Browse by: "2022"

This document provides the current practices, challenges and strategies for assessing risk of manufactured nanomaterials in circumstances where data is limited, and there is a necessity for more research on specific risk assessment issues. As such, the document presents an overview of the chemical risk assessment paradigm and describes how various member countries have adapted existing regulatory frameworks to the assessment of nanomaterials. It also presents the state of science on nanomaterials risk assessment and highlights priorities for research toward specific risk assessment issues.

Early equity for disadvantaged children can be achieved through nurturing, high quality early learning environments. However, without deliberate action, disadvantaged children face a 12 month development gap compared to their more advantaged peers in key early learning areas such as emergent literacy. Data based on direct assessments from 7,000 children in England, Estonia and the United States show what it takes to achieve a level playing field for disadvantaged children. These actions include supporting parents to regularly read with their children, having back-and-forth conversations and providing access to developmentally appropriate books. Links between parents and their early childhood education and care (ECEC) centre are also positively linked to children’s early development, as well as the provision and quality of ECEC. The latter includes a holistic approach to ensure children’s social-emotional skills are fostered, such as curiosity and co-operation, and ensuring children have a level of autonomy over their activities.

Quality and reliable statistics are pivotal for evidence-based policymaking. The COVID-19 crisis has shed light on the importance of high-quality statistics to measure the impact of government initiatives and to design policies to support an inclusive and sustainable recovery. Strengthening statistical capacities is therefore central to Ukraine’s successful sustainable growth agenda. With this in mind, the Government of Ukraine introduced the Programme for the Development of State Statistics until 2023, which aims to provide objective, reliable and unbiased statistical information according to international best practices, including those of the OECD. With the financial support of Israel and Poland, the OECD conducted the project Improving Statistics Development in Ukraine 2021 which contributed to building the capacity of the State Statistics Service of Ukraine (SSSU) to collect relevant data and producing high-quality statistical information that can serve as a key input for policymaking. In the framework of this project, the OECD organised three capacity-building webinars, tailored to the needs of the SSSU and relevant line Ministries, sharing OECD know-how and drawing on the expertise of Statistics Poland and the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. This report synthetises the substance of these webinars and highlights key takeaways.

Lithuania’s population is ageing rapidly. The share of the population aged 65 years and over is expected to grow from 20% in 2019 to 32% in 2050 – faster than the EU average. A growing share of people who need help with their daily activities – so called long-term care. The governance of long-term care is fragmented between the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Social Security and Labour and the municipalities. This results in a lack of integration of services between social workers and nurses and inequalities in access as eligibility conditions differ. Older people still have unmet needs and face substantial costs. Lithuania has one of the lowest levels of long-term care workers in the EU with only 1 worker per 100 people aged 65 or above compared to the EU average of 4 workers per 100 in 2019. This report suggests avenues to adapt funding streams, improve the coordination and access to long-term care services and strengthen the workforce in the sector.

Economic and financial crimes are growing in numbers, complexity and reach, making them increasingly difficult to investigate and successfully prosecute. This report details efforts in Latvia to strengthen its criminal justice system against financial and economic crimes. It highlights the range of challenges common to numerous jurisdictions, and describes progress made in Latvia to address these challenges through interagency cooperation mechanisms. Finally, it provides recommendations for areas requiring further attention.

The consequences of climate change in developing countries are worsening fast: many ecosystems will shortly reach points of irreversible damage, and socio-economic costs will continue to rise. To alleviate the future impacts on populations and economies, policy makers are looking for the spaces where they can make the greatest difference. This report argues that intermediary cities in developing countries are such spaces. Indeed, in the context of fast population growth and urbanisation, these small and medium-sized cities silently play an essential role in the rapid transformation of human settlements, not least by supporting the massive flows of population, goods and services between rural and metropolitan areas. Most of those intermediary cities are still growing: now is therefore the time to influence their dynamics, and thereby the entire design of urbanisation in those regions, in ways that limit the exposure of urban dwellers to climate shocks and avoid carbon lock-in. To that end, based on fresh evidence and policy analysis on the challenges faced by these agglomerations in the context of climate change, the report makes the case for new development approaches to avoid the unsustainable paths followed by too many cities in the recent past.

This report reviews the progress made in implementing the 2014 OECD Recommendation International Co-operation on Competition Investigations and Proceedings

The 2022 edition of International Migration Outlook analyses recent developments in migration movements and the labour market inclusion of immigrants in OECD countries. It also monitors recent policy changes in migration governance and integration in OECD countries. This edition includes a special chapter on the policy responses by OECD countries to the large inflow of refugees from Ukraine as well as a series of three short chapters on international students analysing respectively recent trends, attraction and retention policies as well as the economic impact of international students. The Outlook also includes country notes and a detailed statistical annex.

This report showcases international regulatory co-operation (IRC) in the areas of competition law and chemical safety. These two studies – covering very different subjects – are rare examples of areas where complex legal and institutional frameworks have been created at the domestic and/or international level to ensure effective IRC. The competition case study focuses on international co-operation for law enforcement, surveying the range of tools and methods countries can use to address international antitrust concerns, as well as the challenges involved. The chemical safety case study reviews the OECD Environment, Health and Safety Programme and provides concrete evidence of the monetary and health benefits of its “mutual acceptance of data” system related to chemical safety. These case studies are evidence of both the importance and the complexity of frameworks that enable IRC to help solve common problems across jurisdictions.

Russia’s war against Ukraine has triggered unprecedented policy responses around the globe. These policy measures, as well as decisions by multinational companies, raise manifold implications for international investment policy, and capital and investment flows. This report provides an overview of the implications, both immediate and longer-term, in what remains a quickly evolving environment.

This document is an integral part of the OECD Anti-Corruption Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ACN) Work Programme 2023-2026. The document was approved at the 27th ACN Steering Group meeting on 17 November 2022.

The ACN Secretariat prepared this Guide as a reference document for monitoring teams, National Coordinators and other stakeholders involved in the 5th Round of Monitoring under the Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan (IAP). It supplements the Assessment Framework (monitoring methodology and performance indicators) to facilitate the interpretation and application of the benchmarks. The Guide does not set any mandatory requirements for the IAP 5th Round of Monitoring reviews beyond the benchmarks

Italy's National Action Plan for Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development (PCSD) brings together the institutional mechanisms, evaluation frameworks and coherence tools needed to integrate sustainable development into government policy making. This Action Plan shows how to streamline existing mechanisms to improve policy coherence across levels of government and to involve civil society more closely in policy formulation. It also suggests how to make the most of complementarities across existing data collection efforts. The Action Plan includes suggestions for better linking mandates across departments and levels of government to avoid overlap and make greater progress in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Finally, it provides targets and measurable processes for each action to help track progress.

Labor Migration in Asia: COVID-19 Impacts, Challenges, and Policy Responses analyzes labor migration trends in Asia and puts them in the context of economic and policy developments as well as the changes caused by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. It provides an overview of the labor migration trends to and from different Asian economies and looks at policy settings in major origin and destination economies of labor migrants. Chapter 1 reviews the recent regional trends, including evidence on the impact of the pandemic on flows and remittances. Chapter 2 looks at the available data on migrant job losses and COVID-19 infections, as well as policy responses to the pandemic in the key areas of access to health, occupational safety and health, housing, social protection, and the resumption of labor migration. Chapter 3 focuses on the return and reintegration challenges and policy responses in the wake of the pandemic. This report draws on the discussions that took place at the “11th ADBI-OECD-ILO Roundtable on Labor Migration: Impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic and Building Back Better,” held virtually in April 2021. The event, co-organized by the Asian Development Bank Institute, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and the International Labour Organization, brought together regional experts and policy makers. The report provides up-to-date comparative statistics on labor migration flows in, to, and from Asia. Two statistical annexes offer detailed economy fact sheets and coverage of intra-Asia and cross-regional migration flows.

The Western Balkan Six economies (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia) have advanced structural reforms to create new jobs, spur economic growth and move closer to European living standards. However, the slow pace of convergence and the sizeable development gap with other European countries have continued to encourage Western Balkan Six citizens to seek employment and educational opportunities outside the region. The emigration rate from the Western Balkan Six has increased by 10% over the past decade; today, about one-fifth of the Western Balkan Six population resides abroad. Continued high levels of emigration can pose severe developmental challenges. They can create labour market distortions and skill shortages, which may lead to fewer investments due to the potential investors not finding the right skills needed. However, the region’s large and growing diaspora can also provide opportunities for its future development. Beyond the substantial remittances they generate, emigrants’ skills and experience gained abroad can benefit the Western Balkan Six – if policies are in place to reap the full benefits, if migrants are returning, and if their integration into local labour markets and skill systems is being supported. Human capital and a skilled workforce that can satisfy the labour market’s skills needs and drive innovation are essential for increasing competitiveness, attracting investment, and navigating the region’s ecological and digital transition. They are also key pillars of an economy’s resilience and prosperity, which is particularly relevant in a changing international environment and the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.This report furnishes an analysis of the many aspects of Western Balkan Six emigration. It explores possibilities for maximising the potential that their large diasporas represent for development, as well as the socio-economic factors that incite people to look for better opportunities abroad. It looks at the region’s labour emigration patterns, investigates the root causes of those patterns as well as their potential consequences, and examines the Western Balkan Six economies’ current migration and diaspora policies. Based on its analysis, the report provides Western Balkan Six policy makers with a set of targeted recommendations they may wish to consider when designing future policies. Those could, in turn, result in the formation of even stronger ties between the WB6 economies and their diasporas.This report was produced by the OECD South East Europe Regional Programme and the OECD International Migration Division. It also benefitted from inputs from a wide range of migration policy stakeholders from each of the Western Balkan Six economies. This work has been co-funded by the Austrian Development Agency and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.

What challenges and opportunities does the green transition entail for Latin America and the Caribbean? This 15th edition of the Latin American Economic Outlook explores options for the region to recast its production models, transform its energy matrix and create better jobs in the process. It argues that, for this transition to be just, stronger social-protection systems and open dialogue must help build new, sustainable social contracts. In support of this ambitious agenda, the report presents an array of financing options, including green finance, and advocates for renewed international partnerships.

This brochure is published within the framework of the Scheme for the Application of International Standards for Fruit and Vegetables established by OECD in 1962. It comprises explanatory notes and illustrations to facilitate the uniform interpretation of the Leeks Standard. This brochure illustrates the standard text and demonstrates the quality parameters on high quality photographs. Thus, it is a valuable tool for the inspection authorities, professional bodies and traders interested in international trade of leeks.