Tag Archives: best practices

IFC publishes Good Practice Note on Improving Animal Welfare

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On December 31, 2014, the IFC published its latest Good Practice Note on Animal Welfare, a revision of the 2006 Good Practice Note on Animal Welfare. Input was provided by, amongst others, the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, Atradius Dutch State Business – Export Credit Agency, and the Office of the Netherlands Executive Director.animal welfare note

This Good Practice Note contributes to IFC’s continued commitment to supporting clients in a responsible and forward-looking approach to traditional livestock production (dairy, beef, broiler chickens, layer chickens, pigs, and ducks) and to aquaculture in intensive and extensive systems to, among other things, help producers access and maintain entry to high quality and value market segments. Continue reading →

Towards Universal Health Coverage – Blog by Onno Ruhl & Somil Nagpal

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Blog by Onno Ruhl, Dutch national and World Bank Country Director in India, and Somil Nagpal, Senior Health Specialist. This blog was published on December 16, 2014 on the World Bank website.

Scaling up public health investments alone will not suffice. It will be equally critical to improve accountability.

On Friday, 12 December, for the first time the world celebrated universal health coverage day. On this day two years ago, the United Nations unanimously endorsed a resolution urging governments to ensure that all people can access healthcare without financial hardship.

Until now, most people in India have dug deep into their pockets to pay doctors, pharmacies and diagnostic centres. Paying in this manner—or out-of-pocket spending, as it is called—has been the norm for a long time in India but this is not how most of the world pays for healthcare. In most other countries, including some less developed ones, out-of-pocket spending is far less common than we think. It is far more likely that people pay their medical expenses in some organized manner, such as through tax-financed healthcare or some form of health insurance.

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Cheap technology to tackle corruption – Blog by Tony Verheijen

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Blog by Tony Verheijen, Dutch national who is currently World Bank Country Director in Serbia, and previously Sector Manager of the Public Sector and Governance department in South Asia. This blog was published on December 15, 2014 on the World Bank website.

“Greetings! Sir, we purchased a property worth 11,000 Euros. We paid a tax for the purchase of 800 Euros and paid a bribe of 400 Euros for property registration”.

Citizens from the Pakistan Province (state) of Punjab – population of over 100 million citizens – send numerous SMS messages similar to this to Shahbaz Sharif, Chief Minister of Punjab, on a daily basis. Messages are then processed and consolidated feed-back on government services is posted on a public dashboard for everyone to see. But, more importantly, they provide Punjab’s administration (and the Chief Minister himself) with real time data about the delivery, quality, and efficiency of various public services. The key is, of course, that Sharif and his government follow up on the information they gather: fixing service delivery problems where they arise, rewarding bureaucrats for the good work and/or punish them for the lousy one.

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Procurement Review Consultations

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Tuesday, November 18, the World Bank Procurement Team visited the Netherlands to discuss the progress being made with the Procurement Review. Now in its last stages, the procurement review seeks to update the procurement policy of the World Bank, which applies to countries who borrow resources from the World Bank. This was the third time the team visited the Netherlands, and the new policy will be presented for approval to the Board of Directors in January 2015. This was the last time both the Netherlands public and private sector were able to provide input. Continue reading →

Do’s and Dont’s

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1. Make use of the services provided by the Dutch government: World Bank liaisons

2. Elevator pitch (different from Sales Pitch, which is a don’t!)

3. Schedule a follow up (in person, by phone or by e-mail)do

4. Gain knowledge on project procedures and guidelines documents/cycles

5. Research speaker(s): the World Bank is a multicultural environment.

6. Identify specific interests, purpose and deliverables for your visit

7. Ask questions

 

1. Make a sales pitch / sell products

2. Expect contracts and/or donations on the spotdont

3. Be general about intentions and interests

4. Expect quick wins; working with the World Bank takes patience and endurance

5. Cancel meetings last minute

6. Come to the meeting without knowledge of the World Bank (and its structure)

7. Distribute handouts (send an email with attachment afterwards instead)

 

If you have any questions or need advice to prepare for your meeting(s) please contact the World Bank Liaison officers at the Netherlands embassy here