CyprusAid, the Development Cooperation Service of the Republic of Cyprus, is marking its fourth anniversary and looking forward to an active overseas aid programme in approved projects worth EUR 4.4 mln.
CyprusAid is the coordinating body through which Cyprus implements its Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) programme. It is managed by a team headed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and includes the Minister of Finance and the Permanent Secretary of the Planning Bureau. This team is responsible for the setting up of targets on the basis of international obligations, EU policy recommendations and national priorities, while the Planning Bureau is charged with policy preparation, administrative and implementation functions.
“The policy mechanism is one that retains a high degree of centralisation in the decision making process, while at the same time allows for a more decentralised approach in the aid delivery arrangements,” Dr. Andreas Moleskis, the Permanent Secretary of the Planning Bureau told the Financial Mirror.
Cyprus ODA programme
Cyprus’ ODA is directed to a small number of countries where it finances the implementation of more comprehensive schemes of assistance and to a larger group of countries where Cypriot aid is in the form of technical assistance.
Currently, the two groups of countries receiving ODA from Cyprus are as follows:
Project countries: Autonomous Palestinian Territories, Egypt, Lebanon, Lesotho, Mali and Yemen.
Technical assistance countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Gambia, Georgia, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Pakistan, Sudan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
The total ODA amount provided by CyprusAid to third countries since 2005 reached EUR 58.7 mln, said Dr, Moleskis, adding that the amount provided through project implementation in third countries is EUR 1.69 mln (EUR 791,122 plus 898,200 for the years 2006 and 2007 only, since the project implementation method by CyprusAid was initiated in 2006).
Technical assistance
Each year, CyprusAid provides a number of short- and long-term scholarships in various tertiary academic institutions in Cyprus, with a total value of around EUR 700,000. The areas of studies offered are tourism, management and forestry, areas in which Cyprus has developed expertise.
During the decade 1994-2004 Cyprus offered, within the framework of this scheme, a total of 1,155 scholarships.
As of the academic year 2007-2008 the scholarship scheme has been enhanced through the introduction of scholarships to students interested in working towards the degree of Master in Business Administration (MBA) or Master in Public Sector Management (MPSM). Other forms of technical assistance provided include the offer of equipment, as well as the transfer of expertise through the provision of specialised intergovernmental consulting services.
Development aid
CyprusAid cooperates closely with EuropeAid and other European aid agencies and it has committed a total of EUR 4.4 mln in development aid for the period 2008-2012.
Each year the budget for ODA (the total amount to be provided by national funds from Cyprus as ODA) is allocated based on the targets set by the EU Council in 2005 (quantifying the “Barcelona Commitments” of 2002) and Cyprus’ multi-annual expenditure schedule prepared with a view to reaching these targets.
“For the new member states like Cyprus, these targets are 0.17% ODA/GNI by 2010 and 0.33% ODA/GNI by 2015. Cyprus has already met the intermediary target of 0.17% ODA/GNI in 2007, with an ODA/GNI level of 0.169%,” said Dr. Moleskis.
“The sector to which the project is addressed should be one of the priority sectors of CyprusAid, preferably health or education, although we have engaged in projects dealing with other sectors like the environment and infrastructure.”
The project must ensure satisfactory visibility for CyprusAid’s contribution. Smaller identifiable projects or project components which could be solely financed by CyprusAid are preferred.
“An important part of our policy for project selection is the fact that we do not engage in “budget support” operations, which essentially means providing a sum of cash directly to the recipient country’s authorities, because we do not possess the capacity to perform audits and to monitor the usage of these amounts as per the EU development cooperation best practices guidelines,” explained Dr. Moleskis.
He added that Cyprus’ selection of projects is limited exclusively to the “project supply” by other agencies in each project country, since Cyprus currently does not have a project implementation mechanism and therefore has to rely on what others have designed and/or are currently implementing. This approach has many advantages and contributes greatly to the improvement of “aid effectiveness”, which is favoured both by the EU and OECD.
Cooperation
CyprusAid usually acts in cooperation with other aid agencies, as this is encouraged by the EU so as to avoid duplication of effort, waste of resources, excess concentration of aid in some countries while leaving others with less aid than necessary and more effective distribution of resources according to those countries’ needs.
Traditional donors that have been operating in the field of ODA for decades strive to adjust to these guidelines or encouragements by the EU towards improving “aid effectiveness” and find themselves in great difficulty because they need to make significant changes and shift away from specific ways of operation employed for years, while emerging donors like the new EU member states can start simply by adopting these guidelines. However, most emerging donors from the EU have assigned greater importance and resources for the creation of their own implementation mechanisms instead of maximising efficiency by cooperating with more efficient and experienced agencies or donors.
Cyprus, on the other hand, has not set up an implementation mechanism from the initial stage of operation in the field, because that would take out a large chunk of the available resources, which could otherwise be used for providing development or other assistance, said Dr. Moleskis.
“In fact, Cyprus is used as a favourable example within the EU development cooperation circles and has received favourable comments on its “modus operandi” and the use of the “delegated cooperation” method for providing development assistance,” he concluded.
