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In 2014 the OECD carried out work to take stock of OECD countries' achievements in building resilience to major natural and man-made disasters. The report suggested that albeit significant achievements were made through effective risk prevention and mitigation management, past disasters have revealed persistent vulnerabilities and gaps in risk prevention management across OECD. Based on the findings of this OECD-wide report a cross-country comparative study was undertaken in Austria, France and Switzerland to test the recommendations put forward in specific country contexts. This report summarises the individual and comparative country case study findings. It highlights that the risk prevention policy mix has shifted in favor of organisational measures such as hazard informed land use planning or strengthening the enforcement of risk sensitive regulations. In the meantime, the great need for maintaining the large stock of structural protection measures has been overlooked and vulnerability might increase because of that. The report highlights the need for better policy evaluation to increase the effectiveness of risk prevention measures in the future. The report highlights practices where countries succeeded to make risk prevention a responsibility of the whole of government and the whole of society, by analysing supporting governance and financing arrangements.

Under President Enrique Peña Nieto’s leadership, Mexico has put together the most ambitious reform package of any OECD country in recent times, forged the political consensus necessary to approve it through the unprecedented Pacto por México, promoted these and other reforms in Congress and has started implementing them. The battery of reforms has addressed challenges in policy areas that had been waiting for deep changes for decades, including education, labour, tax, health, telecommunication, and energy and justice, among many others. Mexico still faces important challenges which is why it is crucial for Mexico to continue its reform agenda. It is imperative to strengthen some of the recent reforms, and to keep updating and promoting them to ensure their effective implementation. The OECD stands ready to further accompany Mexico on this path.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by world leaders at the United Nations on 25 September 2015, sets out an ambitious action plan to improve the lives of people everywhere. On 14 February 2017, the Polish government adopted its Strategy for Responsible Development, which sets out over 700 actions to increase the income of Polish citizens and strengthen social, economic, environmental and territorial cohesion within the country. With its Strategy for Responsible Development, Poland has taken an important first step towards tackling all these issues. But achieving the SDGs will be a long journey with many hurdles, during which Poland will regularly have to adapt its strategies, actions plans and policy measures and refresh the commitment of all stakeholders. Exchanging experiences with other countries throughout the process on what works and what doesn’t can help the country successfully navigate this journey.

This report applies the PAFER to Mexico’s Energy Regulatory Commission and assesses its functions, practices and behaviour. It focuses on internal governance, including structures and processes for decision making, managing financial resources, attracting and retaining talent, managing data and assessing performance. The review identifies a number of challenges and opportunities for improvement, and is a companion to reviews of the internal governance of two other Mexican energy regulators, the Agency for Safety, Energy and Environment and the National Hydrocarbons Commission, and the review of the external governance of the country’s energy sector, Driving Peformance of Mexico’s Energy Regulators.

This report applies the PAFER to Mexico’s Agency for Safety, Energy and Environment and assesses its functions, practices and behaviour. It focuses on internal governance, including structures and processes for decision making, managing financial resources, attracting and retaining talent, managing data and assessing performance. The review identifies a number of challenges and opportunities for improvement, and is a companion to reviews of the internal governance of two other Mexican energy regulators, the National Hydrocarbons Commission and the Energy Regulatory Commission, and the review of the external governance of the country’s energy sector, Driving Performance of Mexico’s Energy Regulators. 

This report applies the PAFER to Mexico’s National Hydrocarbons Commission and assesses its functions, practices and behaviour. It focuses on internal governance, including structures and processes for decision making, managing financial resources, attracting and retaining talent, managing data and assessing performance. The review identifies a number of challenges and opportunities for improvement, and is a companion to reviews of the internal governance of two other Mexican energy regulators, the Agency for Safety, Energy and Environment and the Energy Regulatory Commission, and the review of the external governance of the country’s energy sector, Driving Peformance of Mexico’s Energy Regulators.

This report assesses the state of Armenia’s sanitation services, which are in poor shape, and proposes ways forward for reforming the sector by: ensuring equitable access by all and identifying solutions that work for the poorest and most remote communities; generating economies of scale and scope, and reducing both investment and operational costs for the efficient delivery of sanitation services; and moving towards sustainable cost recovery for the sanitation sector, by identifying how much funding can be mobilised from within the sector and how much external transfers are required. The state of Armenia’s sanitation services are inadequate, with 51% of the population in rural areas using unimproved facilities, causing direct damage to the environment and exposing inhabitants to health risks, and better access but degraded sewerage-system infrastructure in urban areas, posing health hazards due to potential cross-contamination between sewage and drinking water. According to preliminary estimates, EUR 2.6 billion of investments will be required to meet Armenia’s sanitation needs, with approximately EUR 1 billion needing to be spent in the next 7 to 10 years. Given the country’s current economic situation, this investment will have to be spread over time and targeted to avoid further deterioration of infrastructure and increase of the financing gap.