Background	Project Duration
Grant Size	Deadline
Own Contribution	Application Forms
Funding Priorities	Application & Procedures
Grantmaking Criteria	Languages
Guidelines	Tips

The Spanish Agency for International Cooperation (AECID) is an autonomous organisation assigned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation through the State Department for International Cooperation (SECI). As an organisation that controls Spanish development cooperation policy, the AECID is responsible for designing, executing and organizing development cooperation projects and programmes, either directly, using its own resources, or in collaboration with other national and international bodies and non-governmental organisations.

AECID operates two financial instruments to promote collaboration between NGOs and Spanish development cooperation: “Agreements" and "Projects".

Only information on the total amount budgeted for each instrument is available for:

Agreements (2010)
Maximum €5 million per year (in four annual payments) – total €20 million per NGO

Projects
2010: €100.000.000
2011: €150.000.000
2012: €120.000.000
2013: €105.000.000

In any of the instruments, (Projects or Agreements) funded NGOs are expected to provide co-financing of 20% of the total budget.

According to the Law for International Development Cooperation, Spanish policy for international development cooperation will focus on the following sector priorities:

• Basic social services (health, sanitation, education, food security, human resources)
• Provision, improvement or widening of equipment and infrastructures.
• Development of the productive base and strengthening of the private sector. 
• Protection and respect of human rights, equal opportunities, women’s participation and integration, and defence of vulnerable population groups (such as minors, paying special attention to the eradication of all forms of exploitation, child labour, refugees, displaced populations, indigenous groups and minorities) 
• Strengthening of democratic structures and of the civil society. Strengthening institutions, particularly those closest to the citizens.  
• Protection and improvement of the environment, rational conservation and renewable use, as well as sustainable biodiversity
• Culture, focusing on the defence of aspects related to cultural identity and to free access to equipments and cultural services for all sectors of the population. 
• Development of science and research, and its application to development projects

Guidelines can be found here.

NGOs that are not registered (and certified by AECID) cannot apply to Project or Agreement funding directly. However they can receive funding through strategic partnerships with Spanish NGOs working in the country and meeting all requirements.

Spanish and foreign citizens can apply for these grants and aid, as well as legal entities, and public or private national or foreign entities that comply with the following requirements:

• Individuals: they must be legally of age. 
• Legal entities: they must be legally constituted in Spain.

In both cases: 

• They must not conduct profit making activities
• They must have sufficient means and be sufficiently capable of carrying out the activities in question, and must ensure that they comply with the objectives established for the activities
• Where applicable, they must be up-to-date with Spanish tax and Social Security payments
• Aim at fostering participation and funding of NGOs and other organisations in developing countries; a certain percentage of the budgeted aid will be reserved for the proposals coming from recipient countries, if these comply with the above requirements. This percentage will be determined in each call for proposal individually depending on the total available budget. 

Funding is available for all countries, but countries in Spain’s category A, B or C are prioritised.

 

Manual de Justificación de ayudas y subvenciones de  AECID (2003)

Information on projects and agreements

Projects
Minimum 12 months, max 24. Projects can be extended to one half of the approved period.

Agreements
Minimum of two years and a maximum of four years. Agreements can be extended by two additional years.

Projects:
Call for proposals: opened annually and published in the first few months of the year. The deadline for 2010 was on April 7th.
Agreements
Grants were recently conceded (March 2010). The next call for proposals will be in 2012.

To access the application forms, NGOs need to register with AECID. To register, visit this link:
www.aecid.es/web/es/ongd/registro/inscripcion/

Once registered, AECID provides each NGO with a username and password to access the application forms. In addition to the completed form, applications must include the following documents:
•    Either a deed or legal document of constitution, or statutes, in which the regulations affecting the entity’s activity and non profit making ethos are stated and, where necessary, the certificate of inscription in the corresponding official register.
•    Tax identification card, where necessary.
•    Proof that there are no outstanding tax or Social Security payments.
•    Proof of IAE (Spanish tax on commercial/professional activity) payment or proof of exemption, where applicable.
•    Declaration before a notary or other valid authority that sections 2 and 3 of article 13 of the 38/2003 General Grant Law, dated 17 November, do not apply to the person or entity applying for the grant.

Applications must be addressed to the State Department for International Cooperation and must be submitted to the Register of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation. Where the application is delivered to a place other than the Ministerial Department, notification must be sent by fax to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation.

Narrative report

Financial report

Updates can be found here.

Spanish

The ‘Joint Assessment of the National Health System’ is an evaluation tool created by the technical team of the International Health Partnership, of which Spain is signatory. AECID recommends the use of this approach as a theoretical and operational framework for work in the health sector whenever possible to define work to be supported by the NGO intervention.

To ensure that applications meet AECID’s criteria, AECID encourages NGOs to contact AECID Offices on the field (Oficina Técnica de Cooperación) in the very early stages of the identification process in order to ensure that the programme design is aligned and harmonized with the local priorities and with other stakeholders’ interventions.

When it comes to justification of the project, ensure that there exists an accurate analysis of the time, resources and budget needed to perform the project. When the costs related to monitoring are high, an external evaluation is highly recommended.

Coordinadora de ONGD España, the Spanish NGO platform, can also be contacted for more general information on development cooperation and on accredited NGOs.  

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¹ Information on this tool and related documents can be found on the IHP website: http://www.internationalhealthpartnership.net/en/about/j_1253621551

² Contact information can be found in the NGO Platform Contact Information section of this Guide.

http://www.internationalhealthpartnership.net/en/about/j_1253621551