Country: Netherlands, Austria, Albania, Ethiopia, Denmark, Finland and Ireland
Period: 2004-2010
Client: Various government agencies
Staff involved: Albert de Groot, Ferry Philipsen, Arthur ten Have, Martin van der Linde, Christian Hiddink and Laura Thissen

The two-day Introduction Course on Public Finance Management for staff of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs is given 1-3 times per year. The course deals with topics like the main objectives of PFM, the budget cycle and institutions of budget management, Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), internal and external audit, PFM diagnostic tools such as PER, CFAA and PEFA, and a comparison of Francophone and Anglophone PFM systems. The training is highly interactive and includes PowerPoint presentations, country examples, group discussion and assignments in sub-groups based on the PFM situation in different countries (e.g. case studies, role plays, flip dialogue, mindmapping etc.). As a result, the participants become more familiar with relevant PFM topics and are better able to participate in a policy dialogue and use the PFM tools.