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25 MAI 1999. - Belgian International Cooperation Act (1)

ALBERT II, King of the Belgians,
To all, present and to come, Hi.
The Chambers adopted and We sanction the following:
PART I^er. - General provisions
Article 1^er. This Act shall incorporate a business referred to in Article 78 of the Constitution.
Definitions
Art. 2. In this Act:
1° "Belgian international cooperation": the actions and contributions of the Belgian State with regard to direct, multilateral and indirect bilateral cooperation;
2° "Minister": the member of the government that has the Belgian International Cooperation in its powers;
3° "partner country": country considered as developing country by the Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development;
4° "other than governmental organizations": organizations that may be approved by the Minister and which may benefit from subsidies from the Belgian State for their activities in the field of development cooperation;
5° "direct bilateral cooperation": programmes or projects in a partner country, financed by the Belgian State, on the basis of a convention between the two countries;
6° "indirect bilateral cooperation": programmes or projects in a partner country, financed or co-financed by the Belgian State on the basis of a convention with a third party, which responds to the execution of the project or programme;
7° "multilateral cooperation": programmes or projects financed by the Belgian State and executed by an international organization and Belgian contributions to international organizations for their development programmes or projects;
8° "programme": a coherent set of short- or medium-term objectives, focused, directly or indirectly, on a structural and sustainable improvement in the position of groups of individuals and individuals from the poor social categories of partner countries;
9° "project": an initiative that can take the form of interventions, donations, financial aid or scholarships;
10° "sustainable development": development focused on meeting current needs, without jeopardizing the needs of future generations, which requires a process of change adapting the use of resources, the allocation of investments, the targeting of technological development and institutional structures to both current and future needs;
11° "partnership": active and participatory cooperation between partners, within the framework of development cooperation, with special attention to the development of local capacities, the decentralization of interventions at the level of target groups and the accountability of the partner country, including by the association in the process of development of public authorities, civil society and the private economic sector of the partner country;
12° "good governance": a method designed to optimize the management of institutional capacities, the decision-making process of public authorities and the management of public funds, in accordance with democracy, the rule of law, as well as human rights and fundamental freedoms;
13° "Belgian official development assistance": All the contributions of the various Belgian authorities, both federal and decentralized, in the area of development assistance, which are recognized by the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, according to its standards, as "public development assistance" (ODA).
PART II. - Objectives
Definition of objectives
Art. 3. Belgium ' s international cooperation is a priority for sustainable human development, to be achieved through the fight against poverty, on the basis of the partnership concept and in accordance with the criteria of relevance to development.
In this context, Belgian international cooperation contributes to the general objective of the development and consolidation of democracy and the rule of law, including the principle of good governance, as well as to the objective of respect for human dignity, human rights and fundamental freedoms, with special attention to the fight against any form of discrimination on social, ethnic, religious, philosophical or gender-based grounds.
Federal cooperation promotes synergy with municipal, provincial, regional, community and European co-operations in order to achieve the long-term amplifier effects of the assistance recipients.
To help achieve the goal of sustainable human development, Belgian international cooperation promotes socio-economic and socio-cultural development and the strengthening of the societal base of partner countries, as well as raising awareness of Belgian public opinion.
PART III. - Strategies
CHAPTER I^er. - Relevance and evaluation
Criteria of relevance
Art. 4. In order to contribute to sustainable human development, Belgium's international cooperation takes into account the relevance to development measured by the criteres set by the Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, which allow us to verify that actions take into account in a sufficient manner the following basic principles:
1° institutional and management capacity-building;
2° economic and social impact;
3° technical and financial sustainability,
4° effectiveness of the planned execution procedure;
5° attention to equality between men and women;
6° respect for protection or protection of the environment.
External evaluation
Art. 5. The King determines the necessary instruments to guarantee the external evaluation of Belgian international cooperation in relation to the objectives of Belgian international cooperation referred to in Article 3 and the criteria of relevance referred to in Article 4 as well as the Belgian public assistance in the development of the Belgian State other than that of Belgian international cooperation, which will also be evaluated in relation to the criteria of relevance referred to in Article 4.
The Minister shall transmit to the House of Representatives and the Senate an annual external assessment report before April 30 of the following year; this report will be accompanied by its comments thereon.
CHAPTER II. - Basic principles
Section I^er. - Direct bilateral cooperation
Sub-section I^re. - Geographical concentration
Art. 6. § 1^er. Belgian international cooperation focuses direct bilateral cooperation on a maximum of twenty-five countries or regional organizations of countries, provided that the programmes address all the member countries of these organizations, selected by Royal Decree deliberated in the Council of Ministers, as "Partner Countries of Direct Bilateral Cooperation" on the basis of the following criteria:
1st degree of poverty in the partner country measured on the basis of the level of socio-economic development, the human development indicator and the human poverty indicator;
2nd relevant and current experience of Belgian international cooperation in relation to the partner country;
3rd contribution of the partner country to its socio-economic development;
4° respect by the partner country of the principle of good governance;
5th existence of a crisis situation in the partner country for which the Belgian international cooperation can intervene internationally in the resolution of the conflict and the prevention of new acts of violence;
6° degree of regional integration of partner country within the framework of regional cooperation;
7° political in order to eliminate discrimination and policy of equal opportunity carried out by the authorities of the partner country.
§ 2. For each partner country of direct bilateral cooperation, a strategic note, whose procedure and modalities of development are set by the King, specifies the development strategy.
The strategic notes referred to in the preceding paragraph are forwarded with the advice of the Federal Council for Sustainable Development to the House of Representatives and the Senate, as determined by the King.
They are assessed and adapted at least every four years to the modified context of international cooperation, as defined by the King.
Sub-section Il. - Sectoral Concentration
Art. 7. § 1^er Belgian international cooperation focuses direct bilateral cooperation on the following five sectors:
1° basic health care, including reproductive health;
2° teaching and training;
3° agriculture and food security;
4° basic infrastructure;
5° conflict prevention and consolidation of society, including support for respect for human dignity, human rights and fundamental freedoms.
§ 2. For each sector, a strategic note whose development procedures and modalities are set by the King, specifies the development strategy.
The strategic notes referred to in the preceding paragraph are forwarded with the advice of the Federal Council for Sustainable Development to the House of Representatives and the Senate, as determined by the King.
They are assessed and adapted at least every four years to the modified context of international cooperation, as defined by the King.
Sub-section III. - Thematic concentration
Art. 8. § 1^er. Belgian international cooperation in the sectors referred to in Article 6 of this Act takes into account the following three cross-cutting themes:
1° the rebalancing of the rights and opportunities of women and men;
2° respect for the environment;
3° the social economy.
§ 2. For each of these cross-cutting themes, a strategic note, whose procedure and modalities of development are set by the King, specifies the development strategy.
The strategic notes referred to in the preceding paragraph are forwarded with the advice of the Federal Council for Sustainable Development to the House of Representatives and the Senate, as determined by the King.
They are assessed and adapted at least every four years to the modified context of international cooperation, in accordance with the terms of the King.
Section II. - Multilateral cooperation
Art. 9. Belgian international cooperation focuses multilateral cooperation on some 20 selected international organizations, in accordance with a procedure and modalities established by the King, as "international organizations partners of multilateral cooperation", which meet at least the following criteria:
1° the general objectives of the international organization must be consistent with those of the Belgian international cooperation referred to in Article 3;
2° the areas of activities of the international organization must coincide with one or more priority areas or themes of direct bilateral cooperation referred to in Articles 6 and 7;
3° the international organization must have a planned approach that emerges from development programmes allowing an assessment of the use of multilateral cooperation contributions, in accordance with the terms set by the King;
4° the contributions of multilateral cooperation must be consistent with the possible contribution to the international organization by other development cooperation actors to harmonize all the contributions of international cooperation and to maximize their impact in accordance with the criteria of relevance to the development referred to in Article 4.
Section III. - Indirect bilateral cooperation
Non-governmental organizations
Art. 10. Belgium ' s international cooperation focuses indirect bilateral cooperation on selected non-governmental organizations in accordance with a procedure and procedure established by the King, which meets at least the following criteria:
1° to be incorporated in accordance with the Act of 27 June 1921 granting civil personality to non-profit associations and public utility institutions or to be a social purpose corporation in accordance with the Act of 13 April 1996 amending the laws of commercial corporations, coordinated on 30 November 1935;
2° having as the main social object cooperation in development;
3° have a relevant and current experience in one or more domain(s) of activity(s) defined by the King and prove it by submitting activity reports on the operation of the last three years, and be prepared to submit to an evaluation of its operation in accordance with the procedure established by the King;
4° have a planned approach that must emerge from a multi-year programme, including a financial plan established in accordance with the terms and conditions established by the King
5 ° be autonomous in accordance with the modality established by the King;
6° be able to ensure the continuity of its operation in accordance with the conditions fixed by the King;
7° to have a majority of the members of the governing bodies that have Belgian nationality;
8° carry out activities in accordance with the objectives of Belgian international cooperation referred to in Article 3 and taking into account the criteria of relevance referred to in Article 4;
9° manage a transparent accounting.
Other partners
Art. 11. Belgian international cooperation is aimed at indirect bilateral cooperation with companies, groups, associations or institutions of public law, including through communities, regions, provinces and municipalities, or private other than the organizations referred to in Article 10, selected in a procedure and manner established by the King, as "indirect bilateral cooperation partners", which meet at least the following criteria:
1st have a planned approach that must emerge from a programme whose procedure and modalities of development are established by the King, allowing an assessment of the contributions of indirect bilateral cooperation, in accordance with the terms established by the King;
2° carry out activities consistent with the objectives of Belgian international cooperation referred to in Article 3 and taking into account the criteria of relevance to development referred to in Article 4.
Promulgation of this Act, order that it be coated with the seal of the State and published by the Belgian Monitor
Given in Brussels on 25 May 1999.
ALBERT
By the King:
The Prime Minister,
J.-L. DEHAENE
Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economy
and Telecommunications, in charge of Foreign Trade,
E. DI RUPO
Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Budget,
H. VAN ROMPUY
Minister of Foreign Affairs,
E. DERYCKE
Minister of Finance,
J.-J. VISEUR
The Secretary of State for Development Cooperation,
R. MOREELS
Seal of the state seal:
Minister of Justice,
T. VAN PARYS
____
Note
(1) See:
Documents of the House of Representatives:
1791-98/99:
No. 1. Bill.
Nos. 2 and 4. Amendments.
No. 5. Report.
No. 6. Text adopted by the Commission.
No. 7. Amendments.
No. 8. Text adopted in plenary and transmitted to the Senate.
Annales de la Chambre : 9 et 11 mars 1999.
Documents of the Senate:
1-1309-1998/1999:
No. 1. Project transmitted by the House of Representatives.
Nos. 2 and 4. Amendments.
No. 4. Report.
No. 5. Text adopted by the Commission.
Annales du Sénat : 29 et 30 avril 1999.