External Financial Assistance Research Articles

Sustainable Evaluation of E-Commerce Companies in Vietnam: A Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Framework Based on MCDM

This study aims to effectively support decision-makers in evaluating leading e-commerce companies in Vietnam from a sustainability perspective. In addition, this study evaluates and analyzes criteria that affect the performance of e-commerce companies in Vietnam to find the best practices for e-commerce implementation of managers. In this way, companies can save costs and increase marketing and promotion efficiency, helping to reach more customers. In doing so, an integrated framework based on MCDM is proposed for the first time in e-commerce industry assessment. In the first stage, the fuzzy decision making trial and evaluation Laboratory method is applied to determine the weights of 9 criteria based on collected data. This study lists prominent quantitative evaluation criteria, taking into account the sustainability aspect. In the second phase, ranking the top 12 e-commerce companies in Vietnam according to their performance based on these nine criteria was done by applying the neutrosophic fuzzy axiomatic design method. According to an analysis of the data, the external financial assistance coefficient (12.7%) is the most crucial factor determining how competitive international e-commerce businesses are. The results of this study can help underperforming companies make strategic decisions to improve their performance. Integrating these two techniques provides a new method for evaluating global trading companies that have hitherto remained unaddressed in the trading industry and, therefore, leave a gap that needs to be investigated.

The Socio-Economic Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Syrian Refugees in Turkey

Building upon empirical research, this study examines the socio-economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on Syrian refugees in Turkey by analyzing its implications on employment, livelihood opportunities, and social cohesion. More specifically, it focuses on the experiences of Syrian refugees to examine the ways in which they exert their agency to cope with the structural constraints when faced with ‘multiple crises’ in host countries, intersecting with the dynamics of a ‘normalized refugee crisis’. Our findings from fieldwork conducted in the top six refugee-hosting cities reveal that loss of jobs, limited access to decent work, increased dependency on external financial assistance, and social exclusion have been some of the most acute effects of the pandemic on refugees. Meanwhile, the perceived effects that refugees have on the host community’s welfare trigger problems that impede social cohesion. All in all, the study intends to highlight the far-reaching effects of the pandemic beyond its direct health implications by addressing the structural vulnerability of refugees and the importance of providing an enabling environment for socio-economic self-reliance.

Asymmetric information issues in micro-business financing of Baitul Maal wa Tamwil

Purpose – Despite its potential advantages, poverty interferes with economic progress in developing countries, obstructing small and medium-sized businesses from obtaining external financial assistance via Islamic microfinance. This study explores the problems related to asymmetric information in the context of funding microbusinesses in Baitul Maal wa Tamwil (BMT), with the goal of improving our understanding of the risks associated with financing in Islamic microfinance institutions, namely BMTs.Methodology – This research utilized a qualitative approach and content analysis to study BMTs in Indonesia, involving academics, practitioners, and voluntary participants. The sample size was adequate for achieving data saturation.Finding – This study demonstrates that there might be asymmetric information during the execution of contracts, leading to deviant behavior by BMT management and partners. The study additionally identified the risk characteristics present in Islamic MFIs, emphasizing the necessity for implementing novel lending mechanisms, such as group lending and individual collateralized loans. Implication – This study underscores the importance of resolving the substantial administrative overheads associated with these institutions. It is advisable to utilize additional research methods such as interviews, observations, and documentation to augment the depth of the research and engage a varied array of individuals for a comprehensive collection of information.Originality – Studies of Islamic microfinance in Indonesia have examined its performance, obstacles, and experience. However, empirical data on agency problems such as moral hazard and asymmetric knowledge are lacking. For optimal BMT operating efficiency and Shariah compliance, it is essential to comprehend these challenges.

Does the government finance its own spending by taxing the population or relying on newly created funds from the central bank?

In reality, a government funds its own expenditure mainly by taxation, borrowings, and fees and charges. Additional sources of government revenue include seigniorage, natural resource revenues, and foreign aid and grants. The specific mix of revenue sources and their relative importance varies from one government to another based on factors such as the country’s economic structure, tax policies, natural resources, and external financial assistance. Suppose a government ends taxing and funds its own expenditure purely by borrowings. In that case, it may lead to an inefficient market, a turbulent economy, social and economic inequality, and reduced social productivity and welfare.

Research on the Impact of Sources of Government Expenditure on Social Economy

In reality, a government funds its own expenditure mainly by taxation, borrowings, and fees and charges. Additional sources of government revenue include seigniorage, natural resource revenues, and foreign aid and grants. The specific mix of revenue sources and their relative importance varies from one government to another based on factors such as the country’s economic structure, tax policies, natural resources, and external financial assistance. Suppose a government ends taxing and funds its own expenditure purely by borrowings. In that case, it may lead to an inefficient market, a turbulent economy, social and economic inequality, and reduced social productivity and welfare.

Управління фінансуванням державного бюджету в аспекті співпраці України з МВФ

Introduction. During the war, the tasks of implementing new approaches to managing operations involving the attraction and use of resources within the framework of state budget financing arose. At the same time, the risks of maintaining financial stability and debt sustainability intensified. The resolution of these issues became the subject of cooperation between the state administration bodies of Ukraine and the IMF. Problem Statement. The gaps between the growing expenses of the state budget and their revenue coverage have increased. The result was an increase in the burden on the financing of the state budget, which required making significant changes to the sources of attracting funds and the mechanisms for their implementation. Purpose. Conducting an analysis of changes in the management of the state budget financing of Ukraine during the war in the aspect of Ukraine's cooperation with the IMF. Methods. An analysis of state budget financing during the war and overcoming its consequences was carried out. The main tasks, sources and mechanisms of state budget financing are revealed. The problems of resource attraction from the domestic financial market, as well as financing from external sources, are highlighted. Results. At the initial stage of the war, budget expenditures were significantly increased and changes were made to their structure. At the same time, deficit indicators increased, and its coverage was provided by budget financing operations. Due to the high risks of increasing the non-debt resource (on the basis of privatization and active operations), there arose a need of increasing state borrowing. During the use of internal resources, monetary financing was allowed, which had a negative impact on the dynamics of macroeconomic indicators. External debt obligations are provided on preferential terms and have a long-term nature. The use of such financing made it possible to ensure macroeconomic and financial stability in Ukraine, but was accompanied by an increase in public debt indicators. It is noted that the allocation of domestic state borrowing needs to be reviewed, and external financial assistance is subject to changes in the direction of rationalization and replacement by internal financing. Conclusions. Measures developed within the framework of cooperation between Ukraine and the IMF allow to ensure budgetary capacity and debt sustainability. In order to strengthen them, it is proposed to increase the volume of non-debt resources for financing the budget, to replace monetary financing with non-state sources of its provision, to adopt programs for the gradual restoration of fiscal rules, as well as access to international capital markets, to make changes to the attraction of financial assistance (gradual replacement of it by other sources), adjusting the strategic principles of public debt management, taking into account the effects of the war and the needs of post-war recovery.

Міжнародний досвід повоєнної відбудови житлового фонду та вирішення житлових проблем ВПО

The article analyses the international experience of solving the housing problems of forcibly displaced persons during the post-war recovery of the economy and socio-humanitarian space. The author characterises the role of the state in developing strategies, determining priorities, consolidating efforts, and institutionally ensuring the process of restoring living space, rebuilding housing and social infrastructure, as well as ensuring control over the use of funds, residential premises, and structures, the use of technologies and standards of construction and reconstruction. National priorities have been determined in the organisation of measures to provide housing for victims of hostilities and forced migrants, prioritisation of reconstruction, and new construction tasks. The necessity of accumulation and optimal use of internal resources, as well as the expediency of attracting foreign investments and the use of external financial assistance for the reconstruction of living space, industrial and social infrastructure with observance of systematicity and compliance with the trends of structural, technological and social development, are argued. The paper clarifies the mechanisms of interaction between the government and private investors, stimulation of entrepreneurial activity, encouragement and support of citizens in their actions regarding the independent restoration of housing, and arrangement of adjacent territories. It was found that the excessive bureaucratisation of assessing the damage caused and drawing up an application for assistance significantly slowed down the process of restoring damaged housing, which caused additional budget costs for providing IDPs with temporary housing. Ignoring the historical and cultural differences of the inhabitants of different territories and the accumulation of socially vulnerable and marginal elements led to an increase in social tension at the local level, and people affected by the war formed a permanent dependence on state aid. The need to consider positive and negative foreign experiences in the state management of the post-war reconstruction of the country’s housing stock is substantiated.

Government Turnover and External Financial Assistance

Government Turnover and External Financial Assistance

Міжнародна фінансова підтримка організації освітнього процесу в умовах запровадження воєнного стану в Україні

The article examines the issue of financing the educational system in Ukraine during the active phase of the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war. The authors outline the general situation with the domestic educational system as a vital component of the socio-economic development considering Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified military aggression. The relevance of the research topic is driven by the necessity to meet the fundamental needs of the population, including the right to education, and thus the organization of the educational process for Ukrainian students under martial law in Ukraine. However, it is challenging without international financial support. The primary external sources and financial assistance instruments are analyzed by the cases of leading international financial organizations and foreign countries. The authors revealed that with the beginning of full-scale Russian aggression against Ukraine, several international partners have expressed willingness and have already taken the necessary steps to allocate funds to address pressing wartime problems, among which is the support of the continuity of education. The main regulatory and legislative obstacles that arise in providing financial support within Ukraine’s international cooperation framework are described. Our emphasis is on Ukraine’s European path to democratic development, as evidenced by the EU’s comprehensive financial support for the educational needs of Ukrainians (children and students, teachers and researchers) displaced abroad. The features of the support of the organization of the educational process in Ukraine by international partners in the context of different educational levels are analyzed. The paper offers some conclusions and recommendations for further steps to attract international financial assistance to develop Ukrainian education.

Удосконалення державного фінансового контролю: праксеологічний дискурс

The full-fledged functioning of the economy of Ukraine in wartime is one of the most challenging tasks of the state government, which cannot be fulfilled without external financial assistance. During the six months of the war, Ukraine attracted more than UAH 800 billion to finance the state budget, more than half of which was loans and grants from foreign partners. Taking into account the need for further financial assistance and the society's request for effective use of the received funds, the issue of improving the effectiveness of state financial control in Ukraine is urgent. The purpose of the article is to determine the list and content of the principles of state financial control as a praxeological component of ensuring the effectiveness of the functioning of state financial control bodies. In practice, state financial control does not perform a preventive function because the number of detected financial violations tends to increase. This indicates the absence of requirements for strict compliance with financial discipline and sometimes irresponsibility for the facts of its violation. The insufficient development of the praxeological component of state financial control (in particular, the lack of an agreed position among scientists regarding the composition and content of its principles, the absence or declarative regulation of their content in normative legal acts that determine the principles of state financial control, as well as regulate the functionality of its main subjects) negatively affects the effectiveness of state financial control. To create prerequisites for increasing the effectiveness of state financial control, principles of a system-forming nature, as well as principles of organization and implementation of control measures, are proposed. The temporary centralization is proposed as an additional measure to improve state financial control. It will consist of creating a state control body that will perform a coordinating function in matters of planning control measures.

Ринки сільгосппродукції: стан та перспективи виробництва курячих яєць в Україні та світі

Abstract. Introduction. The ever-growing world population and low price of chicken eggs have provided reasons for the increased popularity and growing market of this product in Ukraine and worldwide. Nevertheless, the ability to generate profit mainly depends on minimizing feed expenses together with having long-term selling contracts with a stable price level in hard currency. Purpose. Main goal of the article is to analyze the situation with chicken egg production in Ukraine and worldwide, outline the main problems effecting this sphere, structural characteristics of the market and develop proposals for improvement. Results. Despite multiple challenges in the sphere (necessity to change supplier of hatching-eggs, being highly dependent on the price of feed and electric power) Ukrainian producers managed to increase production almost two times bigger in the last 20 years and became one of world’s largest exporters. The production structure has not changed much with 44% being still produced by subsistence farmers. As for the legal henneries – almost 41% of them are micro size with less than 1 mln hryvnia sales a year. Another 22% are small with 1-10 mln hryvnia sales a year, 26% - middle-size and 11% in number make large companies with more than 100 mln hryvnia sales in one year. However, they sell 89% of the value of all egg products, which is more than 12 bln hryvna in total. That is how 19 biggest henneries actually control all market. Profitability of the egg production has been rather unstable lately with reported cost-benefit ratio of -23.5% in 2019. The price has also been unstable with fluctuations between -36% to +53% of the mean value during the year which makes business very unpredictable. Conclusions. The conducted research revealed positive trends in chicken egg production resulting from high demand for cheap food. However unreliable Ukrainian market stimulates exportation which protects producers from price fluctuations and growth of production cost. This made Ukrainian producers 4th largest world exporter. Production in Ukraine is mainly concentrated by the 19 largest henneries. Small-scale producers strongly suffer from all negative effects and are unable to support themselves without external financial assistance.

West’s role in the development of Ukraine

The collapse of the USSR pushed Ukraine for pursuing a policy aimed at expanding cooperation with Western countries. Ukraine placed great emphasis on economic cooperation with the EU and United States, as well as financial assistance from Western countries and international financial organizations, primarily the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Such interest in collaborating with the IMF was driven by the needs of the Ukrainian economy to solve current social and economic problems, maintain the political stability for the elites in power. The increased focus of the Ukrainian side on external financial assistance related to the Ukraine failure to address economic challenges, appeared after the collapse of the USSR, and initiate a new foreign economic policy. The inefficiency of the economy was aggravated by clear-cut governmental policy deficiency. At the same time, Ukraine continued to open up the country to Western capital. This weakened Ukraine’s position on world markets, negatively affected its economic potential. Hence, Ukraine went in for cooperation with the IMF to gain financial assistance and tackle its economic problems. On the other hand, the IMF showed great attention to Ukraine, granting funds to Ukraine as a part of cooperation programs but setting economic conditions and political demands. The ongoing borrowing policy has led to Ukraine foreign debt increase, triggering the dependence of the Ukrainian authorities on the IMF. In recent years, under the new President of Ukraine V. Zelensky, Ukraine has proceeded with the policy of cooperation with the IMF.

Public broadcasting service under austerity: Cross-comparison between Portugal and Spain

Following the global financial crisis of 2007/2008, five European countries called for external financial assistance. Austerity policies were implemented, but the extent to which the bailout deal impacted the Portuguese and Spanish public service broadcasters has not been yet thoroughly investigated. Both born in dictatorial regimes, these public service broadcasters in democratic contexts followed different solutions for governance and funding. This article investigates the changes produced in the Portuguese and Spanish public media under the austerity era, analysing the policy measures implemented, as well as the economic and ratings performance of both public service broadcasters. The aim is to assess if external factors (such as external assistance) originated similar effects in both countries. Results show that, in spite of different funding and governance models adopted, both public services were heavily impacted in terms of revenues and ratings and that the austerity period provided the context to set up a neoliberal ideological point-of-view. Both public services lost legitimacy and their cultural and political role was undermined by a discussion that was grounded on economic factors alone.

Analysis of financial sustainability indicators of higher education institutions on foreign direct investment

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of financial sustainability indicators of higher education on foreign direct investment (FDI) using empirical evidence from 26 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. The basic criterion for determining the financial sustainability of higher education institutions included indicators of income generated by higher education institutions being greater than the operational costs. However, this requires financial sustainability, which depends on financial self-sufficiency without seeking external financial assistance. This situation is affected by investment attractiveness. Design/methodology/approach Three quantitative proxies were used in this study to explain the financial sustainability indicators in higher education institutions of OECD countries: financial expenditures proxy measured by current tertiary education expenditure (CE); efficiency proxy measured by university-life expectancy (ULE) and endogenous growth proxy measured by gross enrolment tertiary ratio (GETR) to show the effect on FDI. Also, this study used six control variables considered an important part of experimental design and refers to contributing factors that were eliminated to clarify the independent variable and a dependent variable nexus. The quantitative data was collected from World Development Indicators (WDI). This study applied a STATA version using panel data techniques for over 15 years from 2001 to 2015 and also used fixed effect (FE) and random effect (RE) estimations to address problems of heterogeneity. To mitigate the endogeneity problem, the generalized method of moments (GMM) was also used. Findings The results of this study were derived from the adoption of financial models applied in higher education institutions to test the financial sustainability indicators. Based on the RE and FE results, a one per cent increase in the current tertiary education expenditure caused about 0.19 and 0.18 per cent increase in FDI in the OECD economies. This positive and significant impact was higher when considering the problem of endogeneity by applying the GMM estimations. FDI grew by about 0.22 per cent when the CE increased by one percent. Meanwhile, there was a significant and negative relationship between FDI and the GETR variable for the FE results but this previous relationship was insignificant for RE estimations. The FDI in OECD economies decreased by about 0.0006 per cent when the GETR increased by 1 per cent. This negative effect became larger when applying the GMM estimations. Finally, the ULE results showed there was a positive and insignificant relationship between ULE and FDI for all estimators. Practical implications The management and analysis of the financial health indicators is necessary to evaluate educational activities but is not sufficient to achieve financial sustainability, which extends beyond the indicators of financial health to encompass factors such as student achievements; research and scientific output; community engagement; productive capacity; quality inputs; risk and infrastructure; and systems. Originality/value This study is considered one of the few existing studies examining the ways in which to achieve financial sustainability in higher education institutions using quantitative financial methods. Specifically, this study adopted Pecking order theory in its analysis of the financial sustainability indicators to clarify whether the financial sustainability indicators of higher education institutions lead to an improvement in the attractiveness of foreign investment in OECD countries in the long run. The findings contribute to the necessity of adopting internal financing sources in accordance with the Pecking Order theory to help achieve financial sustainability growth.

The impact of austerity measures on the public - private sector wage gap in Europe

Considering the year prior to the international and sovereign crises (2007) as a benchmark and studying all years until the crises receded (2013) in most of the 31 countries available in the European Union Survey of Income and Living Conditions (EU SILC), we examine the impact of public sector pay reforms on the public-private sector wage gap. We do so at the mean and along quantiles of the wage distributions, using decomposition methods to identify the explained and unexplained components of the gap. We code the pay reforms in the 31 countries into the categorical variables Freeze and Cut and consider their impact on quantile features of the wage gap using static and dynamic panel methods. Robust estimates suggest that public sector freezes and/or cuts had negative and statistically significant effects on the unexplained public-private sector gap, particularly evident at the median and the 90th quantile. At the 10th quantile, the impact of the measures was positive but statistically weaker. The 90th minus 10th quantile effects are negative, reflecting attempts by many countries to protect the low-paid, regardless of the initial public-private pay gap for this group. Countries which received external financial assistance had high pay gaps before the crises and displayed a variety of adjustments during the crises.

The Effects of External Financial Support on the Capacities of Educational Nonprofit Organizations

Official development assistance provides an immense flow of financial funding to educational nonprofit organizations (NPOs). This source of funding faces criticism because of the unintended indirect effects it has in lowering the relative level of local NPOs’ capacities. Our contribution addresses NPOs’ financial capacities in an OECD country that receives a vast inflow of EU funding; namely the Czech Republic. To answer the research question on what impact the external financial assistance has on capacities in NPOs, we applied propensity score matching to a sample consisting of 633 educational NPOs covering the years 2006–2013. EU-funded NPOs report higher levels of real revenues, but not real assets, than non-funded NPOs. The EU funding helps in the short-term to improve NPOs’ budgets, but not to increase assets.

Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC)

The regional strategy has helped stabilize the regional economic position thanks to large fiscal consolidation efforts, a tighter monetary policy, and external financial assistance. The external position improved, and external reserves picked up. However, the region remains dependent on oil revenues, with little progress in economic diversification, under-performing budget non-oil revenues and weaknesses in the financial sector. The policy assurances included in BEAC’s letter of December 2018 were implemented as planned and the CEMAC authorities reiterated their full commitment to the strategy and their readiness to implement additional corrective measures if needed. Progress was made towards new IMF-supported program in Congo and Equatorial Guinea.

ADMINISTRATIVE AND LEGAL PRINCIPLES OF ACTIVITIES OF THE CONTROLLING BODIES ON THE USE OF INTERNATIONAL TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FUNDS

Discussions have been ongoing throughout the year in the Ukrainian and European scientific environment regarding the presentation of the economic assistance package of the West for Ukraine, the so-called "Marshall Plan", presented by the Lithuanian Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius in autumn 2017. According to him, Ukraine will receive 5 billion euros in investments into the national economy annually. This amount of assistance, calculated by European experts, will boost the Ukrainian economy by 6-8% each year. [1] But, unfortunately, we, like most Ukrainian citizens, are skeptical about the possibility of such assistance coming to our country, and even more pessimistic are the forecasts about the possible positive effect of its use. There are many reasons for such skepticism. On the one hand, it is the Ukrainian and European bureaucracy, and on the other, there is no effective mechanism for receiving, distributing and controlling the use of international assistance by Ukrainian state bodies. Therefore, according to most domestic experts, until these problems in the use of international assistance in Ukraine are solved, it is unlikely to be able to implement the initiative of former Lithuanian Prime Minister Andris Kubilius. Even Kubilius himself has repeatedly stated that in order for this plan to become a reality, Kyiv must develop a clear list of priority projects prepared at a high technical level, for which financial resourceswould go. [2] The first step, according to European and Ukrainian experts, was to create a special agency in Ukraine, which would be engaged in the preparation of such projects. Considering that almost nothing has been done by the Ukrainian Government in this direction for almost a year, so the time to receive financial assistance under the Marshall Plan is delayed. However, the absence of an agency is only the tip of the iceberg, the biggest problem for Ukraine is the lack of a clear administrative and legal mechanism for attracting, distributing and, most importantly, effective control over the use of international assistance. It is the results of the study of this problem that we devoted our article to. Despite the globalization processes in the world, external financial assistance is gradually gaining in popularity and becoming an effective tool for improving the welfare of the population and the economic development of developing countries or pursuing democratic reforms, Ukraine is falling behind in a number of subjective factors. . Investigating the emergence of the Institute for External Donor Assistance, it can be noted that this process became widespread in the 1960s and at the beginning of the 21st century, after the adoption by 193 member states of the United Nations and at least 23 international organizations of the Declaration. of the UN Millennium, it received a new impetus and began to pass under the auspices of the Millennium Development Goals. They envisaged the cooperation of countries with international financial institutions for the transformation of their economy, the introduction of the latest innovative technologies, changes in economic, political and social nature and as a result of improving the life of the population and overcoming poverty. [3] In this article, we draw attention to the fact that in modern international economic relations, there are two approaches to donor assistance, which were formulated by certain historical processes taking place in the world economy. The first approach is called by scientists as “integrative”. It is based on the implementation of strict standards, which are translated into the language of specific requirements and measures, which in its turn are laid down in the plan calendar of reforms. At the present stage, this approach is applied in the countries which are candidates for EU membership. It is always successful because the assistance implemented in the enlargement countries provides a strategic framework for the transformation processes, while enlargement countries are required to adopt EU institutional standards and develop the necessary infrastructures. The second form of international assistance is more like charity and it does not contribute to the donors’ long-term responsibility for results. Assistance is provided to poor developing and emerging countries, but this assistance is never successful. Keywords: international technical assistance, international financial assistance, state control.

Nationwide Cancer Control Program in India: 3 Decades of Experience With Fundraising Report

Amount raised: In last decade INR 169,708,369 mobilized through sponsored cancer awareness programs. Background and context: With an eagle's eye our vision of eighties resulted in the incorporation of Cancer Aid Society on 8th of December 1987 at Lucknow. Founders of the Cancer Aid Society perceived the threats early and initiated the fight against cancer by developing a self-sustainable model without external financial assistance unfurling series of events internationally. As of now ours is a holistic model on cancer prevention integrated with NCDs, tobacco and palliative care demonstrating replicability within different communities and scalability across the worlds largest democracy having its own network of branches. Aim: Self-sustainable model prevention and control of tobacco, cancer integrated with other NCDs, palliative care and advocacy. Strategy/Tactics: Sponsored cancer awareness programs are organized free of cost in schools and colleges however we accept voluntary donations from the community if any. As schools have contact with the child and their family from kindergarten to senior secondary, they inculcate the spirit of humanitarianism and work for social amelioration improving the overall health of the citizens strengthening the fight against cancer. It covers the need of the current and future generations on cancer control. Program process: Keeping with the ages old adage “Prevention Is Better Than Cure” thousands of community awareness campaigns are organized in educational Institutions every year by mobilizing a million volunteers who generate awareness among twenty million people all over India on health, hygiene, tobacco abuse including passive smoking, carcinogens, balanced diet, regular exercise, obesity, clean drinking water, pollution of air, water and land etc. This plays an integral part in inculcating healthy lifestyle and keeping children away from tobacco at an age when they are vulnerable and tempted the most further grooming our future generation when they are most receptive and in the process of developing habits. They multiply awareness manifold improving the overall health of the community. Costs and returns: As the program follows an integrated and holistic approach on prevention and control of cancer and other NCDs virtually it lacks any administrative costs and offers 100% returns on investments. In last decade INR 144,968,969 spent in sponsored cancer awareness programs. What was learned: With our 30 years of experience of working at grass root community level all across India in spite of regional complexities in terms of multiple languages, cultures, castes, religions etc. ISO 9001 NGO accreditation has given us teeth since 2004 streamlining our functioning through documentation and continuous improvement program through reporting monitoring and feedback. As of now we are ready to share our experiences at international level.

No direct influence of EU on domestic consolidation and reform: two fiscal ‘hardliners’, Netherlands and Estonia

ABSTRACTIn the Netherlands and Estonia, the European Union (EU) did not exert direct influence on domestic fiscal consolidation. They managed to resolve their fiscal crises and balance their budgets without external financial assistance, thanks to strict fiscal discipline. Yet, domestic consolidations in both countries were to some extent influenced by the EU. The Netherlands was subject to excessive deficit procedure. Estonia was indirectly influenced because of its top priority to join the Eurozone. This paper begins with a conceptual look at EU influencing. Then, fiscal discipline and consolidation in the Netherlands and Estonia are explored, especially their similarities and differences.