Italian Agency for Development Cooperation

AICS - the Italian Agency for Cooperation and Development - is one of the main innovations established by the Italian law on international cooperation (Law no. 125/2014). The Agency began operating in January 2016, with the aim of aligning Italy with its main European and global partners in the development effort. Its basic model reflects the one used in the main European countries, and it must respond to the demand for more professional and innovative forms of cooperation, involving the methodological flexibility necessary in an ever-changing scenario.

The Agency's headquarters are in Rome. AICS maintains another base in Florence and 20 offices around the world to assess local needs, implement development initiatives, monitor results and build partnerships in the field. According to the law, the Agency's mission is to “carry out technical and operational activities related to the examination, development, financing, management and control of cooperation initiatives”.

Strategies

For Italy, international cooperation is not only "an integral and qualifying aspect of Italy's foreign policy" (article 1 of Law 125), but also its fulfillment ... an almost new and more modern form of foreign politic. The ultimate objectives of development cooperation are set out in the first articles of the law: eradication of poverty, reduction of inequalities, promotion of human rights and gender equality, support for liberal democracy and establishment of the state by right. In other words, development is not an “economic program” but a program of human advancement.
Key themes for the future are a more equitable distribution of wealth, guaranteed access to quality health care and education, and environmental sustainability. These are the challenges that cooperation must tackle, demonstrating a new "economy of human promotion", designed to involve public and private actors, uniting culture, education, employment, rights, business and the community. Moreover, international cooperation should provide concrete responses to men, women and children fleeing war and poverty.

Law 125 aims to modernize Italian cooperation activities through the construction of four pillars: first, the "coherence of government policies" guaranteed by the Interministerial Committee for Cooperation and Development (CICS), which constitutes the institutional framework for interaction between the different ministries, Interior, Environment, Economic Development, Culture... - in relation to international cooperation and development policies. The aim is to increase their coherence and coherence in terms of objectives and results achieved. The second pillar is the institution of a Deputy Minister for Cooperation, with broad and specific authority over cooperation matters, who can attend cabinet meetings dealing with cooperation matters. The third pillar is the definition of an "Italian cooperation system" which oversees the involvement and interaction of new players in the associative sector (civil society organisations, foundations, charities, ethical finance, etc.) and the private sector. Finally, the fourth pillar is directly integrated into the AICS, the new Italian Agency for Cooperation and Development, which - under the aegis of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation - has an extended mandate, an autonomous legal status , a budget and an organization. These terms are designed to enable the Agency to serve as a hub connecting national and local institutions, as well as not-for-profit and for-profit organizations.