Rural regions in Colombia have untapped potential to boost wealth and well-being in the country. Despite remarkable economic growth over the last two decades, Colombia’s development policy needs to increase its focus on rurality, as regional inequalities remain high by OECD standards and structural challenges still prevent greater development in rural places.

Three billion people live in rural areas in developing countries. Conditions for them are worse than for their urban counterparts when measured by almost any development indicator, from extreme poverty, to child mortality and access to electricity and sanitation.

When it comes to high-tech innovations, the United States leads the path amongst OECD economies. However, in the context of the national record-breaking activities in high tech innovation, there lies distinct and growing geographical disparities. This report dives into strategies for better understanding innovation that occurs in rural places, and places outside major metropolitan areas, often going beyond science and technology.

Cities are not only home to around half of the global population but also major centers of economic activity and innovation. Yet, so far there has been no consensus of what a city really is. Substantial differences in the way cities, metropolitan, urban, and rural areas are defined across countries hinder robust international comparisons and an accurate monitoring of SDGs. The report Cities in the World: A New Perspective on Urbanisation addresses this void and provides new insights on urbanisation by applying for the first time two new definitions of human settlements to the entire globe: the Degree of Urbanisation and the Functional Urban Area.

This OECD National Urban Policy Review of Colombia provides a comprehensive assessment of the country’s national urban policy ‘the System of Cities’ and of different sectoral policies that affect urban life: transport, housing, land use, and digitalisation. Colombia has entered the 2020s facing five intertwined crises: the COVID-19 pandemic, rising levels of poverty and inequality, a wave of mass international migration, the peace process consolidation, and the climate emergency.

A team of examiners from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) reviews Portugal's education system in a three-part report. Part One begins with the consequences of the 1974 revolution, Portugal's economic problems, its impending attachment to the European Economic Community, and rising public expectations about education. It continues with criticism of the Ministry of Education, which is overstaffed and has duplicate functions. The examiners propose reduction of branches and suggest the establishment of a national education advisory council and closer relations with other government agencies. A high priority for the compulsory school-level education (four primary and two preparatory grades) is improvement of standards in rural areas. Accepting the future extension of compulsory schooling from 6 to 9 years, the examiners counsel step-by-step reform of the school structure and curriculum. Education of 16-to-19 year olds is a problematic issue since upper-secondary schools are not providing adequate vocational courses. The examiners feel a solution is for Portugal to adopt a comprehensive education and training policy for that age group implemented jointly by the Ministries of Education and Labor. Part Two of the report includes a record of the review meeting between the OECD examiners and the Minister of Education and his delegates and addresses five areas of concern. The third part is a summary of the Ministry of Education's Backgroud Report of the education system in Portugal. (MD)