
growth in China and India), although by no means in
A more detailed analysis reveals that progress is
uneven across the various regions: most regions are
posting solid progress, although the pace is not quick
enough to be able to reach the 2015 target date.
Moreover, the report expresses anxiety at the growing
internal inequalities, even within countries achieving a
good average. The gulf between rich and poor has
actually increased in many countries. Every year,
DGDC drafts a specific MDG report for Parliament. This
is available in French and in Dutch at www.dgdc.be.
1. Eradicate extreme
poverty and hunger
5. Improve maternal health
2. Achieve universal
primary education
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and
other diseases
3. Promote gender equality
and empower women
7. Ensure environmental
sustainability
4. Reduce child mortality
8. Develop a global partnership
for development
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2. Economic crisis hits poor
countries
Lower growth
World economic growth declined sharply because
of the financial and economic crisis. Although poor
countries do not have much of a stake on the international
financial markets, they do still feel the
effects of the crisis. The consequences vary widely,
depending on a country’s economic situation, its
exposure to risks and its problem-solving abilities.
Middle-income countries appear to be hit harder by
the economic crisis than low-income countries, because
they are more strongly integrated in the world
economy and the financial markets. However, low-income
countries have fewer resources and a lower capacity
to cope with the crisis. It is clear that the crisis
is afflicting all developing countries, even the very
poorest, which are virtually completely absent from
the financial markets.
‘Types’ of country
The World Bank classifies economies according to their Gross National Income (GNI) per capita. This is the
basis that the Bank uses when determining the arrangements and conditions for the granting of loans.
Low-income countries: a GNI per capita of less than 936 US dollars. Eleven of the 18 partner countries for
Belgian Development Cooperation are low-income countries.
Lower middle income countries: a GNI per capita of between 936 and 3,705 US dollars. The partner countries
Algeria, Bolivia, Ecuador, the Palestinian Territories, Peru and Morocco belong to this group.
Upper middle income countries: a GNI per capita of between 3,706 and 11,455 US dollars. South Africa is
the only partner country in this group.
High-income countries: countries with a GNI per capita of over 11,455 US dollars. Belgium is in this category.
Source: World Bank, 2009 (figures based on GNI per capita 2007)
Belgium’s 18 partner countries for governmental development cooperation
North Africa :
1. Morocco
2. Algeria
Middle East :
14. Palestinian Territories
Latin
America :
15. Ecuador
16. Peru
17. Bolivia
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16
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West Africa :
3. Mali
4. Niger
5. Senegal
6. Benin
5
1
2
3
Central Africa :
7. DR of Congo
8. Rwanda
9. Burundi
6
4
7 8
9
13
10
11
12
14
East Africa :
10. Uganda
11. Tanzania
12. Mozambique
18
Asia
18. Vietnam
13. South Africa
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The following four consequences of the
crisis hit the developing countries hard:
1. Trade declines. Many countries in the South
depend on the export of raw materials. The economic
recession meant sharp falls in the prices of a number
of raw materials in the second half of 2008. In particular,
oil and metal ore prices went into freefall.
Developing countries with significant raw material
exports have seen their incomes collapse; export
demand is also falling because the industrialised
countries are placing fewer orders.
2. Investments dry up. Developing countries are
regarded by investors as being more risky than
industrialised countries, and in addition, there is a
clear reduction in North-South investment movements.
Confidence has evaporated. Banks and investment
funds are strapped for cash. Investments in the
developing countries in 2007 amounted to some
1 trillion dollars, the equivalent of 8% of global GDP.
By 2008, the investment flow had halved to 500 billion
dollars.
TCX – innovative financing in the
local currency
Financial crises demonstrate the impact of the
exchange risks that hamstring entrepreneurs and
local banks in developing countries. The famous
hyper-devaluations of the late Nineties illustrate
the catastrophic consequences for financial
systems and economies. Many businesses were no
longer able to repay their loans because they had
become exorbitantly expensive.
The Currency Exchange Fund (TCX), intended to
promote investments in local currencies, offers a
solution to this problem. The fund can take on the
exchange risks formerly shouldered by the local
entities without putting their expansion on the
line. This means that institutions are no longer exposed
to risks that they cannot handle themselves.
The Belgian Investment Company for Developing
Countries (BIO) invested 10 million dollars in TCX.
The fund is unique of its kind. TCX aims to drastically
curb the risk of non-payment by businesses,
and to make a robust contribution to the development
of the local capital markets. TCX was originally
an initiative by the Netherlands Financing
Company for Developing Countries (FMO), in which
several bilateral and multilateral institutions hold a
stake.
www.tcxfund.com
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3. Remittances decrease. Migrants are the most
important bridge between developing countries and
the rest of the world. Between them, they send more
money back to their countries of origin (in remittances)
than the entire development cooperation budget
across all donors. But the crisis means that these
figures have fallen. Migrants are losing their jobs, or
the cost of living is rising steeply. So that knocks on
to their families back at home.
4. Development aid is threatening to fall. After
investments and remittances, development aid is the
third biggest monetary flow to the poor countries.
But the aid budget is being squeezed. It is one of the
most striking effects of this crisis. In recent years,
many donor countries promised to spend more on
development aid. This might prove to have been no
more than words, now that there is a greater tendency
to tighten the purse-strings. The consequences
would be particularly dramatic for sub-Saharan Africa:
almost two thirds of net capital inflow consists of
development aid. In many donor countries, development
aid is pegged to national income. When the
economy shrinks, it would mean an automatic drop in
the aid budget.
Belgium is continuing to aim for
the 0.7% standard
Belgium decided to meet the United Nations standard
by 2010. This standard lays down that the
industrialised countries must dedicate 0.7% of their
gross national income (GNI) to development cooperation.
This decision was enshrined in a law in
2002, making Belgium more ambitious than the EU,
which has set 2015 as the target date for achieving
the 0.7% standard.
This growth curve was sustained until 2005. In
2006 and 2007, federal spending on development
cooperation stalled, and in addition the period of
exceptionally high debt relief operations came to
an end. This meant a drop in total official assistance
for development cooperation, both in Belgium
and in the other member countries of the OECD
Development Committee.
despite the difficult budgetary situation, the DGDC
budget rose by 252 million euro (almost 23%) to
1.362 billion euro.
The total Belgian official development assistance
(ODA) includes
■■ spending on the DGDC budget,
■■ the development spending of Foreign Affairs,
Finances and some other federal public services
(FPSs),
■■ the debt relief operations by the National
Delcredere Office (which is a public institution that
insures export businesses against all manner of
risks such as non-payment, coups d’état, etc),
■■ some spending by the communities, regions,
provinces and municipalities.
To counter this negative trend, the government
decided to raise the DGDC budget for 2008 to
1.11 billion euro, an increase of 244 million euro (or
28% compared to 2007 expenditures). The amount
budgeted was entirely spent. When drawing up the
2009 budget, the growth dynamic was confirmed:
For 2008, total ODA was estimated at 0.47% of GNI
(a provisional figure), compared to 0.43% in 2007.
The surge in DGDC spending was to some extent
offset by a further drop in debt relief operations.
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© IFAD / R. Grossman
Belgium and the World Bank
In order to tackle the consequences of the credit
crisis, the World Bank extended an extra 100 billion
dollars in 2008 for traditional loans to middle-income
countries. The Bank also reserved an extra 42 billion
dollars for loans at favourable conditions to lowincome
countries. The poorest countries could rely on
an emergency loan of up to 2 billion dollars, over the
long term and with no interest.
Belgian development cooperation in 2008 had about
195 million euro available for the World Bank, money
that was deployed as both voluntary and mandatory
contributions. These funds financed the following
programmes, among others:
Belgian Poverty Reduction Partnership.
This is a programme that Belgium has been
financing at the World Bank since 2000. Trough
this programme, Belgium supports, inter alia, 10
partner countries (Senegal, Mali, Niger, Benin,
Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, DR Congo, Tanzania and
Mozambique) in drafting and implementing their
strategies to combat poverty, for this World Bank
contribution is used to finance ‘poverty economists’
expertise in these countries. The programme was
evaluated in 2006. The positive results formed the
basis for a new phase in the programme.
In Mozambique, as an example, such expertise is
closely aligned on the ‘General budgetary aid’
programme that Belgium supported for several years
(see chapter 2, p. 40), which was linked to the reform
of public finances. The expert supported the Ministry
of Planning and Development in exploring the effects
of the policy to combat poverty.
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© World Bank / Simone D. McCourtie
Fast Track Initiative (FTI). The objective of this
initiative is to make faster progress in the field of
universal basic education in the low-income countries
(MDG 2 and 3). Donors pledge through the FTI
that every partner country can work out a credible
national plan for universal, high-quality lower education.
They supply the financial resources for this plan.
A fund helps the partner country to bridge education
spending until the bilateral donors come on board
with their own support. Since 2003, Belgium has
been participating in the financing of this FTI fund
via an annual voluntary contribution of 1 million euro.
In Vietnam, this dovetails closely with the sectoral
budgetary aid that Belgium awards.
countries. Over 500 businesses have filed a business
proposal. Among the prize-winners were also three
African entrepreneurs from Belgium with a project to
brew beer from sorghum for Burkina Faso, a project
to extract biofuel from jatropha in Cote d’Ivoire and
an ethical publicity project for Mali and Burkina Faso.
The development Marketplace for African
Diaspora in Europe. D-MADE stimulates people
from the African diaspora (living in Europe) to set up
businesses in their home countries. D-MADE gave
16 African entrepreneurs the opportunity in 2008
to set up a business in their homeland. In this way,
almost 1 million dollars is to be invested in 11 African
© Béatrice Petit
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‘Higher food prices during 2008 alone may have increased
the number of children suffering permanent cognitive or
physical injury due to malnutrition by 44 million’
(World Bank, Global Economic Prospects 2009)
3. High food prices,
global shortage
Food security under pressure
Humanitarian actions
2008 had yet another crisis in store, which brought
high food prices and a global food shortage. From
Bangladesh and Haiti to Ethiopia, food riots broke
out. The World Health Organisation quotes a figure
of 178 million children suffering from malnutrition in
2008. In the light of the first Millennium Development
Goal (to halve extreme poverty and hunger by 2015),
this is a painful statistic to have to record.
Although ‘agriculture and food security’ has long
been among the five priority sectors for Belgian
development cooperation, Belgium has still decided
to further boost its efforts in the future: by 2010,
10% of the total aid budget must be devoted to
agriculture and food security. This percentage
must be raised to 15% by 2015. In the 7 Indicative
Cooperation Programmes agreed in 2008 (see below,
chapter 2), 5 partner countries (Benin, Bolivia, Mali,
Niger and Mozambique) chose ‘agriculture and rural
development’ as a priority sector.
The humanitarian actions are directed towards the provision
of food aid in the event of shortages. The aim is
to alleviate need in the short term. Belgian food aid
is largely delivered via the World Food Programme
(WFP), the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)
and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for
Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). In addition,
food aid is also distributed via non-governmental
organisations. Spending on food aid in 2008
amounted to 22.1 million euro.
Belgium also plays a driving role on the international
forum and is an advocate for unconditional food aid
in cash, in other words without the obligation to buy
the food in the donor country. Belgium also lobbies
at the WFP and the FAO for the purchase of food
(aid) from local farmers’ organisations and on local
markets (see text box on P4P). At Belgium’s instigation,
the WFP has taken a decision along those lines
regarding its purchasing policy.
In order to be able to guarantee food security,
Belgium has a two-pronged policy: humanitarian
actions and structural interventions.
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© FAO
P4P – Belgium’s pioneering stance in
the campaign against the food crisis
One of the spearheads of Belgian policy is the
purchase of food (aid) on local markets, in order
to strengthen their development. For example,
Belgium has for some years been stimulating the
purchase of corn and beans from the local farmers
in North Kivu (DR Congo).
Thanks to persistent efforts at international
level, Belgian policy has garnered a following.
In September 2008, the World Food Programme
launched the revolutionary ‘Purchase for
Progress’ (P4P) initiative. The aim of this initiative
is to radically reform the way in which the WFP
organises food purchases, in line with the logic of
local purchasing.
Belgian development cooperation in 2008 released
557,500 euro for the P4P project in the Democratic
Republic of Congo. This made Belgium the first
country to actively back the P4P reform initiative.
So as the pioneer, Belgium has also brought about
a multiplier effect.
P4P will be rolled out in 20 pilot countries in Africa
and Central America over the next 5 years. At least
350,000 local farmers will gain easier access to reliable
markets, where they can sell their goods for
honest, competitive prices.
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‘The thing is to allocate funds for research
into sustainable agricultural methods,
because world food production may indeed
have already reached its peak’.
Olivier de Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur
on the Right to Food since 1 May 2008
© DGOS / Jean-Yves Standaert
Structural interventions
Of at least equal importance are the structural interventions
designed to increase and improve food
production. Where food aid serves to react urgently
to a food shortage, structural interventions need to
prevent such shortages. The Belgian Survival Fund (BSF)
has been specially set up to improve food security in the
poorest African countries with the help of long-term
projects. This fund was established in 1999 at the
initiative of Parliament – what it is, in fact, is the successor
to an older parliamentary initiative. Projects
by the Survival Fund seek to take an integrated approach
to food security: alongside initiatives to improve
or increase food production, account is also
taken of such issues as health, sanitation, training
and institutional reinforcement.
A striking example of a project to promote food
security, backed by the Belgian Survival Fund, has
been carried out in Eastern Tigray, in the north of
Ethiopia. As a consequence of recurrent droughts, a
desperately degraded environment and border conflicts,
the area is under constant threat from food
shortages.
The results have been impressive. Over 10,000
households have been reached by the project.
Traditionally, women were not allowed to cultivate
the land. Training and awareness-raising activities in
the communities helped overcome the taboo, and 391
women with sole responsibility for their families are
now tilling their own land themselves.
The short rainy season normally allows no more than
one crop a year, but thanks to irrigation, farmers can
now tend a small vegetable plot, where they can
harvest up to 3 times a year. The vegetables also
form a valuable supplement to the traditional diet.
After 2 years, there were already 519 vegetable plots
under cultivation.
Finally, the quality and productivity of the local
livestock (cattle) was improved, without having to
increase the actual number of animals. This was
achieved by feeding them more, improving veterinary
services and making available good breeding stock. In
the meantime, 486 calves from the improved strain
have already been born.
The BSF was subjected to a thorough evaluation last
year, from which lessons were drawn for a new multiyear
programme (see chapter 2, p. 37).
A second form of structural intervention takes the form
of support to the agricultural sector, via bilateral,
multilateral and indirect cooperation. An example of
this is the increased funding for international
agricultural research via the Consultative Group on
International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). This consultative
group links donors to agricultural research
institutions and supports agricultural research to
the benefit of the poor. The research institutions are
specialised and between them cover pretty much all
the important food plants and crops for developing
countries (fish-farming and livestock, rice, potatoes,
corn, bananas, etc), as well as broader themes such
as biodiversity and deforestation.
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© Béatrice Petit
At bilateral level, there is renewed interest in
the agricultural sector in the new multi-year programmes
with the partner countries. These include
a whole string of projects and programmes. Here
are a few examples:
In Benin, Belgium is very active in the improvement
of agricultural productivity. Various programmes
provide aid to the government in implementing this
strategy. One such project is PAMRAD, the support
project for the rural community in the Atacora and
Donga departments. The aim of this project is take
a sustainable approach to food security and increase
yields for the farmers by promoting crops
other than cotton. These include rice, vegetables,
cashew nuts and crops with a short cycle. The initial
results were rather patchy. By focusing more
on institutional reinforcement and less on the
production itself, the effects on yields were pretty
minimal. And after all, higher yields are crucial for
sustainable food security. But more income can
be made from the vegetable crops if the problems
with storage and sales can be tackled, and that
calls for stronger organisations. Compelling results
have been achieved in the area of production
control and marketing of the cashew nuts.
In Mali, Belgium is supporting the development of
livestock-raising with a project to select and
multiply the Azawak cattle breed. The objective
is that as many people as possible from Menaka
become owners of the cattle as a guarantee for
food security and against poverty. This demands
a shift of mindset in order to change both the aim
and the methods in stock-breeding, certainly after
the succession of droughts. The farmers are slowly
beginning to get away from the idea that their
survival depends simply on owning animals. The
quality of the upkeep, care for the production and
the preservation of the environment are becoming
more important objectives.
The project has made the growth of the Azawak
cattle breed possible once again, after it had virtually
died out in the region as a result of drought
and other problems. The general conditions for
cattle breeding have been improved (in terms of
feeding and health) and milk production is back
on stream. Progress is also expected once the cooperative
organisations are set up. In the current
phase, efforts are being made to concentrate on
genetic improvement and upgrading production
and incomes from raising cattle.
In Niger, Belgium is supporting the project for the
‘promotion and dissemination of the red-coated
Maradi goat’. These goats are bred by the women
in the region. This action is designed to increase
16

© Vets without frontiers
the incomes of the female goat-breeders by
improving the productivity of the goats. The provisional
result is an increase in that productivity
and therefore in the incomes, meaning that the
women’s autonomy is being strengthened.
In Tanzania, Belgium is supporting the project for
the sustainable improvement of banana growing.
The project seeks to raise incomes in the Kagera
area and the Kibondo district, and to guarantee
food security. This requires a reinforcement of institutional
capacity and public-private cooperation,
so that the innovations in growing methods can be
sustainably disseminated. In the first phase of the
project, the introduction of some superior banana
varieties has made for increased productivity. This
has delivered alternative incomes, bringing to life the
banana product (wine, beer, chips, flour) processing
and marketing sector. 2.5 million of these banana
varieties have now been planted. This has had a
positive effect on profits, but also on the environment
(soil and biodiversity). At the same time, this
project has had a snowball effect on other farmers
who were not involved in it.
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4. Climate-sensitive
development cooperation
Climate change has a direct impact on development
actions. According to the World Bank, no fewer than
one quarter of its projects are running a significant
risk of damage because of the adverse effects of
climate change. A study by the OECD has shown that
in some areas, this figure may be as high as 65%.
These are sobering statistics. Accordingly, Belgian
Development Cooperation staged a conference
in March 2008 called ‘Climate change and Belgian
development cooperation policy: challenges and
possibilities’.
The concluding item in this conference was a report
by the Belgian professor of climatology Jean-Pascal
van Ypersele. The report speaks of the ‘fundamental
injustice of climate change’. While responsibility
for global warming lies mainly with the developed
countries, it is the poor countries that are feeling its
most negative consequences. In addition, they are
least equipped with the resources to adapt to it.
The answer to climate change is a combination of
two thrusts: mitigation and adaptation.
Mitigation includes measures designed to reduce
the emission of greenhouse gases: ‘greener’ transport,
low-carbon industry, energy efficiency, etc.
Adaptation refers to interventions which limit the
consequences of climate change for our society:
building dams, reversing desertification, droughtresistant
seeds and suitable agricultural methods,
etc.
■■
A climate test for every project
Annemarie Van der Avort is the new climate
officer at DGDC, where she works to strengthen
multilateral environmental programmes. This is her
snapshot of the situation.
How much progress has DGDC made with integrating
climate-sensitive thinking?
“A Climate Task Force has been set up with representatives
from DGDC, BTC and the Minister’s
cabinet. Its remit is to convert the recommendations
in the climate report into concrete actions.
The first action has been to set up an environment/
climate unit within our service. The task force has
set up a Climate Action Plan, on the basis of professor
van Ypersele’s 13 recommendations.”
(© DGDC / Dimitri Ardelean)
18
Jean-Pascal van Ypersele delivers his climate report to
Minister Charles Michel

Which recommendations from the report will be
quite easy to implement, and which will be a lot
harder?
“Of the 13 recommendations, there are two which
we have already been working on in the past few
years. We have built up a fair body of expertise
around sustainable forest management. We have
built up experience with renewable energy projects
in places such as Rwanda. We have also engaged
in some groundwork for a policy on biofuels. What
is harder to do is to further raise and redirect the
development cooperation budget. When we carry
out bilateral cooperation, where the principle of
ownership is a central plank, there has to be a
demand for such a reorientation from the partner
country. So the ball is not always in DGDC’s court.
In 2007, DGDC devoted about 5% of its total budget
to specific activities dedicated to tackling climate
change.”
In the first phase, the new projects will be subjected
to a climate test, but the test is intended
for all projects. What is the likelihood that
current projects will have to be cut back because
they are not sufficiently climate-friendly?
“The aim is to take every project and examine what
it needs in the way of adjustments. The Climate
Task Force would love it if the budgets for development
cooperation were to allow for making
projects climate proof. But this is a political choice,
one that has to be validated by our partners in the
South.”
What is in the pipeline for 2009?
“We are organising training for the DGDC staff.
This internal awareness-raising should hopefully
allow us to include the fight against climate change
as a transverse theme in Belgian Development
Cooperation, for example when drawing up future
Indicative Cooperation Programmes (ICPs) with
the partner countries. Obviously there are also
the climate negotiations, including ‘COP 15’ in
Copenhagen, the major climate summit for drawing
up a post-Kyoto protocol. One very tangible action
will be the offsetting of the CO 2
emissions from the
DGDC staff’s flights.”
(© Béatrice Petit)
Belgium supports the ‘Programme to preserve
biodiversity in World Heritage Sites’ in DR Congo.
This programme was set up by UNESCO, the Institut
Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN)
and specialist NGOs. The programme allows the
protection of five sites, each of which has very high
biodiversity. A number of pilot actions to conserve
them have already been conducted, in order to
increase the involvement of the local communities
in this programme. The ICCN is being reinforced
in its monitoring capacities. Some urgent action
plans also arose for the cleaning-up of the National
Parks.
In Bolivia, Belgium is supporting a programme for
integral forest management in the tropical forests
around Cochabamba. The anticipated result from
the programme needs to be more than the simple
reforestation of the pieces of forest used.
It should lead to communal, sustainable management
by the local communities. They are being
trained to grow new plants, and to manage smaller
and larger tracts of forest in an ecological way.
19

2
Aid effectiveness
(© Béatrice Petit)
1. The international context
2. Belgian practice
3. Example of a new cooperation programme: Mali
4. Example of a new cooperation programme: Niger
5. Effective aid and the reality of fragile States
6. Managing for results
7. Aligning aid on systems in the partner country
8. Harmonisation with non-governmental actors
9. Effectiveness of multilateral cooperation
21

The Millennium Declaration by the United Nations gave the first description
of the mutual obligations of both donor and beneficiary countries.
The declaration also gave the eight concrete Millennium Goals to be
achieved by 2015 (see chapter 1). In 2002, these countries met again in
Monterey, Mexico, to flesh out a global partnership for development.
They also discussed the question of the financing of the plan.
But it is not just a matter of quantity. Because these funding currents were
supposed to have an impact on the fundamental aspects of the problem -
access for the world’s poorest to elementary rights – it was also necessary
to put in place some qualitative rules. This was the subject of international
meetings which led in 2005 to the ‘Paris Declaration’ on aid effectiveness.
In this second chapter, the annual report goes into more detail on some
aspects of this agenda for more effective aid.
22

1. The international context
The Paris Declaration
The Paris Declaration laid down five principles
which combine to determine the effectiveness. They
stem from the general observation that development
cooperation was not productive, being based upon
good intentions, but riven from below by conflict and
individual interests.
The five principles are:
1. Ownership: The developing countries must exercise
effective leadership over their development
policies and carry out development plans.
2. Alignment: Donors base their overall support on
partner countries’ national development strategies.
Funding must be channelled via the partner
countries’ financial systems.
3. Harmonisation: Effectiveness also means that
the donor countries co-ordinate and complement
their actions, instead of all trying to carry on acting
independently.
4. Managing for results: Results must be presented
in order to be able to account for spending.
5. Mutual accountability: From now on, there is
talk of a partnership in which each party is accountable
vis-à-vis the other.
The Accra Action Programme
A wide gulf persisted between the intentions
expressed in the Paris Declaration and the actual implementation
by the States and other actors. Donor
co-ordination ensures a loss of individual visibility by
being subsumed into the whole, something that is
difficult to accept and dampens enthusiasm.
In September 2008, therefore, a meeting was organised
in Accra, Ghana. The aim was to reinvigorate the
Declaration and press for faster application of the
principles it had enunciated. Some specially adapted
measures and new deadlines were now to strengthen
the Paris Declaration. By 2011, a new report is
expected on the extent to which each party has lived
up to these promises.
The Accra Action Programme contains recommendations
which Belgium and the other OECD countries
have to integrate into their development cooperation.
This assumes an unavoidable change in behaviour so
that every country can convert these political intentions
into reality on the ground. This entails, inter
alia, the following:
■■ less geographical and thematic spread,
■■ focus on those countries and sectors where
expertise and competences have been built up,
■■ more co-ordination with other bilateral or multilateral
donors,
■■ making more use of the existing systems in the
partner countries themselves, accompanied by
support measures to reform the local institutions
and education systems,
■■ predictability of the aid,
■■ better co-ordination with all parties involved
within development cooperation, each one within
its own borders and procedures.
In other words, Accra seeks to ensure that both
partner and donor countries abide by the promises:
we want more, better and faster.
23

The true criterion for assessing the effectiveness of aid is
the improvement of the living standard of peoples.
Survey in 2006 on the follow-up to the Paris Declaration,
summary of the results, OECD 2007
‘The school building made from reinforced concrete
was still standing, but the education did not improve
noticeably’
The results are always shared
Interview with Marc Denys,
Director of Bilateral Cooperation
On 1 December 2008, Marc Denys became the
new director of the Bilateral Cooperation directorate.
This is his first job at the headquarters in
Brussels, after some 31 years out in the field. He
began his career in Africa as a junior agricultural
researcher for the FAO, and he has now returned
from Uganda, where as Attaché for International
Cooperation his roles included chairing the donor
groups on ‘health policy’ and ‘decentralisation’.
The emphasis in international development
thinking and action is now on effectiveness.
So was that not the case before?
The first change that ensured a much more systematic
and focused approach had already emerged
twenty or so years ago, when we began to use a
methodological framework at project level. But
even the most meticulously devised projects
remained much too isolated, set up by donors, run
by donors, evaluated by donors. Once the foreign
staff were no longer there, things all too often fell
apart, without any impact, without any transfer.
Even when foreign aid providers were employed
by a ministry in a partner country, there was too
little transfer and interaction. At that time, the
education programmes for the competent ministry
in Rwanda were set up by foreign advisers. They
also set the examinations, and corrected them. It
was just the actual teaching that was dispensed by
Rwandan teachers, and sometimes not even that.
You saw that approach reflected in the staff policy
of what was then the BADC. Cooperation staff
were accredited for periods of one or two years.
You had to be able to demonstrate your own
results for that, to prove yourself. Actually the best
thing was to make yourself indispensable – and
some local staff indeed found that quite easy.
What results stay with you from your long career
on the ground?
There were some undeniable concrete short-term
results, the immediate ‘output’: school buildings,
training for staff, planting projects and so on, but
they did not lead to lasting change, because they
were not embedded in a specific local and national
plan. The school building made from reinforced
concrete was still standing, but the education did
not improve noticeably. The point is that there was
usually no specific policy framework.
I see it as being a positive development that we
are now supporting our partner countries in drawing
up that policy of their own. The emergence of
homegrown high-quality development plans, in
general and for the various sectors, is a really
important result.
And once that plan is in place, the best way to support
it is with budgetary aid. It is better to stop
allowing any more isolated projects. Every project
24

© World Bank / Scott Wallace
causes distortions, even under the optimum circumstances.
When you as a donor support a particular
defined district, you cause an unbalanced distribution.
Either that one district is given an advantage
compared to others, or the external support is withdrawn
from the financing by your own government.
And there is always the temptation to handle the
resources of a donor project with less care than if
you have to account for the disbursement of your
own budgets vis-à-vis your own authorities.
But that does assume that there is a functioning
national monitoring and accountability system…
That is exactly what we have to support: the good
sectoral programmes via budgetary aid, and at the
same time, if necessary via projects and technical
assistance, strengthening of the institutions for
planning, monitoring and evaluation. Partner countries
are often not very far into this, partly because
donors have been monitoring their own projects
themselves for too long. But here, too, I see some
results over the past 10 years. In Uganda, for example,
there is now a great deal more involvement
by parliament. There is a properly working public
accounts committee which receives reports from
an independent auditor-general and looks at the
responsibility of the State spending and the results
achieved by each ministry, including budgetary aid.
Is the emphasis on ‘results’ not in conflict with
the focus on more co-ordination, harmonisation
and ownership? The better the mutual cooperation,
the harder it is to still talk about results
from Belgian cooperation?
Managing for results is not a question of planting
our own flag, but of clarity over what we want
to achieve. As donors, we must understand that
results are shared, and primarily by the partner
country. The fact that we, with various donors,
have supported the development of basic education
in Tanzania for ten years via budgetary aid has
led to better educational institutions by Tanzania
itself, and to better school results. That is a shared
result. Donors must not formulate these results
themselves, but must take them over from the
partner country. Partner countries must be able to
develop their own indicators. We must encourage
the conducts of baseline studies.
How, then, does the role of Belgian development
cooperation change?
Belgium has become more active in the technical
and political dialogue with the partner country,
and with the other donors. It is far more a matter
of policy work and less about the details of the
implementation.
25

In any case, budgetary aid is more a political issue.
You are negotiating with a country about how it
dispenses scarce resources. So budgetary aid is a
huge lever. As a donor group, you can bring pressure
to bear when, for example, too much money
is being ploughed into defence, or spending is not
being evenly distributed across the regions. That
is work on the ground that the embassy team has
to take on – not just the attaché but also the ambassador,
and backed by the expertise of BTC. To
act effectively, that team needs to have sufficient
decision-making authority and to be sufficiently
trained. You need, together with technical experts,
to weigh up whether all policy and monitoring conditions
are being met, and the results anticipated
are being achieved, in order to channel another
tranche of 1 or more millions of euros into the
partner country’s budget. That is quite a different
sort of responsibility, and you have to want to
carry it.
26

2. Belgian practice
In 2008, Belgium, together with various partner
countries, organised a catch-up operation in the
establishment of new cooperation programmes. ICP
stands for Indicative Cooperation Programme,
which is the most important document in bilateral
cooperation. This document sets out the relationship
between DGDC and every partner country for the
next four years. The ICP follows the priorities of the
poverty reduction plans and the sectoral development
plans of the country. The document sets out
the priority sectors and the results to be achieved, as
well as the strategy to achieve all this. The ICP is also
used as a basis for Belgian positions in the political
dialogue with the partner country and the co-ordination
process with other donor countries.
tasks between donor countries, Belgian Development
Cooperation is to concentrate in future on two
priority sectors in each partner country (with the
exception of the countries in the Central African
region, because of the scale of Belgian Development
Cooperation). Drafting an ICP is a long-haul task,
with various actors involved. This takes place in two
phases: the diagnosis or analysis of the country and
the description of the strategy.
Belgium wants more cooperation between the bilateral
programme and the other Belgian actors active
in the partner country (NGOs, universities, etc).
Possible partnerships and synergies are being explored
and encouraged, in order to exchange experiences
and good practices. Accordingly, the NGOs are
now involved in the Joint Committees in Mali, Niger
and Uganda. In Mali and Uganda, the NGO representatives
are invited as observers. Belgium is making
a study fund available in the partner countries. The
partner country can use part of this study fund to
convert the ‘Paris Declaration’ into practice.
(© DGDC / Dimitri Ardelean)
Henrique Banze, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs and Development
Cooperation of Mozambique, and Minister Charles Michel sign a new
cooperation agreement on 10 April 2008
When drawing up the new ICPs, Belgium has made
huge efforts to tie them in with the new dynamic
in terms of effective aid. In keeping with the
European Code of Conduct on the distribution of
Belgium also wants to investigate whether the implementation
of specific actions can be delegated more
to other (bilateral or multilateral) donors. Belgium will
devote approximately 5% of the ICP budget to actions
falling outside the priority sectors. These actions are
indeed directed at important topics such as women’s
rights (issues such as genital mutilation), the environment,
the social economy, the battle against HIV/AIDS
and children’s rights (for instance the battle against
exploitation and trafficking), but also the setting up
of businesses and the private sector (such as measures
to improve the commercial climate).
.
27

Belgium has not stood still, and in 2008 it has already set up new ICPs with 7 partner countries for the coming
four years. The countries and sectors involved are as follows:
Countries Sectors ICP amount
Palestine
Benin
Mozambique
Bolivia
Mali
Niger
Uganda
Education and consolidation of the society
Agriculture and health
General budget aid, rural development and health
Health and agriculture
Decentralisation, rural development and food security
Health, rural development and food security
Health and education
50 million euro
(2008-2011)
52 million euro
(2008-2011)
48 million euro
(2009-2012)
40 million euro
(2009-2012)
50.5 million euro
(2009-2012)
52 million euro
(2009-2012)
64 million euro
(2009-2012)
28

3. Example of a new cooperation
programme: Mali
Malian context
At the instigation of the OECD’s Development
Assistance Committee, Mali agreed in 1996 to a revision
of the aid. Since then, the country has made
huge strides in terms of the harmonisation of the
aid. Among other things, it has accepted a joint aid
strategy, and set up a technical unit and a secretariat.
Belgium, as president of the group of donor countries
(autumn 2006 to spring 2007), has thrown its weight
behind this initiative.
is in eleventh place among the donors to Mali.
Belgium’s aid amounts to 2.4% of the total international
aid for Mali. Mali is one of the 31 countries
chosen to accelerate the division of labour in the
framework of the Paris Declaration.
The technical unit is a support group which stimulates
the reflection within the group of donors so
that a dialogue with Mali is possible. This unit has
as its global objective to help to realise the Paris
Declaration. Belgium funds the operation of the secretariat.
It is this group of donors, known over there
as the Technical and Financial Partners, that has
devised the Joint Strategy for Aid to the Country
(SCAP in French). The aim of this strategy is to align
itself on the government’s orientations and priorities.
One of the elements is division of labour and complementarity
between the donors in their support
measures for the development of Mali. The aim is to
help Mali in the implementation of its growth and
poverty reduction policy. The common strategy is
based upon new cooperation agreements, a financing
plan and the dialogue with the Malian government in
line with a monitoring framework.
In addition, a detailed matrix has been set up by
the donors, offering an overview of the current and
future aid (2007-2011). The matrix also describes the
division of labour of the donors per sector. Belgium
© BTC
29

© BTC
What is Belgium’s place in this
process?
In the period 2004-07, Belgian bilateral cooperation
was involved in seven sectors and six regions. This
fragmentation did nothing to help the impact and the
effectiveness of the aid. To improve this, the new ICP
for 2009-2012 restricted the aid to two priority
sectors. In those two sectors, Mali and the other
technical and financial partners surely recognize
Belgian expertise.
Mali is a very large country, a factor which demands
a great investment in time and human capital if actions
are to be pursued. The geographical extent also
makes it not ideally suited to achieve synergies and
complementarity between actions. By imposing numerical
and spatial restrictions, the resources can be
better deployed to the benefit of the results that
Mali wishes to achieve. Belgium wants to continue to
support the national policy, to ensure continuity and
develop a long-term view in terms of bilateral actions.
The actions financed by Belgian Development
Cooperation are entered in the budget for Mali. This
is an important aspect, because it means that Mali
is much better able to plan the income and expenditure
for the various sectors. In 2005, as much as 82%
of the Belgian aid was already entered in the Malian
budget. This is set to rise to 85% by 2010.
The ownership of the interventions is entrusted to
the responsible Malian institutions. This puts them
more in tune with the national financing systems.
One step further is the use of Mali’s own public
financing systems to channel the aid (for example,
payments via the Malian exchequer). In 2005 this
was still 0%, by 2010 it is supposed to reach 60%.
In terms of the use of Mali’s own systems for public
tender procedures, we are faring rather better,
with the percentage reaching 79% by 2005.
Belgium plans 50.5 million euro for Mali in the new
ICP in support of Mali’s policy on growth and poverty,
formulated as ‘redistributive growth and a reduction
in poverty via the revival of the productive sectors
and the consolidation of the reforms in the public
sector’.
Accordingly, the funding is directed to:
■■ rural development and food security (first pillar of
the Malian policy plan), through support for subsectors
such as livestock, fisheries and agriculture;
■■ consolidation of the reforms in the public sector
(second pillar), through enshrining the decentralisation
achieved in the Koulikoro region.
Belgium participates in the technical group on
‘Agriculture and environment’ as part of the coordination
of donors. On the basis of its earlier
interventions (institutional support to the Ministry of
Agriculture and the project with the Azawak cattle
breed), Belgium has won itself a central position
among the donors in this sector. Belgium has delivered
genuine added value in the rural development
sector, more specifically livestock, where Belgium is
the most important bilateral donor and the leader of
the group.
In the decentralisation project in Koulikoro, too (in
the Banamba, Kolokani and Nara regions), Belgium
has delivered added value, something that has also
been recognised by the Direction Nationale des
Collectivités Territoriales as being a reference and
pilot project.
As far as delegated development cooperation goes,
Belgium is making an intervention for Cyprus for the
second successive year. This intervention (2008-09)
falls within the decentralisation of the Koulikoro
region.
30

4. Example of a new cooperation
programme: Niger
The context in Niger
Compared to Mali, Niger is not so far ahead with the
implementation of the Paris Declaration. The coordination
of donor countries is still rather tentative
and no matrix has yet been put in place in which all
donor contributions are brought together or in which
common objectives are framed. The process of interministerial
co-ordination is weak, and does not yet
make it possible for the government to take over its
running, a factor that hampers dialogue. However,
efforts have already been made in terms of the internal
co-ordination of donor countries working towards
better effectiveness of the aid. The government has
also already set up some sectoral frameworks in line
with the strategies, the action plans and the medium
term expenditure framework (MTEF).
Niger has not yet fully claimed ownership of the sectoral
approach, whereby the development of a sector
(health, agriculture, education, etc) is viewed as a
whole rather than there being simply more separate
projects carried out. However, this approach does
seem to have been accepted, and to be beginning to
bear fruit, in the Education and Health sectors. The
Technical and Financial Partners still have work to
do in terms of aligning the aid to the government’s
priorities.
What is Belgium’s place in this
process?
The previous ICP, for 2004-08, had already thrown its
weight behind the objectives in Niger’s plan for combating
poverty, and focused on three sectors: basic
education, basic healthcare (including maternity
care, HIV/AIDS, nutrition, water and water purification)
and rural development (livestock, rural water
works and gender). The ICP already had a geographical
concentration, which made for synergies and
complementarity between the interventions.
The preparation for the next ICP, for 2009-12, could
not be tackled via a matrix giving the contributions
from all donors, because this has not yet been set up.
According to the same principles as in Mali, Belgium
was able to choose two priority sectors in which its
added value has been recognised by Niger and by the
other donors.
The global objective of direct bilateral cooperation
2009-12 between Belgium and Niger fits within
Niger’s national strategy for faster development
and poverty reduction. The aid is focused on two
sectors: health and rural development/food security. In
order to accomplish this ICP, an amount of 52 million
euro is being made available to Niger.
31

© Béatrice Petit
The actions being funded by Belgium are consistent
with the national priorities and the sectoral programmes.
Belgium is playing an active role in the
co-ordination of the aid, in particular in the healthcare
sector, where Belgium leads the donor group.
Belgium is making use, where possible, of the national
systems and legislation, as in the case of public
tenders. However, the use of the national financing
systems is confined to sectoral budgetary aid for
Education.
Sectoral budgetary aid for Education has demonstrated
the limitations on the use of national
financial systems. Indeed, a financial audit indicated
cases of embezzlement. At the same time, this aid
demonstrates how much the dialogue
between the government of Niger and the
Technical and Financial Partners plays a role in
the constructive resolution of this crisis. To some
people, this ‘affair’ showed that democracy in
Niger is beginning to work better: the arrest of the
highest-up culprit, a parliamentary debate and a
cabinet reshuffle. However, it remains a question
to be tracked closely.
Capacity-building has always been a priority. The
new programme provides for a continuation of institutional
support. Technical support must not become
a ‘substitute’, but it must contribute to stronger institutions
for the country itself.
In the framework of harmonisation, Belgium is actively
working alongside other donors present in the same
regions: with Luxembourg in the Dosso region, and
equally with the Belgian NGO ‘Vets without Frontiers’
and Unicef in Maradi. Belgium and Niger have still not
formulated any objectives (to be achieved in 2010)
with regard to co-ordination, harmonisation and alignment.
This work is planned for the course of 2009.
32

5. Effective aid and the reality
of fragile States
The fine principles which are supposed to lead to
more effective aid sometimes collide with the stubborn
reality of development cooperation. These
clashes are all the more violent in countries rated as
‘fragile States’ in international development jargon.
These are countries with weak structures which have
trouble breaking out of the vicious circle between
conflict and underdevelopment. This is a major group
for Belgian cooperation. Depending on the definition,
at least 6 of the 18 partner countries would belong
in this category: DR Congo, Burundi, Rwanda, Niger,
Bolivia and the Palestinian territories.
to switch immediately to budgetary aid. This means
that in the education sector, an intermediate stage
has been built in, taking the shape of a ‘common
fund’, into which donors pay their contributions.
Instead of direct injection into the budget, managed
by Burundi, this fund is run jointly by Burundi and the
participating donors. At the same time, the running
of the fund is geared towards improved capacity in
terms of management at the level of the Minister of
Education. Belgium heads up the donor co-ordination
during the first three years of the Fund (see also
p. 42).
A consensus exists on the fact that fragile States
demand different responses than countries turning in
better performances. In Accra, the partner countries
and the donors made a formal commitment to tailor
their aid policy and practices to fragile situations, and
also pledged to monitor this more specific approach
carefully.
The difficulties facing Belgian cooperation in the
‘fragile’ partner countries illustrate the need for an
individual approach. In countries such as Niger, harmonisation
and alignment take longer, as can be
seen from the preparatory process for a new cooperation
programme (see above).
Burundi
In Burundi, too, the search is on for a differentiated
approach. The (financial) management systems are
still not fully ready to be able to be used by the
donors as they stand. They, in turn, are not inclined
© Béatrice Petit
33

© Béatrice Petit
DR Congo
Likewise, in DR Congo, which not only shows all the
signs of being a fragile State but is also a huge,
diverse country, the international aid community finds
itself facing restrictions. Congo is the focus of a large
number of donors from all round the world. Since 2006,
these donors have set an important process in motion,
the Country Assistance Framework. This is intended
to harmonise and co-ordinate the aid via a system
of Thematic Groups, discussion and decision-making
bodies which are supposed to form a framework for
the implementation of the aid. The Congolese arm of
the World Bank’s Belgian Poverty Reduction Partnership
(see also part 1 of the annual report) also supports this
process with a number of experts and studies.
Two years later, the results paint a mixed picture.
In conceptual terms, the system is recognised by
an external mission by the World Bank and the UN’s
Development Programme (UNDP) as exemplary; yet
there is a yawning gulf between theory and practice.
Both the Common Aid Framework (CAF) and the
Congolese poverty reduction plan contain sectors
which are highly political, such as security, reform
of the public administration, and support for democratic
institutions. This remains too much a matter
of ‘development specialists’, with the political decision-making
layer feeling sidelined. After ten years
of war, development aid was virtually restricted to
humanitarian aid, administered by the humanitarian
organisations and not directed at the development
34

of a specific policy by the country itself. Against that
background, it is not easy to integrate economic development
and the fight against poverty in political
terms both with the external partners and within the
Congolese structures. In response to the weakness
of the public, private and NGO structures, the donors
and their Congolese interlocutors all too often provide
substitute aid that is detached from the sociopolitical
reality in Congo: technical assistants still do
the work themselves too often, while the Congolese
organisations should be being strengthened.
being increasingly pulled into the dialogue about aid
– which indicates that the political character is being
underscored and it is not merely a technical question.
Work is also underway on a structural strengthening
of the civil society organisations, instead of simply
using them for the delivery of the aid. And finally,
more and more attention is also being paid to the
informal economy, which ultimately comprises 80% of
the reality in Congo.
The absence of genuine ‘ownership’ is a major cause
for the malfunction in the mechanisms which have
been created just to help increase the effectiveness
of the aid. Other factors are also involved. The
macro-economic framework remains food for specialists,
and everyone expects more and better from
the public institutions, in a State whose budget is the
same as that of its neighbouring country of Congo-
Brazzaville, which has 15 times fewer inhabitants. The
State does not yet have a strong enough presence
everywhere, and it has particular difficulties in correctly
channelling the major interests of Congolese
and foreign private investors. Some of them are the
first to complain about the incompetence, but on the
other hand, this chaos plays into the hands of some
dishonest contractors as well.
The painful realisations are shared by many involved
on the ground, and are increasingly giving rise to the
reorientation of the approach to aid. For example,
the priority for the EU and some Member States is to
reform the technical assistance and have it less centralised
in the capital, Kinshasa. Diplomats are also
35

6. Managing for results
It is not enough just to report how many resources
an organisation is devoting and what activities it is
conducting. The most important thing is to know
precisely what it is actually achieving. So we have to
manage cooperation for results. This is less obvious
than it looks. After all, the tendency is always to say
how much money you are going to give, and what
activities you are going to conduct. In the preparatory
process ahead of the new Indicative Cooperation
Programmes, efforts are also made to give a clear
indication of what results are being pursued. In the
same way, when it comes to subsidies to NGOs,
they are requested to formulate results. But what
sort of results can we expect from the development
programmes?
Sorts of results
■ ■
■■
The impact on development: this result in the
longer term is harder to measure or attribute. It
is usually the result of the interaction between
many factors. Alongside the efforts by the partner
country involved and the common contributions
by the various donors, external contextual
elements such as climate, politics, situations of
conflict, economic shocks and so on also have just
as much a role to play.
Ultimately, it is a matter of the results in the
longer term on the ground. But this often implies
a lot of intermediate stages. Lessons are also
learned from these intermediate stages, and results
achieved, too, in the procedures and organisation
of the individual administration and in the
relations with the various actors in cooperation,
and this report covers those as well.
Results are not always easy to quantify, or even to
see. It is important to define what sort of results a
project or programme is seeking to achieve:
■■ If it is the immediate material accomplishments,
such as a school building, a water pump, roads,
an education programme or a new organisational
model, then we talk about the product or the
output.
■■
The outcome: the results in the short or medium
term that show what direct effects the development
project or programme has achieved. Has the
school building led to an increase in the number
of children able to get an education? Has the
water pump meant that women have more time
for other tasks?
The results on the basis of
evaluations
Evaluations of development programmes can help in
estimating whether Belgian development aid is being
wisely dispensed and contributing to the reduction of
poverty in the world. There is thus a need for feedback
of the results, but this does not suffice. It is
not enough to know what the evaluations have to
say. A relevant and efficient evaluation also clearly
indicates how the experiences collected can be used.
The importance of evaluations is no longer up for
discussion. The use of these results thus assumes
that decisions are made and measures taken which
are based upon them. Likewise, an evaluation can
show how the knowledge acquired, the techniques
36

and the new attitudes can have an influence on these
decisions. This method is particularly important in
the evaluation of the organisational capacity building
programmes: everyone still has things to learn
here. The evaluations in this field provide information
to help improve strategies for capacity-building
and make them more sustainable. Also, the manner
in which the DGDC administration itself sets about its
business can be refined and improved in this way.
So it is the responsibility of the evaluation service
and the management of DGDC to make good use of
the results of evaluations and carefully follow the
recommendations. Every evaluation must also contain
an answer, a reaction on the part of the political
decision-making and the management. In the recent
past, too little direct use has been made of the recommendations,
but in 2008, that changed. One of
the indicators laid down by the DGDC management
plan in order to manage for results is that 100% of
the evaluations must get a management response.
But the responsibility lies not just with the management.
The evaluation reports must be readable and
of high quality, with conclusions based on correct information,
sound and well argued.
A participative process can also strengthen the
evaluation. The DGDC evaluation service strives to
work this out in the preparation and implementation
of evaluations. In every evaluation, the most important
plus points have emerged because the managers,
staff members and other persons involved have
taken part in full. For them, it is also an important
learning process. The changes put forward encourage
these participants to take decisions and to act.
The evaluations of Belgian development cooperation,
whether they be conducted by the internal
DGDC evaluation service or by the Special Evaluation
Service, can be consulted at www.dgdc.be and
www.diplomatie.be. Where a ‘management
response’ has been formulated, this is likewise
available on the website.
The evaluation of the Survival
Fund
The programme of the Belgian Survival Fund (BSF) focuses
on food security, in partnership with Belgian
Technical Cooperation (BTC), NGOs and multilateral
institutions. A recent evaluation covered the activity
programme from 1999 to 2007. The evaluation report
is actively used and forms the basis for a new multiyear
programme for the Survival Fund. This is the
subject of broad discussion, both in Parliament and
with the various actors carrying out projects in the
framework of the BSF.
The conclusions of the evaluation indicate that the
context of cooperation has evolved considerably
over recent years. Nevertheless, the BSF approach
remains relevant:
■■ emphasis on agriculture,
■■ integrated approach to the food issue with other
social services,
■■ capacity-building in grassroots organisations and
decentralised authorities,
■■ attention to the problem of individual capacity of persons
and defensive strategies against external shocks.
37

© Vets without frontiers
In addition, projects within the BSF are often test
cases, laboratories for an innovative approach by
means of which relatively scant resources can still
tackle a complex topic.
But at the same time, there are also weaknesses.
In practice, not enough work has been done on
the aspect around the ‘defensive strategy’ against
threats in terms of food security. There is a lack of
more concrete directives on how to apply such a
strategy. Also, the criteria for the choice of the countries
seem not be very operational in practice. The
programme is not reaching the poorest and most vulnerable
groups systematically enough. Many projects
still seem to be making a relatively modest contribution
to actual food security - although they certainly
satisfy the needs of the beneficiaries. There is (too)
little synergy with other cooperation initiatives (by
the BSF itself and other channels).
The contribution made by the BSF to development
cooperation is, however, more topical than ever,
given the current food crisis. In order to increase the
effectiveness of a new BSF programme, it will be
necessary to take better account of aspects such as
the following:
■■ the specific focus on food security needs to be
sharpened still further;
■■ better integration into the other programmes by
Belgian Development Cooperation. This certainly
applies in the case of the bilateral cooperation
programmes, but also the work on a new strategy
note for agriculture, the application of the principles
of the Paris Declaration, etc;
■■ greater attention to supporting local, decentralised
institutions.
These conclusions and recommendations are used
to map out the strengths and weaknesses for a new
phase of the BSF.
38

7. Aligning aid on systems in
the partner country
Project aid and budget aid
Conventional project aid tends not to be aligned on
the management systems of the partner country.
A project is carried out in many cases outside the
national budget, and also often outside the policy
framework, project materials are often purchased by
(and in!) the donor country, etc. The partner country’s
own management bodies are not strengthened
by this, in fact often quite the reverse.
In many cases, a form of budget aid is more appropriate
as an aid instrument. This means that the financial
contribution is merged with the budget of the
partner country - which itself becomes responsible
for it and administers it itself, under clearly-defined
conditions (see text box).
Belgium has experimented for several years with
various forms of budget aid. The experiences were
evaluated in 2007, which resulted early in 2008 in a
new handbook. This offers a framework with criteria
for the assessment process - why budget aid should
or should not be given to a particular country - and
a practical guide with procedures and accountability
mechanisms.
We give a description below of three examples of
Belgian budgetary aid: Mozambique, Vietnam and
Burundi.
What is budget aid?
Budget aid is an instrument in development cooperation,
just like projects or larger programmes.
The great advantage of budget aid is that it makes
use of the partner country’s management systems,
cutting out the need for parallel circuits, which
place an unnecessary burden on the partner country’s
administration.
However, budget aid is not a blank cheque.
It is money that is pumped direct into the partner
country’s budget, under clearly-defined conditions,
as a contribution to the country’s general policy
(general budget aid) or to a specific sector (sectoral
budget aid). The authorities in the donor countries
(ideally jointly) and the partner country itself make
the assessment. In 2008, DGDC developed a new
handbook which set out precisely the conditions
under which Belgium grants budget aid. Belgium
itself no longer grants direct general budget aid,
but can delegate this via the World Bank or the
European Union (as was agreed for Mozambique in
2008). But Belgium is active in sectoral budget aid,
in particular in the health and education sectors.
Budget aid stands or falls with the political dialogue
between the partner country and the
donors. In that dialogue, the conditions are agreed
(policy plans, objectives, indicators) and the monitoring
is guaranteed (by reference to agreements
on reporting, evaluations, audit obligations, etc).
Also, almost always, technical expertise is supplied
as well. The precise contributions by Belgium or
any other donor can no longer be identified, and
Belgium can also not show that its money in par-
39

ticular has delivered a given result. That is not the
purpose. The purpose is for the partner country to
be strengthened in achieving the planned results
itself. Belgium can be proud to have contributed
towards that.
Budget aid is not a cure-all. In order to tackle specific
questions that the partner country cannot immediately
resolve for itself, though, projects often
provide a useful addition, specifically in terms of
training, as test cases, etc. These projects must
also be aligned wherever possible on the partner
country’s systems, and strengthen them, for example
when it comes to tender procedures, reporting
and financial responsibility, etc.
IMF stated in January 2009 that Mozambique was
effectively making progress in a number of fields of
crucial importance for its development. For example,
Mozambique was succeeding, despite the economic
malaise, in attracting more private investment capital.
Economic growth was maintained at a strong 7%.
Mozambique also succeeded in generating more of
its own income via more efficient tax collection.
Mozambique - general budget
aid
© World Bank / Eric Miller
Over the past 6 years, Mozambique has received
11 million euro from Belgium in the form of general
budget aid. This figure was added to the general
budgetary resources of Mozambique, without being
specifically allocated to one or another sector. This is
not a blank cheque, the money serves to support the
development policy that Mozambique itself has committed
to paper.
A policy dialogue is conducted around this strategy
with the various donors. Every year, a thorough
examination is conducted, by agreement between
Mozambique and the donors, into the extent to
which this policy is actually being effectively carried
out. General budget aid comes with accompanying
measures to improve the management of
Mozambique’s public finances. Belgium also contributed,
alongside the general budget aid, to a reform
programme for the Ministry of Finance and the taxation
system. Indirectly, financed via the World Bank,
Belgium also supported the Mozambiquan Ministry of
Planning and Development with an expert on combating
poverty.
The results can be seen in the annual progress
report that Mozambique itself draws up about the
achievements and the challenges. In a common
opinion about this report, the World Bank and the
The IMF and the World Bank also applaud the careful
monetary policy and the price stability. One important
observation is that Mozambique is successfully
driving back poverty, in particular in rural areas.
But some areas of concern still remain. At the same
time as a real reduction in poverty, a greater
inequality is looming – a trend that must be closely
monitored. The country still continues to be heavily
dependent upon foreign aid. Until 2007, it was also
neatly paying off its internal debt, but this stalled in
2008 because the foreign aid was late in arriving…
Mozambique is keeping inflation under control with
difficulty, partly because of climate shocks (such as
flooding) and high food prices. So the country seems
at the moment to be still very vulnerable, certainly in
the present crisis. Many issues still remain to be discussed
in the policy dialogue between Mozambique
and the donor community. But the country is indisputably
succeeding better in taking control of its own
development.
The exact contribution made by Belgian aid to the
achievement of this result cannot be specified – after
all, it is general budget aid. But there is no doubt that
Belgium has made an effective contribution towards
this positive evolution.
40

© DGDC/ Dimitri Ardelean
Vietnam – budget aid for
Education
Belgium is one of the seven donors who are contributing,
via targeted budget support, to the
Vietnamese programme for ‘Education For All’. This
policy plan for 2003-2015 was set up by Vietnam, by
agreement with the donors. Vietnam’s own contribution
amounts to about three quarters of the total
programme budget. In 2009, no more donor contributions
are planned. At the request of the Ministry of
Planning and Investment, the donors are contributing
25% of the funding of 5 components in the ‘National
Targeted Programs’ for basic education:
■■ universalisation of lower and lower secondary
education,
■■ updating of the curriculum and textbooks,
■■ improvement of teacher training by improvements
to the infrastructure of the training institutions
and the quality of the training programmes,
■■ support for education in neglected areas and for
ethnic minorities,
■■ improvement of the general school infrastructure.
The Vietnamese government took responsibility itself
for the components relating to IT training and application
in schools, boosting foreign language learning
and support for vocational training.
The most important indicators, drawn up in order to
measure the progress of the programme, show a consistently
positive evolution. For example, Vietnam
has made a major increase in the funding for education
for ethnic minority children. Via the ‘Education
For All’ programme, and other programmes in the
education sector, Vietnam is succeeding in effectively
delivering universal basic and lower secondary education.
The country is working on improving the quality
and accessibility of education. This is measured by
reference to indicators such as the number of schools
with minimal infrastructure, the number of teachers
having taken extra training, the pupil/teacher ratio,
the percentages of students repeating a year or
dropping out, the number of graduates by sex, population
group, location and so on.
The actual payment of the donor contributions depends
on the quality of the reports to be submitted
twice a year (activity report, financial report and
audit). This approach ensures an improvement in
monitoring and financial reporting by the Vietnamese
institutions, partly thanks to better cooperation between
the Ministries of Education and Planning and
Investment and the Exchequer.
41

© Béatrice Petit
Burundi - Common Education
Fund
The newly elected government in Burundi has set
as priorities ‘education for all’ and free basic education.
However, there are some serious challenges
to be faced: there is a shortage of teachers, classrooms,
books, budget … Some donor countries, such
as France, the United Kingdom, Luxembourg and
Belgium, have proposed supporting this ambitious
project. Under the leadership of Burundi’s Minister
of Education, Saïdi Kibeya, an important exercise
was conducted in policy dialogue about a national
sectoral plan, harmonisation of procedures, etc. The
donors channel their aid via a Common Fund.
Saïdi Kibeya says: “We have a national strategy to
reduce poverty. Its third pillar relates to the development
of the human capital within which education
has a central place. That is why we started working
back in 2005 on a sectoral plan for education, harmonised
with the national poverty reduction strategy.
But this plan obviously needs financial resources ...”
So the role of the donors is purely a financial one?
Yes, but they also have an accompanying role. They
can mobilise technical and financial partners.
The Common Fund brings together four different
countries. Is it not hard to work with such a group?
It is a unique and very effective framework compared
to earlier mechanisms. Now we have a co-ordination
structure with the partners. The procedures are
unique and the relationships uniform. The Minister
of Education does not have to react to four different
projects or programmes with various procedures.
There is a single point of contact and that circulates
the necessary information. It is a lot easier to work
with such a uniform framework.
Which aspects does the Fund finance?
These are set out in the sectoral plan. Basic education
accounts for the lion’s share: 50 to 60% of the
budget, intermediate education gets 25% and higher
education and the universities 17%. The first sectoral
plan, which is now being rolled out, deals with the
infrastructure: cost estimates for 400 to 500 classes.
Other elements relate more to quality: school books
and teacher training.
Training for staff of financial
management institutions
The financial management of government funds
is of crucial importance in implementing efficient
and sustainable development strategies. For the
period December 2007 – November 2008, Belgium
financed two training courses at the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) for staff from Central Banks
and Ministries of Finances from various African
countries (both partner countries and others).
These two training programmes were particularly
warmly received by these countries.
The first training course provided for a programme
in ‘Financial Programming and Policies’ for 33 participants
from 17 French-speaking African countries
(including the partner countries DR Congo, Mali,
Morocco, Niger, Rwanda and Senegal). The second
course focused on ‘Macroeconomic Management
and Fiscal Policy’ for 26 participants from 15
African countries (including the partner countries
Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania and
Uganda).
Thanks to this success, the IMF decided to extend
the training programmes, once again with Belgian
contributions.
42

8. Harmonisation with
non-governmental actors
One of the working principles in the Paris Declaration
is the harmonisation of aid from the various donors,
both the various countries and the various actors, in
other words also multilateral and non-governmental
organisations (NGOs). Over the past year, there has
been quite extensive consultation with the NGO
sector about further harmonisation, with results both
on the ground and in Belgium. The revised co-financing
of the sector (see below) must lead to a qualitative
improvement in the future.
Consultation on the ground –
the example of Ecuador
In Ecuador, the various actors involved did not wait
for the Paris Declaration before starting to work
more closely together – they have already been
doing that since 2000. Lieven De La Marche, international
cooperation attaché, outlines how, in this
partner country, the discussion with and between
the various governmental and non-governmental
partners is proceeding, and what results this has
delivered over the years.
“In Ecuador, we set up FABEC, the ‘Forum of Belgian
Actors in Development Cooperation in Ecuador’ -
www.fabec.org.ec. FABEC seeks to create a local consultation
and cooperation structure which will serve
as a reference for Belgian Development Cooperation
in this partner country. We want, in this way, to
achieve greater effectiveness in the operation of
each of the organisations. FABEC has fifteen or so
members, including the Development Cooperation
Bureau (DGDC) and BTC, ten or so NGOs, VVOB, BIO
and the local representatives of university coopera-
tion. The Forum meets about four times a year. We
exchange information and hold debates about topics
and sectors shared by different members. For example,
in 2008, a workshop was held around specific
agricultural methods and a dialogue with Ecuadorian
policy experts about the new constitution. In that
context, FABEC was involved in the preparation of
strategy notes and governmental cooperation programmes,
a point which will be particularly highlighted
in 2009 in the preparation of the Mixed
Commission in 2010. Likewise, with regard to joint reporting
and positioning vis-à-vis proposals and policy
options from the Ecuadorian government, FABEC
plays a role.
Can you regard the efforts of local and Belgian
non-governmental partners on the one hand,
and government cooperation on the other, as
complementary?
Several cooperation associations have already been
set up. NGOs and VVOB are involved in the framing
and implementation of bilateral projects – in particular
with regard to rural development and agriculture
– and one bilateral project led to a university
training project in the health sector. These intensive
forms of cooperation have generally delivered good
results. The most striking example was the bilateral
project PROLOZA, which works on social and productive
infrastructure in the provinces of Loga and
Zamora Chinchipe, where both Vredeseilanden and
VVOB and their local partners were involved in financial
and supervisory terms. The cooperation associations
can take on various shapes. We are shifting the
focus increasingly on to strengthening the government
institutions. They need to devise an adequate
43

policy and guarantee high-quality service provision.
This is regarded inter alia in the new programmes put
forward in the ICP for 2007-2010. NGOs work even
more with the ultimate target group(s) and ‘users’ of
the public services. They serve to complement the
bilateral programmes, for example by organising and
training those users or setting in place social control.
Experiences in Ecuador teach us that forms of
cooperation are genuinely effective if the singularity
of the approach, intervention mode and dynamic of
each of the organisations is recognised and if good
agreements are reached about responsibilities and
objectives.
Consultations in Belgium
1) The reform of co-financing
The reform of the co-financing system stimulates the
qualitative enhancement of the NGOs. Organisations
with demonstrable transparent operation, sound
financial health, good management and effective
action can enjoy programme financing over three
years (instead of annual action plans or even separate
projects). Recognition as a ‘programme NGO’
brings the organisation concerned more financial
security and less administrative rigmarole.
58 of the 76 candidate NGOs have already gained approval
for this three-year financing. DGDC has already funded
programmes (2008-10) for 51 NGOs. Ten or so have submitted
projects in 2008 – this still remains possible.
At the same time, therefore, there is also a need for
measures to ensure the monitoring, evaluation and
control of these projects and programmes, in close
agreement with the NGOs themselves. Administrative
and financial procedures are already operational, but
these can still be simplified.
2) Dialogue with all Belgian indirect
actors
The Minister for Development Cooperation has started
an extensive dialogue with all actors receiving
DGDC funding (NGOs, universities and so on). The
dialogue seeks to improve the effectiveness of the
cooperation.
© VVOB
Do you notice an impact in the field of NGO
reform: from a loose project approach via
annual action plans to a multi-year programme
approach?
Various NGOs have been active here for years, and
have clearly developed their own area of action and
attention. The reforms allow the NGOs to guarantee
continuity in their approach. NGOs such as VECO
(sustainable agriculture), Protos (integral water management),
Broederlijk Delen (environment and human
rights/citizen participation) have a clear thematic
focus and work within a long-term perspective. For
others, such as Volens, the programme approach is
relatively new.
In the course of this dialogue, the role of the NGOs
is explored, with regard to their activities both in the
South and in the North, in a number of fields:
■■ awareness-raising, education and calls for action
from the public for an equitable North-South
relationship;
■■ mobilisation, co-ordination, framing of proposals
with regard to North-South relations: control over
the government and the private sector so that
their actions and policy measures take account of
the rights of weaker population groups from the
South;
■■ strengthening of local NGOs and their attempts to
sustainably improve their rights;
■■ interventions in emergency and sensitive
situations.
44

Throughout this debate, the innovative role of the
NGOs was also mentioned.
So the dialogue is being continued, and aims to
achieve a consensus about what the NGOs can do
in order to further improve their expertise and their
comparative advantages, and refine their effectiveness.
This dialogue can be tracked via the DGDC website
(www.dgdc.be).
.
Against this background, the NGOs have also conducted
a critical self-examination around their strong
and weak points in terms of effectiveness. This
examination can likewise be found on the DGDC
website.
The authors of this reflection note that ‘we should be
thinking about the effectiveness of the NGO sector
in Belgium neither euphorically nor pessimistically.
Belgian NGOs can do something, but they certainly
need to work on eliminating their weaknesses’. The
government is willing to work with them in this frank
dialogue.
Strengths
Weaknesses
The coherence of the NGO programmes with their
strategic framework including the development of
their own specific features
The results-oriented character of their actions. Their
strategy to achieve their objectives and make a good
assessment of their results
The delivery of added value for their partners in the
South and the valorisation of their partners in the
wider context
Their view of synergy in the South and their cooperation
with various actors, but less with the Belgian
actors
Their solvency and liquidity
Their broad supporter base and decentralised operation
in Belgium
The diversity of the sector that is tackling new
challenges
At the level of the NGOs themselves
At the level of the entire sector
The complementarity between their North and South
operation
The weak application of the logical framework, in particular
with regard to the indicators and the application
of powerful monitoring and evaluation
The development of a vision on their new roles and
partner relations
The formal relations with the partners
The description of their cooperation modalities and
their sources of financing
In the case of some NGOs, a major dependency on
DGDC financing
The average operation of their managing bodies
The obstacles amid the diversity to making progress
on internal division of labour, upscaling and
harmonisation
45

9. Effectiveness of multilateral
cooperation
Belgium has decided to conduct a fundamental
switch in the funding of the multilateral partner organisations.
Belgium is opting for maximum application
of so-called ‘core financing’ – the contribution
to an organisation’s general resources – and wants
at the same time to scale down the ‘earmarked
contributions’ – these being contributions that
Belgium assigns to specific projects within an organisation.
In addition, the financing of the multilateral
organisations will now be conducted on the basis of
multi-year programmes – meaning that the Belgian
aid becomes easier to predict. This new policy fully
meets the call for more effectiveness in the operation
of the multilateral development organisations.
The UN Secretary General, the officials in charge at
the Funds and Programmes and the Member States
of the UN have repeatedly pointed to the need for a
reassessment of the core contributions. The donors’
current financing practices are partly to blame for
the existing fragmentation, overlapping and lack of
coherence in the multilateral system. The overly high
level of ‘earmarked’ contributions makes it hard for
an organisation to devise its own long-term policy.
It can only carry out the various projects and programmes
at the request of a whole string of donors.
A limited number of specific financing channels will
not participate in this shift from ‘earmarked’ to
‘core’ contributions, namely the contributions from
the Belgian Survival Fund, for the basic allocations
for peace-building (preventive diplomacy and conflict
prevention) and for part of the humanitarian
financing.
Belgian Development Cooperation will, furthermore,
be able to fund specific programmes with the multilateral
organisations in the framework of the bilateral
cooperation with the 18 partner countries. Within the
bilateral envelopes available for this purpose, though,
a certain percentage can be used for delegated
cooperation with other actors, such as multilateral
organisations. This must, of course, happen by
agreement with the bilateral policy in that partner
country. Belgium has, in the past, financed specific
interventions with its multilateral partners, because
the chosen partner was seen as being a well placed
– if not the best placed – actor to conduct activities
relevant to development in that given area. Examples
of this are the UNDP in terms of strengthening parliaments,
UNIFEM in terms of gender-based budgeting,
UNICEF in terms of child protection, etc.
The stronger emphasis on core financing does mean
that the possibility of supporting Belgian policy
focuses disappears, and the visibility must be supplemented
in other ways. The partner organisations are
being sent a letter in January 2009 by the Minister,
asking them to announce this change of policy. This
change will also bring about changes in the way
in which DGDC monitors the organisation. DGDC
will take a more proactive part in the management
bodies.
46

© Unicef / G. Pirozzi
Effectiveness in multilateral
cooperation: ‘One UN’ – pilot projects
Since early 2007, the United Nations has had pilot
projects running in 8 countries in order to get its
many development organisations on the ground to
start operating as a single entity, the so-called ‘One
UN’ concept.
The pilot projects are a direct consequence of the
2006 report ‘Delivering as One’. This came into being
at the instigation of the then Secretary-General Kofi
Annan, for the sake of creating more coherence and
effectiveness in the operational activities of the
United Nations. The UN organisations are gathered
in the field in line with the ‘Four Ones’ principle: one
leader, one programme, one budget and one office.
After the first year, the ‘One UN’ pilot projects
already seem to be delivering some concrete results.
Much stronger national ownership of the development
process seems to have arisen, together with
improved alignment on the national priorities. There
are clear signs of more coherence and less fragmentation
and duplication. There are likewise reports of
lower transaction and administrative costs for the
conduct of the aid. On the other hand, the establishment
of the new working method did demand very
intensive and occasionally costly efforts by the organisations
concerned themselves. In this way, the
UN hopes to make the development programmes
faster and more effective, and thus to accelerate
progress towards the achievement of the Millennium
Development Goals.
47

1
Internationale
beleidscontext:
ontwikkelingsagenda
onder druk
Tegelijk zorgde dit project voor een sneeuwbaleffect
bij andere boeren die hier niet bij betrokken
waren.
48

3
DGDC awareness-raising
activities
© Béatrice Petit
49

•
1
Internationale
beleidscontext:
Sensibiliseringsactiviteiten
ontwikkelingsagenda
onder van druk DGOS
De impact van de klimaatverandering
is dramatisch
Belgian Development Cooperation attended
the Open Business Day run by the
Federal Public Service for Foreign Affairs
on Sunday 5 October 2008. With an extensive
exhibition, DGDC gave an overview of
its activities to some 2,000 visitors.
Tegen 2080:
ondervoed.
weinig of te veel water.
laaggelegen gebieden moeten vluchten.
hebben risico op malaria.
Bron: UNDP
L’impact du changement
climatique est dramatique
D’ici 2080:
seront sous-alimentées.
pénurie ou d’excès d’eau.
les zones côtières et les régions de basse
altitude.
taires courront le risque de contracter la
malaria.
Source : UNDP
The impact of climate
change is dramatic
The situation in 2080:
nourished.
flooding or drought.
flee coastal zones and low-lying areas.
risk of contracting malaria. Bron: UNDP
Millenniumdoelstelling 7 : Waarborgen van een duurzaam milieu
Objectif du Millénaire 7: Assurer un environnement durable
Millennium development goal 7 : Ensure environmental sustainability
www.diplomatie.be
By means of mobile exhibitions,
DGDC keeps the
public informed about the
North-South issue. These
exhibitions are available for
free to Belgian schools,
municipalities, social/
cultural organisations,
associations and so on.
Minister Charles Michel visits the Belgian Development Cooperation
stand at the European Development Days 2008 in Strasbourg (15 to
17 November 2008).
50

Dimension 3, the magazine of the Belgian Development
Cooperation, had a makeover in September 2008, with its
content being reoriented, on the basis of the results of a wide
readership survey. In 2008, five issues of Dimension 3 were
published.
DGDC once again subsidised
some audiovisual productions in
2008, including ‘Les Damnés de
la Mer’, a documentary by the
Belgian Moroccan Jawad Rhalib.
Awareness-raising activity in the Brussels
stations on the occasion of World Water
Day on 22 March 2008. Some 20,000
informative cards were handed out.
51

www.diplomatie.be
Bodemvriendelijke landbouw herstelt
g e d e g r a d e e r d l a n d i n d e U l u g u r u -
b e r g e n ( T a n z a n i a )
D o o r m a s s a l e o n t b o s s i n g e n i n t e n s i e v e l a n d b o u w o p d e
h e l l i n g e n s t r o o m t d e v r u c h t b a r e b o d e m w e g . H i e r d o o r
b r e n g t d e l a n d b o u w w e i n i g o p e n v e r v u i l t h e t w a t e r i n
d e v a l l e i . D u u r z a m e b o d e m v r i e n d e l i j k e l a n d b o u w b i e d t
e e n o p l o s s i n g : m i n i m a l e l a n d b e w e r k i - n g , m a x i m a l e b o
d e m b e d e k k i n g ( o n d e r m e e r m e t b o m e n ) , r o t e r e n v a n
g e w a s s e n . O o k t r a d i t i o n e l e k e n n i s w - o r d t b e n u t : c o m
p o s t e r e n o p h e t v e l d , t e r r a s b o u w .
L ’ a g r i c u l t u r e r e s p e c t u e u s e d u s o l
restaure les terres dégradées dans les
m o n t a g n e s U l u g u r u ( T a n z a n i e )
L a d é f o r e s t a t i o n m a s s i v e e t l ’ a g r i c u l t u r e i n t e n s i v e s u r
l e s c o t e a u x p r o v o q u e n t l e d é p l a c e m e -n t d e s t e r r e s f e r
t i l e s , r é d u i s a n t a i n s i l a p r o d u c t i o n a g r i c o l e e t p o l l u a n t
l’eau de la vallée. L’agriculture durable respectueuse du
s o l o f f r e u n e s o l u t i o n : t r a v a i l - m i n i m a l d u s o l , c o u
v e r t u r e m a x i m a l e d u s o l ( e n t r e a u t r e s p a r d e s a r b r e s ) ,
c u l t u r e s a l t e r n é e s . L e s a v o i r t r a d i t i o n n e l e s t é g a l e m e n t
m i s à p r o fi t : c o m p o s t a g e d e s c h a m p s , c o n s t r u c t i o n d e
t e r r a s s e s .
Soil-friendly agriculture revives
d e t e r i o r a t e d l a n d i n t h e U l u g u r u
m o u n t a i n s ( T a n z a n i a )
A s a r e s u l t o f m a s s i v e d e f o r e s t a t i o n a s w e l l a s i n t e n s i v e
a g r i c u l t u r e o n t h e h i l l s , f e r t i l e l a n d i s w a s h e d a w a y .
H e n c e , a g r i c u l t u r e i s l o w - p r o d u c t i v e a n d t h e w a t e r i n
t h e v a l l e y i s c o n t a m i n a t e d . S u s t a i n a b l e s o i l - f r i e n d l y
a g r i c u l t u r e o f f e r s a s o l u t i o n : a -m i n i m u m o f s o i l d i s
t u r b a n c e , a m a x i m u m o f s o i l c o v e r ( e . g . w i t h t r e e s ) ,
culture rotation systems. Traditional knowledge is also
b e i n g u s e d : i n - fi e l d c o m p o s t i n g , t e r r a c e c u l t i v a t i o n .
I n t e r u n i v e r s i t y c o - o p e r a t i o n o f K U L e u v e n ( V L I R - U O S )
B u d g e t : 3 0 0 , 0 0 0 E U R – 1 9 2 9 0 7 0 7
MOD 1 : Honger uitroeien MOD 7 : Duurzaam milieu
OMD 1 : Eradiquer la faim OMD7 : Environnement durable
MDG 1 : Eradicate hunger MDG7 : Sustainable environment
ER IS MAAR EEN AARDE
VOOR 6,6 MILJARD MENSEN
De opwarming van de
aarde is het gevolg van
de enorme uitstoot van
broeikasgassen door vooral
de rijke landen. Toch
betalen de arme landen de
grootste prijs : ondervoeding,
armoede, ziekte, migratie en
milieuschade.
Daarom wil de Belgische
ontwikkelingssamenwerking
deze landen bijstaan om zich
te beschermen tegen het
veranderende klimaat. Voor het
welzijn van de hele aarde.
‘ ‘
SAMEN DE AARDE
LEEFBAAR HOUDEN !
© NASA
22 april: Dag van de Aarde
UNE SEULE TERRE
POUR 6,6 MILLIARDS D’ÊTRES HUMAINS
Le réchauffement de la Terre
est le résultat des énormes
quantités de gaz à effet de
serre que rejettent surtout
les pays riches.
Cependant, ce sont les
pays pauvres qui en
paient le prix fort :
malnutrition,
pauvreté, maladies,
migrations,
dégradation de
l’environnement.
C’est pourquoi la
Coopération belge au
développement s’engage
à aider ces pays à se
protéger des changements
climatiques, pour le
bien-être de toute la Terre.
© NASA
22 avril : Journée de la Terre
TOUS ENSEMBLE
POUR UNE TERRE VIABLE !
FOD BUITENLANDSE ZAKEN, BUITENLANDSE HANDEL EN ONTWIKKELINGSSAMENWERKING • www.dgos.be
SPF AFFAIRES ETRANGERES, COMMERCE EXTERIEUR ET COOPERATION AU DEVELOPPEMENT • www.dgcd.be
DGDC issued various brochures in 2008, including
on the themes of ‘Environmental care
and development cooperation’ and ‘Food aid
and food security’.
An advertisement in the framework of Earth Day on 22 April
2008 in ‘Het Nieuwsblad’, ‘Het Laatste Nieuws’, ‘Le Soir’,
‘La Dernière Heure’ and ‘Metro’. These newspapers allow us
to reach a readership of 1.5 million people.
The General Information Cycle, the training programme for anyone who wants to get actively involved in
development cooperation, took a fresh turn in 2008. From now on, the Information Cycles are even more
interactive, and more closely focused on concrete commitment.
© Jan Crab
52

43
Annexes
© Béatrice Petit
1. Belgian Official Development Assistance (ODA) 2004-2008
2. Multi-year bilateral obligations and budget aid
3. Multi-year NGO programmes approved in 2008
53

1
Internationale
beleidscontext:
ontwikkelingsagenda
onder ANNEXES druk
1. Belgian Official Development
Assistance (ODA) 2004-2008
Technical cooperation and
scholarships
Financial cooperation and
budget support
Special emergency aid for
Central Africa (launched in
2006)
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Directorate-General for Development Cooperation (DGDC)
Governmental cooperation
84,038,873 116,882,862 122,055,980 131,827,879 164,074,553
20,820,769 17,678,158 29,053,860 31,351,646 47,751,840
0 0 10,000,000 5,000,000 20,500,000
Operation costs BTC 9,472,500 23,029,208 19,053,589 20,306,000 21,032,890
Contribution to debt
cancellations
13,634,000 20,208,491 0 0 0
State-to-state loans 22,706,038 20,226,866 26,767,703 25,559,245 16,045,620
Subtotal
Governmental
cooperation
150,672,179 198,025,585 206,931,131 214,044,770 269,404,903
Non-Governmental cooperation
Cooperation via NGOs 90,564,124 93,284,701 96,284,169 99,150,043 99,612,783
VVOB 7,875,062 8,028,469 8,400,000 8,596,316 8,452,767
APEFE 7,905,188 7,725,953 7,234,846 8,524,332 8,094,522
VLIR - Flemish
Interuniversity Council
CIUF/CUD - Interuniversity
centre of CFWB
24,160,539 26,805,442 28,327,157 26,607,871 28,729,722
22,858,533 21,070,392 24,927,496 23,910,341 23,782,966
Scientific institutions 11,249,727 11,795,108 12,977,337 13,476,508 14,150,776
Other non-governmental 9,303,627 18,662,082 9,049,536 7,456,760 10,425,793
Subtotal
Non-governmental
cooperation
173,916,799 187,372,146 187,200,541 187,722,171 193,249,328
54

Multilateral cooperation
Voluntary multilateral
contributions
7,052,650 7,407,129 7,440,313 6,678,391 8,296,267
to the United Nations 6,753,929 7,120,875 7,171,625 6,422,346 8,018,560
Obligatory contributions 92,490,130 79,412,997 96,389,812 90,791,450 95,567,930
to the United Nations 65,411,069 62,229,604 72,770,395 62,478,816 67,159,693
European Development
Fund and Bank
91,771,261 103,496,574 104,669,938 104,860,013 132,560,006
World Bank Group 82,322,583 152,333,333 78,325,000 76,000,000 175,320,000
Regional Development
Banks
19,710,918 18,379,920 29,938,415 27,266,541 30,860,353
Environmental treaties 9,926,777 10,067,313 9,738,378 12,668,806 12,679,354
Multilateral debt
cancellation
Subtotal Multilateral
cooperation
0 0 8,161,708 12,832,368 18,674,711
303,274,319 371,097,265 334,663,565 331,097,570 473,958,621
Belgian Survival Fund
Governmental/management/awareness
raising
2,290,174 2,166,659 6.568.713 4,620,058 13,313,634
Via NGOs 8,728,110 9,142,301 12.584.625 13,363,246 13,843,855
Via multilateral institutions 8,981,241 8,690,648 8.346.622 12,014,882 6,484,181
Subtotal Belgian
Survival Fund
19,999,526 19,999,608 27,499,960 29,998,186 33,641,671
Community building 9,488,497 4,615,834 14,948,666 15,242,863 19,262,250
Humanitarian food aid 14,858,849 17,355,827 15,359,000 14,525,000 25,882,000
Local NGOs in the South 715,896 3,985,539 6,890,296 5,007,409 5,999,580
Africalia 1,680,000 1,628,651 1,935,000 2,310,000 2,015,000
Support to the private
sector (BIO,,,,)
30,592,014 27,895,000 19,871,551 28,138,365 44,626,496
Interest subsidies 6,468,051 8,192,718 11,409,718 11,009,296 13,053,489
Awareness raising en
education in Belgium
Administration,
evaluation, other
5,523,781 5,575,389 6,275,862 6,944,171 6,022,631
3,444,369 1,399,181 1,689,470 1,958,388 1,213,826
Total DGDC 720,634,281 847,142,744 834.674.759 847,998,189 1,088,329,793
55

1
Internationale
beleidscontext:
ontwikkelingsagenda
onder druk
2. Multi-year bilateral obligation
and budget aid
New multi-year bilateral agreements entered into in 2008
Country Project/programme Amount
(in euro)
Benin Agricultural support - Mono and Couffo departments 5,500,000
Expertise fund 1,250,000
Institutional support to the Ministry of Agriculture 3,500,000
Institutional support to the healthcare sector 4,300,000
Burundi Institutional and operational support to the justice system 5,800,000
Institutional support to the Ministry of Public Health 900,000
Support for the reform of paramedic training 2,000,000
Institutional support to ISABU - Agricultural Research Institute 3,000,000
Institutional support to the Ministry of National Education and
800,000
Scientific Research
Support for vocational training 5,000,000
Local social and economic development - rural roads 10,000,000
Cambodia Basic healthcare - consolidation phase 3,000,000
Morocco North Morocco education programme 3,000,000
Micro-credits 2,000,000
Waste processing 14,500,000
Mozambique Rehabilitation of basic infrastructure 3,400,000
Palestine Construction & rehabilitation of schools 10,000,000
Reinforcement of healthcare 5,000,000
Rwanda Institutional support for sanitary development - Kigali 15,000,000
Support for small animal husbandry 5,000,000
Reconstruction of Bushenge hospital 1,800,000
Social/economic and cultural development in Northern Province 4,000,000
Provision of drinking water and sanitation 12,320,000
Senegal Healthcare insurance system 2,500,000
Capacity-building - decentralised financial systems 4,400,000
Tanzania Sustainable improvement of banana cropping 1,500,000
Income-generating activities - Kigoma and coast region 2,162,000
Vietnam Provision of water and sanitation 7,500,000
Institutional reinforcement at provincial and district level 2,500,000
Various partner Replenishment / extension of existing projects and funds 6,130,000
countries
Total 147,762,000
56

Overview of new multi-year commitments for budget aid 2008
Country Programme Amount (in euro)
Uganda
Decentralisation process - local government sector investment
4,000,000
plans
Health sector 10,000,000
Peru Health sector (health insurance) 3,000,000
Burundi Education sector 5,000,000
Support for economic reforms (via World Bank Trust Fund) 4,000,000
Total 26,000,000
This table includes only the amounts transferred to the partner country, not the associated expertise costs
57

1
Internationale
beleidscontext:
ontwikkelingsagenda
onder druk
3. Multi-year NGO programmes
approved in 2008
Multi-year NGO programmes approved in 2008
Prog. 2008-2010
NGO Title Subsidy (in euro)
11 11 11
From the international perspective, achieving better
North-South relations by joining forces in Flanders
16,568,039
ACTEC A job for everyone 7,109,885
AQUADEV
VBRC-OS Rotary
ATOL
Programme for the reinforcement of African microfinance
organisations
Vacci-plus in DR Congo - City of Kinshasa Province -
health sector
Methodological support for development initiatives in
the South
2,199,936
1,258,448
917,860
Autre Terre Doing business differently in North and South 1,630,641
Artsen zonder
vakantie
Reinforcement of the health systems, with the emphasis
on hospitals
1,653,600
Bevrijde Wereld Food for the future 4,205,596
Broederlijk Delen Solidarity for sustainable development 22,232,465
CARAES
CDI-Bwamanda
CEMUBAC
Orthopaedagogical Care and Mental Health Care for the
Great Lakes Region
Contribution to socio-economic development in the
Northern Equatorial Province (DR Congo), the Yaka
Region (DR Congo) and South Borgou (Benin)
Developing welfare for populations through improvements
to health and the struggle against hunger with
due regard to the MDGs
3,037,978
3,086,883
1,969,508
58

NGO Title Subsidy (in euro)
CETRI
CNCD-11.11.11
DMOS
COTA
Understanding the world better in order to change it -
points of view from the South
Coordinating the actors in international co-operation
to promote the Millennium Goals and the right to
development
Integral training directed at upwards mobility and active
citizenship for young people in South and North
Information, awareness-raising and quality support for
the actors in cooperation
577,372
1,912,430
16,363,835
1,048,269
Rode Kruis België Present, always, everywhere 6,499,815
Damiaanactie
Improving basic health in developing countries by combating
leprosy & TB
13,720,686
DISOP Employability and citizenship 11,562,652
Djapo From basic school to world school 1,838,030
Echos
Communication
Entraide et
fraternité
Solidarité Socialiste
FOS
Handicap
International
Promoting new development cooperation practices to
accompany the emergence of a new human-centred
development cooperation paradigm
Promoting peasant agriculture through citizen
approaches
Reinforcing social actors in the South and the North
committed in networks for the promotion of democracy
and economic and social rights
Organisations in North and South - Solidarity for the
right to health and right to decent work
Upright living: for a society that prevents avoidable disability,
for a society for all where disabled people enjoy
their rights
1,156,874
3,536,276
9,123,039
10,937,501
13,295,362
Les Iles de Paix More enlightened and active public opinion 1,145,477
59

NGO Title Subsidy (in euro)
IPIS
Information and advice service on topics affecting nongovernmental
development actors
436,582
ITECO Education as a vector for North/South social change 1,177,642
Louvain
développement
Max Havelaar
The welfare and dignity sought by disadvantaged populations
in deprived countries are improved: LD contributes
to the international relations policy of the UCL as a
dynamic actor serving society
More sustainable development in the South thanks to
more sales of Fairtrade-labelled products in the North
8,560,418
1,358,844
MEMISA Reinforcement of the health system at various levels 9,663,471
Miel Maya Honing Bee-keeping, sustainable development and fair trade 660,984
Artsen Zonder
Grenzen
Improving access to healthcare for persons with AIDS
and/or TB
12,258,964
Le Monde selon les
Femmes
Oxfam magasins du
monde
Gender as a development condition 1,314,827
The Made in Dignity campaign with younger people 1,328,783
Oxfam Solidariteit
Oxfam
WereldWinkels
Petits Pas
Changing the balance of power to ensure respect for
social and economic rights
Fairtrade: an honest alternative for the North and the
South alike
Reinforcement of the capacities in the North and the
South for environmentally responsible and endogenous
development
10,795,967
2,493,827
477,945
60

NGO Title Subsidy (in euro)
PROTOS Water: a lever in development 8,701,896
Rode Kruis
Vlaanderen
Improving the situation of the most vulnerable 5,674,699
SCI North/South Action/Training 495,393
Steunfonds Derde
Wereld
Empowerment for the right to health 2,733,885
SLCD
Protestantse
Solidariteit
Combating poverty in rural communities targeted by an
integrated socio-economic development programme
Support for the fight against HIV/AIDS, TB and leprosy in
central and western Africa
3,199,999
3,422,476
SOS Faim Supporting rural people in their fight against poverty 10,980,845
TRIAS
UCOS
Linking-up: local economic development in a globalising
world
Active world citizenship for more international solidarity
and sustainable development in North and South
17,163,553
426,765
VIC From integration to self-determination 3,878,401
Vredeseilanden
Dierenartsen
Zonder Grenzen
Wereldsolidariteit
A viable living for family farmers through participation in
the markets
Optimising the contribution of livestock-raising in the
economy and social life of farming/breeding families
Getting together with the social movements to promote
dignified work and social protection to combat poverty
and social exclusion
17,772,898
4,355,527
12,073,830
Total 299,996,880
61

1
Organigram
Organization Internationale
chart
van The de FPS FOD Foreign beleidscontext:
Buitenlandse Affairs Zaken,
Buitenlandse Foreign ontwikkelingsagenda
Trade Handel en
Ontwikkelingssamenwerking
and Development Cooperation
onder druk
S0.4
Special Evaluator
S0.1
Crisis Centre
S0.2
Missions
Inspectorate
S0.3
Regions and
Communities Interface
S0.5
Conflict
Prevention and
Peacebuilding
S0.6
Modernisation
and Management
Support
S0.7
Security
P&C
Press and
Communication
P&S
Protocol
and Security
62

Minister
Policy Unit
Chairman
Executive
Committee
DG
Bilateral Affairs
(B)
B&B
Budget and
Management
Control
DG
Consular Affairs
(C)
P&O
Personnel and
Organisation
DG
Development
Cooperation
(D)
ICT
Information and
Communication
Technology
DG
European Affairs and
Coordination
(E)
DG
Legal Affairs
(J)
DG Multilateral Affairs
and Globalisation
(M)
63

1
Internationale
Organization chart DGDC
beleidscontext:
Directorate-General for Development
Cooperation ontwikkelingsagenda
onder druk
Director General D
D0.0
General Affairs &
Secretariat
D0.1
Policy Support
D0.2
Quality Control &
Evaluation
D0.3
Budget and ODA
D1
Governmental
Programmes
D2
Special
Programmes
D3
Non-governmental
Programmes
D4
Multilateral
and European
Programmes
D5
Awarenessraising
Programmes
D1.1
North Africa
and Middle
East
D2.1
Emergency
Aid,
Rehabilitation
and Food Aid
D3.1
NGOs
D4.1
United
Nations and
Bretton
Woods
Institutions
D5.1
Third-Party
Awarenessraising
D1.2
Central Africa
D2.2
Survival Fund
D3.2
Universities
and Scientific
Institutions
D4.2
European
Union
D5.2
Awarenessraising
by
DGDC
D1.3
West Africa
D3.3
Other
Partners
D4.3
Sectoral
Funds and
Programmes
D1.4
Southern
Africa,
East Africa
D3.4
Budget
Programming
and Financial
Control for
Non-governmental
Programmes
D1.5
Latin America
and Asia
D1.6
Regional
Cooperation
64

Abbreviations
BIO
BSF
BTC
DG
DGDC
DRC
EU
FAO
GNI
HIV/AIDS
IMF
ICP
MDG
NGO
ODA
OECD
UN
UNDP
UNRWA
VVOB
WFP
Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries
Belgian Survival Fund
Belgian Technical Cooperation
Director-General
Directorate-General for Development Cooperation
Democratic Republic of Congo
European Union
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Gross National Income
Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
International Monetary Fund
Indicative Cooperation Programme
Millennium Development Goal
Non-Governmental Organisation
Belgian Official Development Assistance
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
United Nations
United Nations Development Programme
United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
Flemish Association for Development Cooperation and Technical Support
World Food Programme
65

Colophon
Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and
Development Cooperation
Communications Department
Rue des Petits Carmes 15
B-1000 Brussels
Belgium
www.diplomatie.be
www.dgdc.be
Contributions and coordination: Directorate-General for Development Cooperation
Final editing: Jan De Mets
Translation: Bellis Translations
Design: www.cibecommunicatie.be
Production: Communications Department FPS Foreign Affairs
Contact: +32 2 501 81 11 – www.diplomatie.be/en/contact
Responsible editor: Dirk Achten, rue des Petits Carmes 15, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium
The information contained in this report is for information only. The Federal Public Service is in
no way legally bound by it.
Legal registration: 0218/2009/11
April 2009

Federal Public Service
Foreign Affairs,
Foreign Trade and
Development Cooperation
www.diplomatie.be
www.dgdc.be