At the start of 2016 I received the first best wishes, apart from my close relatives, from Ethiopia. Which is a bit odd as in Ethiopia the Melkam Addis Amet (happy new year) has been exchanged in September already, following the Julian calendar. At the other hand their Christmas is still coming. In many ways the timing of the Eastern Orthodox is a lot better than the Western one. Around the start of the Ethiopian new year new global goals were set, a set of new promises. Resolutions or, as we say in the Netherlands, good intentions. This tradition has eroded quite a bit, with only 17% of the Dutch expressing them explicitly, making me cautious doing the same here.
To be frank I probably did not make the best start into the new year by purchasing a successor to our 'family vehicle'. So there you go, reporting on climate negotiations and a potential new set of what may turn out false promises. So than, what do you do? I presume there are various options to deal with this 'sin' against humanity. Limit the use of the car? Contribute to one of the many CO2 initiatives that try to capitalize on the individual and collective sense of guilt? Start working for an organization that helps people fight climate change? I guess this type of questions that I have to deal with do not compare to the questions most of the climate victims need to deal with in the coming year. Shall we stay at our farm or move to an urban center in search for a better life. Or for young unemployed academics: Do I stay or shall I try my luck in Europe? I can also take it from a professional angle: Am I not engaged in building capacity of people through education and training to be better able to deal with the changing world around them? However, does it really empower them if at the same time those that receive training are lured into a world where this type of education invites for wasteful behavior with regard to natural resources, as 'modern' societies have demonstrated in the past century? Or will so called advanced economies also help us getting out of the mess with climate smart technology? Secondly, would I be a genuine advocate for change, if I keep traveling the world contributing to even more pollution? How do I bring global goals and organizational and personal behavior together? MOOC One of the clear trends that can be observed today is the obscuring of the public-private boundary. Where in the past some clear distinction existed between public and private responsibilities and duties, today achieving public goals requires private investment. Worth mentioning in this respect is the recent Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on Finance for Development that the World Bank organized. A nice example of how training can be organized without having to board a plane, while still comparing notes on our final project cross-culturally. At the same time I was shocked to learn in what way billions are expected to be turned into trillions to finance development. Though the ambition is laudable, I still have doubts whether the proposed combined power of public and private financial resources will make the difference. Increased tax revenues from improved domestic resource mobilization together with tapping private foundations, pension funds and philanthropic institutions should do the job according to the World Bank, with a central role of course for multilateral financial institutions. Vows and accountability What I am missing in the public-private story of the World Bank is the human, actionable dimension as illustrated above. We do have choices, and every choice we make has both private and public repercussions. Hence, my vows at the start of this new year should be about my personal consumption and production patterns. For the sake of accountability over private good intentions it will be good to announce them to the ones near to you privately. They are in the best position to keep you accountable. As far as my public duties (paid with tax money) are concerned some public accountability may be required. I intend to compensate for every mile traveling faster than cycling speed. Secondly, I will minimise travel and maximise open online exchanges at both individual and intra-organizational level for which I will at least take three initiatives in the coming year that influences a 1000 persons' individual choices positively. Hope this blog makes for the first 100. While contemplating the events of the past couple of weeks while the year is running to it's end, we see what some see as 'a perfect storm' developing and overtaking all that we considered secure and under control. The firm way Laurent Fabius the president of the Climate conference concluded the agreement is somehow symbolic of the ridiculous claim of mankind to having things under control. Thinking about the huge contrasts, I felt the need to leave the French flag mourning the death of terrorist attack in the banner of this blog, to add the many migrants who have died in the past year while trying to flee violence, conflict or climate related disasters all over the world. Today is world migrant day. In this time of remembering the Christ child, many are contemplating the stories surrounding his birth. Simple herdsmen listening to angels and magicians from Syria having read the stars all making their way to meet the Christ child in Bethlehem. King Herod, suspecting some competition for power, killed all under two's in Bethlehem as a result, leaving the whole town in tears. In the meantime, Joseph and Mary and their little baby fled to Egypt, All today's stories seem to come together in the story of this one miracle child who by his live and death provided for peace and reconciliation of mankind with the planet and its Creator. A reconciliation that is much needed to enable human beings to continue their stewardship of the planet. Migration and terrorism are still surrounding claims for power and religious inspired hatred. In Jesus days the religious clergy could not stand his love of sinners and his care for the disadvantaged. Hence with so many at our doorstep longing for better lives for their families and loved ones, will some of us continue to claim that all places are full? Providing shelter was not without consequences for the people of Bethlehem. Providing the Christ child with a place of birth made him a citizen of Bethlehem with horrible consequences for his fellow citizens. But did that inn keeper have a choice, but to offer that manger? In yesterday's talkshow at Dutch television a leader of the Christian Democratic Party (CDA) in the Netherlands held the view that "there is a limit to our moral duty with regard to providing shelter". He must have been misguided by populist views. At the same time our morality will not save us, as climate refugees or those who live in poverty will plea guilty against us. Restoration is only possible when we are willing to accept that we have fallen short and acknowledge the rightful claims for loss and damage as also presented in Paris. Unfortunately many still turn a deaf ear when it comes to this part of the agenda. Nevertheless, we need to pay the full price, in one way or the other, or some miraculous debt relief has to be found and shared. Could the Christ child help out? Abdul Salam (Servant of Peace): Two of the radicals and terrorists involved in the recent violence in Paris carried this name. And it was exactly on the same day that I invited a guest from Syria with the same name to the premises of my employer, EP-NUffic, with a message of hope. Earlier in the week I attended the conference #SparkIgnite in Amsterdam, staging the importance of investment in higher education in fragile states, confirmed by the presence of Queen Maxima. And given the cruelties that would unfold in Paris I realize with hindsight that the tight security surrounding her presence served a good purpose. G20 Earlier this year I attended a panel discussion preparing Turkey’s presidency of the G20 at the Finance for Development conference in Addis Ababa. The events of the past week only shows how well the priorities of inclusive growth and sustainable development were chosen. However, the terrorist attacks in Paris gave the gathering in Antalya a twist and convergence around security. Obama and Putin managed to find each other, at least physically in the lobby of a hotel. I cannot imagine they were sorting out their differences, nor talked about inclusive growth. Against the outright hatred demonstrated by Islamist Radicals there was a common answer to be formulated. Already President Hollande made his choice. His answer fell much in line with the answer President Bush formulated following the events of 11th of September resulting in a War on Terror with severe consequences for peace and stability in the world. The call is on other nations to join the war. History repeats itself, this time with Europe in the lead. Je Suis Ali Yesterday at one of the Dutch television talk shows it was Ali B. who expressed his doubts about the response of Hollande. “I have a sense that war rhetoric is exactly what these radicals are after.” He did an attempt to talk with a former radical about the religious nonsense that motivates extremism and about violence only being allowed by the prophet in response to violence. Hence, murdering innocent civilians could never have been Mohamed’s philosophy argued Ali who will soon start his show Je Suis Ali. Hatred and love In the meantime another response is formulated in the Notre Dame, where “Pray for Paris” is put in practice. A supposedly 13th century prayer attributed to Fransiscus of Assissi (according to Wikipedia drafted in 1912 in Paris) is prayed. The last sentence in this prayer resonates with the victims of the attacks but ironically also echoes the inspiration and motives of those committing the atrocities, or at earlier times, may have inspired the crusaders in their strive to besiege Jerusalem. Hence, many conclude neither the State nor the Church has an appropriate answer to the type of extremism facing our societies today, resulting in society organizing its own rituals to deal with the grief and agony. Trying to reflect on the situation I must refrain from judging any of the above responses. Without my education and the experience of living in Hindu, Muslim and Orthodox societies I would not have developed the attitude to question my own prejudices, whether it concerns relationships at work or in society. Having been raised in a conservative family I was very much aware of the enemy outside and much less aware of the enemy residing within. Loving my enemy may as well mean learning to love my self, despite shortcomings both in understanding and action. Peace dividend By chance I was given the opportunity for my personal response, unaware of the tragedy that would unfold the same day, in bringing a Syrian scholar in contact with some Dutch knowledge institutions. I belief this Abdul Salam was a real servant of peace in soliciting support for agricultural education inside Syria. Knowing the agricultural research system, of which he is a member, I recognized his genuine intention to further agricultural education and research and support farmers as a means to support early recovery. For him both the Assad regime and IS do not provide the right ecology, causing him to opt for operating from Turkey, from where he is managing the program inside ‘liberated areas’ in Syria. Donors like GIZ and DFID and also NGOs like SPARK have already joined hands with him. Hence the financial support may not be the most pressing issue. Nevertheless, the moral support is. We exchanged a star that is already hanging in his house in Turkey and at my house in The Netherlands as a symbol of connectivity between both our faiths and our societies. It would be a great signal if the Dutch 3D approach of Defense, Diplomacy and Development could regain momentum as war without investment in peace dividend will not provide a solution. It will only change the players.
Several events in the previous week illustrate the transition time we are in. I met doom prophets and prosperity gospel preachers. It all came together in the Max Havelaar lecture at Rotterdam School of Management on Wednesday where two ladies (a young Cameroonian staff member of the Netherlands Africa Business Council and a senior staff member of the Trade Union FNV) a kind of represented the two eras we are in. The world of associations, unions and collectivism organized along trade industries versus a movement oriented globally networked woman exerting her individual influence. One using the current institutional arrangements like the ILO international labor standards. The other co-creating innovative solutions to world problems. We are currently experiencing a heavy presence of both worlds, which probably means we are in the middle of this transition. Exponential organizations The prosperity gospel I heard at Nyenrode University earlier that week pointed to a future with a world of plenty, where there are no limits to human potential and death being conquered by 2045. It concerned a lecture about exponential organizations at the launch of a new course named ‘Business Innovation and Service Delivery’. Nyenrode had invited two entrepreneurs that were drawing the picture of a world mastered by computers, codes and algorithms. Yuri van Geest showed us a world where 3D printing takes on proportions where we print our meals and where both cancer and Alzheimer have been sorted. China already is in the lead in science and technology while the Gulf and Russia are running out of fossil fuels to sustain their economies long-term. He introduced a new type of organization with a so called Massive Transformation Purpose. Using two acronyms IDEAS and SCALE he pointed to the soft skills that will make the difference in integrating new technologies with our current world. Fyra
Finally in the past week also a report was published about a successive array of State Ministers of Infrastructure who failed to manage a public-private partnership arrangement that should have provided the Netherlands with a fast-track connection to Brussels. Public-Private Partnerships have gradually become a quite normal animal in the government circles. However, limited consideration is given to role confusion and potential hick-ups due to the sheer size of contracts. It will be a challenge to provide the type of leadership that will bring solutions to this world where the trust in institutional arrangements is rapidly shrinking and people make their own arrangements to take care of their own health, safety and security and social entrepreneurs venture out to start movements from bottom-up to protect public goods and take care of the disadvantaged. Social entrepreneurs and the King Many good initiatives have started linked to the arrival of refugees, following the reports and listening to their stories. Not everyone is on the same page though. Angry citizens potentially see their jobs being taken and fear a shortage in the housing market, while governments are seeking solutions to the refugee crises that has been in the world for ages but finally also arrived at European shores. This disparity even led to violent incidents causing our King to address the nation (while being on a State visit to China) calling for dialogue, reminding Dutch citizens of the ‘poldermodel’ for which the Netherlands was once most famous. While promoting Dutch business interests he did not refrain from sharing his concerns about human rights violations to his hosts. I really like our King, connecting business and human rights and the local with the global, modeling today's Changing Leaders behavior. The Netherlands would be wise to keep this 400 year old institution for a while as some more disruption is to be expected both in the physical as well as digital infrastructure. This will require modern leadership skills, from both governments and business leaders. This week should present a turning point in human history with the new Global Goals being launched amidst a very high-level audience addressing each other and the world. After the Secretary General delivered his opening speech, Pope Francis was given the floor in a unique going together of state and church in terms of the urgency of change required at the eve of a conference that is to adopt a new set of global goals. However, the Pope was pretty straightforward in mentioning the shortcomings of the institution that had welcomed him to their gathering. He also presented his Theory of Change and pointed to a basic minimum with regard to livelihood security: Lodging, Labour and Land (a place to stay, a skill to put to work and productive assets to do so) and education in tune with peoples value systems and local community. Find a transcript of his speech here. While seeing the world leaders, including my own government, lining up for New York, I was privileged to attend a few gatherings in Kenya that brought together farmers, other entrepreneurs, business managers, importers and exporters, university staff and students and government representatives from several African countries. They exchanged products and services for a variety of agricultural commodities. My focus while traveling to Kenya was on the african dairy exhibition, this year held in Nairobi. I met quite a contingent of Dutch businesses active in dairy and dairy chain support in Africa. Preceding this exhibition I had the opportunity to attend a conference in connection to DairyTrain, an EP-Nuffic supported project implemented by Egerton University in Nakuru. By chance this same week an Agri-Business Fair was opened at the University of Eldoret. The Agricultural Attaché of the Dutch embassy together with Dutch entrepreneurs had organized a Holland Pavilion at the fair. A representative from the Ministry of Economic Affairs launched a potato chain platform called www.potatovaluechainafrica.com. Unlike the high-level talks in New York about global goals the conversations at this fair in Eldoret were very practical, showing an eagerness and appreciation for new technologies that really revives hopes while offering good business opportunities for Dutch investors. It is the place where the aid and trade agenda's meet. Especially the combination of young energetic innovators with a desire to use creativity to solve common problems faced by a multitude of farmers and the no-nonsense evaluation of business opportunities by international experts and business people provided the right mix for exchange. However, talking with Dutch entrepreneurs on the ground the number of contacts with formal educational institutions even in the recruitment of staff is minimal to non-existent. Two friends who just started a horticultural farm reflected on their recruitment processes and had to conclude that the turnover was very high. Quality staff is hard to come by and difficult to keep. There is a clear mission to make education more relevant to jobs, and available land for agricultural production. A direction where also Pope Francis would like education to evolve towards. Rather than meeting some universal standards in abstract thematic areas, basic nummeracy and literacy are still in short supply with workers. Also technical skills are limited and middle management is weak. Too many educated youngsters are overqualified and do not see themselves working the soil. With the agricultural sector presenting itself as a business this perception may gradually change. The very presence of big farmers who make big business out of farming is a case in point.
corruption This week also revealed to us that Big Business cannot be trusted to take good care of standards, with Volkswagen showing the limited capacity of industry to live up to environmental standards, possibly signaling a much wider corruption problem. Despite all great ambitions, practice seems to be lagging behind. It is therefore high-time to unleash maximum creativity amongst the younger generation who are able to break through some of the barriers that some insitutions have put in place to protect the interest of the powerfull. This is the exact reason why institutions should not be set in stone but should evolve and reflect the common understanding of good behavior that will reward responsible business people and punish irresponsible acts. As one of the potato-experts entrusted me during the business fair: producers will Always listen to consumers. So change should come from consumers. It is here where education comes in to instill values in people that are rooted within local community and are in harmony with local conditions. Will this always provide the best business case? It depends how you define a successful businesscase. Responsible entrepreneurship and good citizenship go hand in hand and is hopefully also followed by good governance. growth and transformation Next week I will be in Ethiopia where I will hopefully get more details on the new Growth and Transformation Plans of the Ethiopian Government. From hear-say it seems that the focus will be on improved business development and industrialization, aiming at better processing adding value locally, focussing on product quality, a major driver being quality education. Small improvements in the chain, like good storage facilities allowing farmers to regulate their supply to the market a bit better will already make significant improvements to rural livelihoods. Proper soil management is another area where a lot can be gained. Entrepreneurs supporting both were present at the fair and farmers were clearly happy with solutions provided, especially those that catered for small and medium farmers. It is good to see that ambitious policy goals in the area of sustainable development can be linked to business cases that will provide the jobs required, feeding the population in the meantime. I sincerely hope that the outcomes realized bring hope to people through improved livelihoods in terms of lodging, labour and land. Education may well be used to put all labour and land to work and attract further investment to make it profitable. Just returning from a two week visit to South-Africa and Ethiopia I cannot help but reflect on the recently published UN report on discrimination in The Netherlands. For the Dutch the report has already been ridiculed due to its connection to a folk tradition of having St. Nicolas and his many black Peters visiting the Netherlands with their boat from Spain handing out presents to children who have behaved that year. A great way to keep your children in check as punishment (up to being deported to Spain) is connected to bad behavior. All your deeds are listed in the Big Book. And when you have done well you might receive sweets and presents given to you by the always jolly Black Peters. For years this festival was treasured and the spell was only broken at an age your elder brother or sister no longer could keep the secret that everything is fake. Or possibly your faith in Saint Nicolas will be shipwrecked the moment you recognize your dad or another acquaintance to be wearing the Saints cloths and a long white beard attached. Or the moment you discover black peter having a voice that sounds as nice as your mother’s. However, with the Caribbean being part of the Kingdom and few of its youth having been yelled at as Black Peters, once ‘mature’ their wrath is certain. Everybody will know that they were hurt. As a consequence this innocent children festival now has been jeopardized by adult interference on account of a UN convention against all forms of racial, religious and ethnic discrimination. Should the objections to the festival be taken that serious as they have now by those arguing against it? Does the festival cause people to look down on others or encourage children to discriminate? The few exceptions left alone I would argue the festival even is a celebration of diversity and makes children not to fear people who look different but possibly also expect good things of them. One thing is for sure the festival as much equalizes men and women as well as adults and children while celebrating the party together and making fun of each other through poems that go along with the presents. Often the mums and dads are not exempted from being challenged on their good and bad behavior by their grown-ups. In analyzing this particular case I realized, nothing has changed with the festival, neither has discrimination increased as a result thereof. However, the context in which it is celebrated has changed dramatically. The world is overwhelmed by discrimination of all sorts and the rights of minority groups are trampled. The quest in the Netherlands to blame ‘Saint Nicolas and Black Peter’ is just a reflection of a global struggle where the voice of minorities is gradually silenced. Hence demonstrations of the right to be different (whether it is by taking part in a gay pride or not or by wearing religious symbols in public offices) are increasing as the pressure is mounting to conform to the majority and suppress individuality. A reduction in opportunities for human development as well as employment possibilities causes an increase in nationalism (own people first) and a drive to expel anything that is different or is not part of the familiar. I witnessed this in South-Africa where Ghanaian teachers no longer wish to serve at South-African schools as cases of xenophobia were amplified to start a national campaign against xenophobia while simultaneously many legal and illegal immigrants were harassed to prove their contribution to society. I witnessed this in Ethiopia where human development has fallen victim to political considerations. I witness this at home where refugees are framed by right-wing politicians as people who only aim at our resources, notwithstanding the fact that we have done the same for ages. Boarding the plane going home I was happy to learn from Sundays newspaper that a Dutch women Daphne Schippers won the 200 m at Beijing’s World Championships Athletics. While contemplating her great achievement and feeling a proud Dutchman, watching her successful run over and over again, I just wondered myself if it equaled my concern about the Somali Olympic runner Samia Yusuf Omar who probably lost her life at the Mediterranean this same week. What was to be expected from Addis Ababa and how was Addis prepared and will it be finalized in New York? A two-year UN process and a high-level gathering on Financing for Development made way for Addis to deliver what it needed to deliver: the means to deliver on the global goals as the sustainable development goals have been renamed. How come development fell off the table and effectively has been reduced from 0.7% of GDP to 0.2% of GDP for Least Development Countries? Climate Climate is the big thing. Hence quite a number of paragraphs of the outcome document in Addis made reference to interventions to combat climate change or deal with the impacts thereof. But instead of turning to their citizens to accomplish this, governments are turning towards corporates in resolving the worlds problems, mistakenly replacing consumer power by governing power. Civil society was not so satisfied and SID raised a number of concerns on their website. Hence the new 'social compact' became a global compact between governments and big corporates, already in the making for a while through the global compact. Is it realistic to expect companies to take the lead in sustainability when their clients don't care? New so called blended finance initiatives (like Convergence) should help raise 100 billion for implementation of the SDGs. If governments are the accountholders of the common public goods, should they not motivate their citizens to adhere to collective norms and values that provide space for all? The reality is that governments are not demanding, because citizens are not demanding. State Hence, if states are not doing it: Why leave it to them? And if they have not been mandated by their citizens to do so, why blame them for not doing it? The real transition that is taking place has not been detected in the process leading to the Addis Ababa Action Agenda which is still a state-driven agenda, due to its focus on domestic resource mobilization through improved taxation. What to do with social movements, with citizens that no longer use their democratic rights as there is no confidence that their leaders will come up with solutions. Instead, people sort it out themselves. They make individual decisions in relation to their energy supply, social care and economic activities, with less and less regard of regulatory frameworks. Streams of migrants expose their government's disability to take care of its citizens and guarantee peace and stability. Social contract People disconnect from the current institutions and create their own mechanisms to stay informed about opportunities as they present themselves to them and take individual decisions. Rather than investing in taxation systems governments should make an effort to reconnect to their citizens and bring their solutions into the political process. This new type of governance should be characterized by facilitation rather than administration. Instead states encourage each other to grow stronger and tax their citizens in order to deliver on global goals. Addis has been about the 0.5 rather than the 0.2 out of the 0.7. It has caused a major shift in thinking. While talks about taxation may be relevant at some stage the order has been reversed. Taxation systems find their legitimacy within a secure social contract, not the other way around. Convergence New York harbors the promise of a sustainable development pathway. The two year process finally arriving at the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, now renamed Global Goals, was marked by a cumbersome process of hearings of civil society groupings. However, mostly attended by New York based international civil society agencies with an ECOSOC consultative status. Would this guarantee inclusion of local perspectives? Then, when it comes to finance, a whole different process with different actors was organized. Actors that were simultaneously dealing with the aftermath of a global economic crisis and possibly in the process of preventing another one. In this boiling atmosphere, what was to be expected? Reasonably well functioning states, all members of the OECD, have taken the initiative to support the less fortunate states to cover the gaps in public financing through improved taxation systems. A few nations are even willing to revisit some unhealthy aspects of the global tax regime that have favored their economies over others. However to what outcome? 0.5 of the 0.7 has been 'freed' from the need to spend them on 'development' and ideally will be resourced locally rather than serve as an expression of international solidarity. It can be used to become climate smart, energy aware or digitally savvy. But why should this be financed from the 0.7% of GDP that was meant for the poorest of the poor? Is 99.3% not enough to cover for that? The G77 had reasons to ask for common but differentiated responsibilities in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda which is not theirs yet. Divergent The number of goals and even bigger number of indicators still bear the signature of the previous century. A century inspired by the Enlightment, having left the era of principles, embracing the era of knowledge and unlimited possibilities. However, despite the Enlightment a recent report of the International Council of Science (ICSU) and the International Social Science Council (ISSC) concludes that only 17% of the 169 targets underpinning the goals is weak or non-essential while half of them require additional work to meet scientific standards. Will this guarantee convergence towards a sustainable pathway? Today we are facing the facts: neither resources nor possibilities are unlimited. Unsustainable pathways have been chosen and it is hard to be divergent and challenge the system. These pathways have taken their toll on this planet which made a few people extremely rich and left the majority and the planet in ruins. It is time to be divergent and make individual choices that benefit people and planet. Following the critical mass theory, enough of these individual actions will make for positive global change. Rather than leaving it to governments to spend only 0.2% of their GDP on the Least Developed Countries I can at least make sure that from my income a certain percentage is spend in Least Developed Countries. Who knows, this may evolve into the Airbnb or Uber of the official development aid and will turn into the power engine for change that the world needs so badly. Any humanitarian aid and development agency that stays true to its mission can be your partner. The last few weeks were marked by a large number of conferences in the Netherlands and globally leading up to the Financing for Development conference later this month in Addis Ababa. In The Netherlands the No More Food to Waste conference of the Ministry of Economic Affairs took center stage this time, preceded by a meeting of the Post Harvest Network at the same Ministry and followed by the Food First conference organized by the Rabobank Foundation. Finally the International Tax Conference was held with a good presence from the Ministry of Finance and folk from all four angles of the Dutch Diamond (government offices, knowledge industries, civil society organizations and the corporate world), discussing Domestic Resource Mobilization (DMR) as well as tax avoidance and tax evasion. The series started of with the Raising the Game debate in De Balie in Amsterdam, a cheerful meet-up between the Minister of Foreign Affairs and her senior staff and a good number of civil society organizations on financing the post-2015 agenda. Policy coherence All in all it yielded a good number of high quality meals (of which no food went to waste!) as well as a reasonable overview of the current state of affairs with regard to achieving policy coherence within the Dutch government. The Minister of Aid and Trade (Lilianne Ploumen) was tasked with coaching her colleagues in the cabinet to a more coherent policy agenda that would combine notions of international solidarity with trade relations and comparitive advantage. Inter-Agency Task Forces What helped her in the process was the fact that also at the UN some policy coherence objectives were set at the start of this century resulting in the One UN approach initiated at the time by Koffi Annan. I still remember how he visited the Indian UN facilities introducing this new policy. In my years in Ethiopia I witnessed the first baby-steps in implementation. Today there are a good number of Inter-Agency Coordination Groups taking on issues that are multidimensional in their complexity and therefore require different parties to work together on getting to solutions. To name a few: the Zero Hunger Challenge in 2012 aiming at building sustainable food systems that could provide adequate nutritious food to all people all year round while supporting smallholder and family farmers. Also worth mentioning is the Sustainable Production and Consumption issue that keeps coming up. A recent UNEP note on the issue pointed to food loss and waste as the most striking evidence of the dysfunction of our production and consumption patterns. The Post Harvest Network represents a good attempt to bring together business, science and government around the issue of post-harvest losses. Wageningen University is obviously much involved in sustaining the momentum for this network as global concerns arise around the figures that surround this issue. The presenters were immediately challenged by Prof. Ruerd Ruben of Wageningen who stated that the numbers that usually feature have never been verified and would deserve some fine research as so many people use the figures in advocacy around food losses linked to the food security agenda. Next Monday I was to see the same people again at the No More Food to Waste conference, bringing together a vast network of ministers, secretaries of states, ambassadors and their technical staff concerned with food and agriculture. The message was loud and clear: The Dutch have a lot of expertise in this field and innovative entrepreneurs were allowed taking the stage, presenting their solution to the existence of surpluses with initiatives like SURplus and Kromkommer. During one of the breaks I had a conversation with one of the ambassadors who wanted to raise a question, but felt not in a position to do this as a diplomat. It was about the purposeful destruction of fresh produce to increase market price. It just demonstrated how diplomats are constraint to speak their mind. It then requires civil society organizations or academia to table the issues. Development Financing Next Monday it was Rabobank's turn to share their take on development financing through their FoodFirst conference on the Future of Farming and Food Security in Africa attended by no one less than H.M. Queen Maxima and many of my former students at Van Hall Larenstein as well as students from Twente University who played a pivotal role inspiring both panelists and audience with their daring questions and firm opinions. It showed once again how the Netherlands Fellowship Program payed off in terms of having this critical crowd attending our universities in the Netherlands, ensuring our teachers stay up-to-date with situations all over the world. This conference capitalized the presence of the international classroom in the Netherlands. The end of my preparations for Addis Ababa was a few days ago at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs where Minister Ploumen hosted a conference entitled "Pay your Taxes where you Add Value" co-organized by Groningen University, Tilburg University and VBDO. Also here I was happy to see a few international scholars doing their PhD in the Netherlands featuring at the panel discussions, presenting the day-to-day realities on taxation systems in countries like Rwanda, Vietnam and Brazil. Ploumen's speech at the start of the day made it very clear what the purpose was of paying attention to taxation systems. If for one minute you may think this is about good governance, forget it. Direct quote: "To finance their share of the SDGs, developing countries will have to increase the amount of tax they collect(..)". In other words, developing countries should effectively engage in domestic resource mobilization (frequently featuring during the day) and they need effective taxation systems to do so. As this statement would immediately back-fire on many developed countries as they all have negotiated special tax exemption arrangement for their companies investing abroad, Ploumen was quick to mention that 23 countries were offered new terms and conditions for the bilateral tax arrangements that would somehow deal with this reality. So far 10 countries have accepted the offer and started a process of renegotiating their tax provisions, turning the Netherlands as a first mover of the international donor community. Nevertheless Ploumen should be applauded for her courage and her efforts to get the Dutch Ministry of Finance deliver on her agenda, taking care of all the negotiations, finding the OECD at her side. Side-events However, what will be the effect of all this next week in Addis Ababa? Just have a look at the programme and list of side-meetings and you may have a feel of where things are going. The Dutch are involved in three side meetings. One co-organized with the Mexican co-chairs of the Global Partnership on Effective Development Cooperation on engaging philanthropy. One together with IFAD, Ireland and Rwanda on Investing in Rural People for Inclusive and Sustainable Transformation. And a third one building on the international tax conference in the Netherlands focussing on innovative financing and domestic resource mobilization linked to Water and Sanitation for all. It seems a lot of focus is on what is called 'innovative' financing, which basically means to have others pay as well. When reviewing the complete list of side-events three of them I would like to highlight. The PeopleToPeople session on Investing in Quality of Higher Educationa and Skills. This Ethiopian initiative points to one of the areas where I think most peace dividend is being achieved: people connecting to people cross-boundary. Experiencing different cultures, learning to accept differences and cherishing a variety of skills and experiences within newly developed networks. I hope Addis will give this sympathetic initiative the impetus it deserves. The second session that triggered me is the one lead by Bangladesh on the relevance of regional platforms, bridging the missing middle between international discourse and local realities. The third one that would get my special interest is the one on the role of the social and solidarity economy as a way to finance the SDGs co-organized by France, Colombia and Ecuador linked to the Mont Blanc Meetings and moderated by the UN Task Force on Social and Solidarity Economy (TFSSE). The SSE taskforce is another off-spring of the One-UN approach fostering inter-agency collaboration. According to their own website SSE holds considerable promise for addressing the economic, social and environmental integrated approaches of sustainable development. Quality Education Tomorrow I am hoping to follow the proceedings of the Oslo Summit on Education for Development (online this time #edusummitoslo) already pointing to the huge funding gap in education. While the whole world is mobilizing domestic resources for development financing, education has fallen off the table of policy makers. Hope their voices will be echoed in Addis. Because talking about policy coherence amidst all inter-agency task forces, education outcomes remain top-priority for most developing countries as the unfinished agenda. You may wonder: What will all these meetings deliver? What are they about? What do they resemble? For me these conferences offered an opportunity to liaison with many decision makers in thematic areas relevant to the Dutch. It is much easier to get to talk to a Minister outside his/her home country at an international conference than trying to make an appointment at home. Also increasingly representatives of corporates are joining these events, though reluctantly. After all: why should they share successful business models? Conferences also help in identifying areas of convergence or even bring them about. However the test of the pudding is in the eating. Hence I think after Addis I am done with conferencing for this year, despite upcoming sustainable development goals and climate negotiations. After all, development happens, in obscure corners of the planet hardly making it to any policy table and education may trigger it. The Education Summit in Oslo today will explore deliverables in four areas: This week was a memorable week for African Economies that took a firm step towards integration of their economies with the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA). Though some criticism refers to it as a small baby step, the relative short process of negotiations between the three major sub-regional groupings (SADC, COMESA and EAC) reflects a good amount of political will. The involvement of sub-regional entities may have been a distinct feature that has helped considerably. Certainly when comparing to the attempt of western economies to connect across the Atlantic in the negotiations on a new Transatlantic Trade Investment Partnership (TTIP). This process saw quite some hick-ups over the last week, facing some fierce opposition in European Parliament linked to differences in environmental standards. What made African economies, that seem so diverse, to relatively easily achieve agreement while Western countries failed to do the same? The answer lies partly in the other theme that was tabled during the 25th AU Summit that is being held in South-Africa this week. African women are increasingly demanding recognition for their role in society. They are often also the economic engines of households and therefore important cornerstones of society. And also in institutions like the African Development Bank and other important actors in the area they are maintaining important positions. They seem to have less trouble allowing some of the male leadership at the Heads of State level to claim some victories as long as they can set the agenda's. This certainly has happened this year with the theme of the summit: YEAR OF WOMEN EMPOWERMENT AND DEVELOPMENT TOWARDS AFRICA’S AGENDA 2063 The theme shows two things: Women empowerment is high on the agenda and the time horizon chosen shows attention to long-term planning and impact, beyond many of the current leaders' life span. Another reason for the difference between the pace in Africa and slow pace in Europe may be found in the absence of strong institutions at state level in most African nations. State leaders are therefore less constrained by what their citizen want. Most of the institutions that are functioning at state level are relatively young and have not necessarily resulted from endogene processes of establishing common norms or solidifying patterns of behaviour. Hence having these states decide together on new transnational institutions (that have more of a free trade than of a common market feature at present) will have much less bearing on national decision-making processes. It will inform them though and from that point of view deserve serious attention. Nevertheless, whatever the male dominated summit will discuss today on free trade, terms of presidents to remain in office, peace and security and migration (possibly behind closed doors), women will be important drivers of change, not to be neglected. Listen to what Africa women want... At tomorrows second strategy discussion of EP-Nuffic, Capacity Building takes centre stage. In preparation to the event. I would like to share my thoughs on this topic, after two months of intensive engagement with EP-Nuffic networks in the Netherlands and abroad. Having to deliver in the coming two years on Innovation in Capacity Building. What capacities are we talking about and who is building? The invite on the website suggests that it is mainly about EP-Nuffic's capacities as people are invited to contribute to articulate EP-Nuffic's ambitions. From the remainder of the invite you will learn that it is also very much about capacities of educational institutions and people attending them as has been the core business of EP-Nuffic for over 40 years. The draft strategic agenda that is published on the same page reveals that the aim is to bring international and cross-cultural competencies to pupils and students aged 4-24. When it comes to EP-Nuffics capacity building so far was mainly aiming at higher education institutions in developing countries (like in the NICHE programme). And objective of the NFP program has been to reduce shortage of skilled workers in partner countries. How does this link to this new mission of EP-Nuffic to internationalise education in the Netherlands? In answer to that question I only have to consider my own career development, starting in Egypt as 'expert' on irrigation and drainage and later on continuing with FAO as 'Associate Professional Officer' for Agricultural Research and Development. I was selected on the basis of my qualifications and lack of experience. That combination typifies many so called 'professionals' who leave universities confronting their 'Dutch education and upbringing' with the world. The result? Should I say a trail of failures, lack of intercultural sensitivity (that you can only develop in contact with the other), overoptimism about own capacities, neglect of valuable local capacities, and you name it. I think it is part and parcel of living and working abroad. I am still thankful to the Dutch government at the time for allowing me to fail, learn and improve. Supporting young professionals to take steps abroad build their capacity rather than anything else. In fact I should thank my counterparts for allowing me to engage with their challenges and develop my professional skills along. I just returned from Ethiopia where I saw young ambitious development professionals showing similar signals of frustration alongside more seasoned well-networked experts. I would be very much in favour of offering similar opportunities in Europe for talented professionals from Africa. At the same time industries are internationalising at a dazzling speed. This means that options of working cross-culturally develop around the corner. Entrepreneurs are taking the same steep learning curve I did. Bringing these networks together makes perfect sense to me. At the same time, capacity gaps identified by the Dutch businesses are different from those development workers would identify. Rather than lack of highly qualified staff, the entrepreneurs lack sufficiently skilled labour and basically have to provide hands-on vocational training for which some additional support would be welcomed. And bringing their families along, they are in high demand of sufficient quality basic education for their children and started a private school for them. Some teacher training for their employed Ethiopian teaching staff, to make them more versatile with the Dutch educational culture would also be welcomed. |
About meMy name is Reinier van Hoffen. U®ReadingClick here for a summary.
Also find the text of a lecture Dr. Achterhuis held at the 2012 Bilderberg conference. Archives
August 2022
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