Van ontwikkelingshulp naar internationale samenwerking

In 1965 kreeg Nederland de eerste minister voor 'ontwikkelingshulp' (Theo Bot). Dat werden later ministers voor ontwikkelingssamenwerking en nu hebben we een minister voor Buitenlandse Handel, ontwikkelingssamenwerking. Dat is de koopman en de dominee in één werd er al gespot. Hier ligt een ontwikkeling in ons denken over armoede en ontwikkelingslanden aan ten grondslag die besproken zal worden. Dat denken is sterk beïnvloed door de snelle ontwikkeling in Azië, de belangrijke rol van de particuliere sector daarin (commercieel en niet-gouvernementeel), kritiek op de traditionele ontwikkelingssamenwerking en recentelijk door de rol van China en India als donoren in het tegenwoordig ook snel groeiende Afrika. Die nieuwe minister van NGO en PVDA huize (mevr. Ploumen) kreeg gelijk ruzie met de minister van economische zaken (Kamp) over de besteding van die één miljard 'bezuinigingen', in een zaak die heel duidelijk het verschil in achtergrond van beide politici verraadt (Financieel Dagblad 6-11-12). De overgang naar internationale samenwerking heeft nogal wat implicatie

Urban management and institutional change: An integrated approach to achieving ecological cities

In this contribution I will deal with the following topics in this order: 1. Urban Management an integrated approach! 2. Reforms to improve the performance of the municipality 3. What is new in Urban Management: the New Public Management 4. Autonomy OK, but what is accountability? 5. What are the issues? Lets analyze it 6. What about the dynamics of cities? 7. How can we finance urban development alternatively? 8. Who is the real urban manager and what are some relevant books on urban management? 9. An illustration: solid waste issues in Africaii 10. How can we achieve ecological cities

Public–private partnerships in basic service delivery: impact on the poor, examples from the water sector in India

What is the theory behind Public–Private Partnerships (PPPs)? In this contribution PPPs are defined as private sector involvement, where a public and a private partner share the risks related to the necessary investments. Besides complementarity, the other factors contributing to the success of PPPs will be analysed. Evidence concerning India will be used to assess which factors played a role and to suggest a PPP dialogue in India, which would involve all stakeholders before actually embarking on PPPs for urban infrastructure projects such as drinking water and sanitation. It would help to do projects in such a way that they would also benefit the urban poor

Climate change and farmers responses in rural china, lessons for Africa

How does China deal with the consequences of climate change and can we learn from that experience in Africa? Important external drivers in China such as rapid economic growth, urbanization, climate change and a growing awareness of environmental degradation have contributed to a shift in governance structures. The developments have contributed to a shift in governance structures. These developments have created enabling environment for famers to take more initiatives. Furthermore, the involvement of NGOs and CBOs in China and new opportunities for initiatives for farmers at the local level is coming up. An analysis of the multi-level governance structures in place shows the role of local government and governance structures and helps to assess to what extent the implementation of policies and programs is happening at the provincial or the local level. This research took place in the Lanchang River, where seasonal droughts have become more important recently

Smart, Alan & Josephine Smart (eds). Petty capitalists and globalization: flexibility, entrepreneurship, and economic development

This book brings together a series of papers applying the petty capitalism concept to enterprises in developing countries and countries in transition. The editors define petty capitalists on page 3 as ‘individuals or households who employ a small number of workers but are themselves actively involved in the labor process’. More in line with the modes of production debate, they define petty capitalists on the following page as an intermediate category, bounded by petty producers and subsistence producers, on one side, and by real capitalists on the other. This implies that a decline in fortunes may result in proletarianization or improverishment, because petty capitalists become petty or subsistence producers

Decentralization and basic services provision: water and sanitation in Ghana

How does decentralization reform affect the provision of basic services, particularly water and sanitation in Ghana? We deal in particular the delivery of water and sanitation, given the importance of water and sanitation. Conclusions are drawn concerning the policy implications for the design and implementation of decentralization reform. The first is the need to ensure that laws establishing service delivery agencies and possible partnership arrangements are consistent with the specific laws that set out the nature decentralization reform. The second policy implication of our study is the need for a conscious implementation plan in support of decentralization laws and policies. The policy implication regards the question of appropriate roles by local government. We have observed that pluralism performs better that distributed monopoly by public utilities. Decentralization reforms should deepen local accountability in the provision of basic services. Finally, assigning leadership, brokerage and oversight roles to local government in the design of decentralization reforms is critical for expanding basic services

Role of small-scale independent providers in water and sanitation

Small-scale independent providers (SSIPs) and households are good for 10–69% of the household water supply and sometimes up to 95% of the sanitation solutions in cities in developing countries. Different types of SSIP can be distinguished. They could be allowed to make a more important contribution to drinking water and sanitation in a situation where many governments cannot be the only one to supply drinking water and sanitary services. Theoretical and practical arguments are used to explain why private sector involvement is even more frequent in sanitation than in drinking water. The issue of how to improve the efficiency in the water and sanitation sector will be raised by looking at ways to unbundle sanitation, to use technological innovations and to bring in more competition. The need for alternative technologies is stressed, since a fully fledged sewerage system in every Third World city would contribute to increased foreign debt in many countries, given that the steel and cement often need to be imported

Water: verhoging van efficiëntie blijft een uitdaging

Het doel van veel hervormingen in nutssectoren is meer marktwerking te introduceren waardoor deze nutsbedrijven efficiënter zouden worden en een lagere prijs aan de consument kunnen berekenen. Zijn deze hervormingen in de watersector wel zo succesvol geweest als wordt gesteld (Dijkgraaf et al., 2005) en hebben ze wel de juiste doelstelling? Gaat het de burger niet veeleer om de kwaliteit van het water en zekerheid van de levering dan om de prijs? Zijn de efficiëntie verbeteringen wel een gevolg van meer marktwerking of moeten de oorzaken voor toenemende efficiëntie elders worden gezocht? Voldoet de Nederlandse drinkwatersector wel aan de voorwaarden om deze hervormingen daadwerkelijk succesvol in te voeren? UNESCO-IHE (2005) voerde het Euromarket onderzoek uit voor de Europese Unie (EU) om toekomstige ontwikkelingen in de Europese watermarkt in beeld te brengen. Deze scenario’s zullen hieronder kort worden samengevat om enkele conclusies voor de economische agenda van het volgende kabinet te kunnen trekken. Het betoog wordt geïllustreerd door een bespreking van de prijs die Nederlandse waterbedrijven berekenen

Measuring eco cities, comparing European and Asian experiences: Rotterdam versus Beijing

Many cities have taken initiatives to achieve more sustainable development or to become ecological cities. In this paper, ten dimensions are suggested for defining ecological cities and an effort has been made to provide indicators to measure them. Many cities claim to be ecological cities, but there are no non-ambiguous definitions of ecological cities and few efforts have been made to measure to what extent the cities have achieved their goal. This paper considers the efforts of Beijing and Rotterdam to become more eco cities, using these dimensions. What can we learn from these experiences for developing the city of the future? In an illustrative effort to apply the suggested criteria, Rotterdam scored slightly better than Beijing. The latter city is facing more serious environmental problems and is willing to try more innovative solutions, while Rotterdam spends more money on prevention and CO2 reduction

China as a net food importer: opportunity or threat for global food partnerships

Good health and food safety are important for Chinese people. The 1.5 billion Chinese wants to be sure that their food meets international quality standards. Business advice and know-how to upgrade national food industry is welcomed as well as innovative ways to avoid inflation because of increasing food prices. China as net food importer offers opportunities for European food industry. These opportunities will even become bigger because of the higher income and changing eating habits of the Chinese urban population will result in more demand for quality products