Cyprus has evolved from being an aid recipient to an aid donor during the last decades. Its development co-operation policy is only two years old – 2006 being the first year of direct involvement – and, indeed, its development assistance mechanism has not been completely set up. While on the policy level, major structures are in place already, there is no implementing agency yet. The decision-making mechanism is centralised to a large extent, even though it allows for a more decentralised approach in the aid delivery arrangements.

The mechanism comprises a Co-ordination Body headed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and including the Ministry of Finance and the Permanent Secretary of the Planning Bureau. The Co-ordination Body defines development co-operation objectives (quantitative, territorial and thematic) on the basis of international obligations and national priorities. There is also a consultative body, headed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is comprised of representatives of the Ministries of Finance, Commerce, Industry and Tourism, Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment, Labour and Social Insurance, Education and Culture and the Planning Bureau, as well as representatives of civil society. The Planning Bureau holds the administrative and implementation functions for the decisions of the Co-ordination Body.

In 2004, Cyprus allocated € 4.2 million to Official Development Assistance (ODA), or 0.04% of its gross national income (GNI). In 2006, this amount is expected to have risen to a level of 0.09% of its GNI. Over the coming years, Cyprus intends to increase its efforts to fulfill its commitments made together with the other new EU Member States: to increase its ODA to a level of 0.17% of GNI by 2010 and 0.33% in 2015.

In November 2005, the Co-ordination Body approved the ‘Medium-Term Strategy Paper for Official Development Assistance for 2006-2010’. It defines ODA partner countries as Mali, Lesotho, Yemen, the Palestinian Authorities and Egypt, to which Lebanon has been added recently. For this purpose, € 1 million will be spent in each country over the three-year period 2006–2008. In 2006, an amount of approximately € 170,000 was earmarked in the government budget for each partner country. In addition, as Cyprus currently does not possess any mechanism for implementing development assistance, the Co-ordination Body has decided to provide assistance in co-operation with international organisations or other EU Member States that possess the necessary implementation mechanisms.
The strategy defines the following thematic areas as major priorities:

• Human capital and the services sector (health, HIV/AIDS, education, and tourism)
• Infrastructure (road and dam construction, sewage and irrigation systems, solar energy, health infrastructure)
• Agriculture and the environment (agricultural research, forestry, veterinary services, environmental protection, agricultural planning, etc.).

However, it is necessary to bear in mind that Cyprus does not have the capacity to implement projects on its own yet. Therefore, development co-operation activities have to be implemented in co-operation with other countries by silent partnership or delegated implementation). Thus, the final choice is affected by what projects Cyprus’s partners have in progress or in the pipeline, and whether the nature of the project permits Cypriot involvement.

The preferred bilateral instruments for Cyprus’s ODA delivery are delegated implementation through other countries’ aid delivery mechanisms (e.g. Irish Aid, DED German Development Service, Belgian Development Cooperation, etc.), and delivery of assistance through the implementation mechanisms of international organisations (e.g. WFP, IFAD, FAO etc.).

Currently Cyprus finances seven projects:

Egypt: US$ 1,000,000 has been allocated to Egypt for 2006–2010. The funds for the years 2006 and 2007 (US$ 400,000) will most likely be channelled to WFP’s ‘School Feeding Programme’.

Lesotho: € 170,000 was allocated to Lesotho for 2006 and € 181,000 for 2007. This delegated project  – construction of a school dormitory for girls – is implemented with Irish Aid.

Palestinian Occupied Territories: US$ 350,000 was allocated to the Palestinian Occupied Territories in 2006 in the form of a contribution to WFP’s ‘Protracted Relief Operation for Non-Refugee Palestinians’ project, mainly providing meals to vulnerable groups.

Mali: € 171,000 was allocated to Mali in 2006. It has been channelled to the project, ‘Sustainable Waste Management in the Town of Sikasso in the Republic of Mali’ in co-operation with the Belgian Development Co-operation. An additional € 340,000 has been committed for use in another project in 2007.

Yemen: € 171,000 was allocated to Yemen in 2006. Assistance is provided in co-operation with DED, the German Development Service. The intervention aims at improving emergency obstetric care in the Al-Mahweet Governorate in Yemen. An additional € 200,000 has been committed for use in another project in 2007.

Lebanon: US$ 300,000 was allocated to Lebanon for 2007. This amount will be spent on reconstruction and humanitarian assistance.

Multilateral aid is channelled through contributions to a large number of international organizations. In 2005, Cyprus voluntarily contributed US$ 1,532,401 to multilateral institutions. The top five recipients were – in decreasing order: the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation, the Facility for Euro-Mediterranean Investment and Partnership Trust Fund, the World Health Organization and the World Trade Organization. An effort is being undertaken, however, to streamline these contributions to a smaller number of organisations, focusing particularly on the UNDP, UNIDO, FAO and UNFPA.

Cyprus’s medium-term strategy mentions HIV/AIDS as an important part of its human capital and services sector thematic priority. So far, this has materialised in two ways:

• In 2004, Cyprus contributed US$ 1,500 to the UNFPA budget and US$ 6,000 to the UNIFEM budget.
• In 2006, Cyprus provided funding of € 171,000 for a project in Yemen aiming to improve emergency obstetric care in the Al-Mahweet Governorate through delegated implementation with DED, the German Development Service.

Currently, there is no legal framework for co-operation with NGOs. However, it is the will and interest of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to fully utilise NGOs’ expertise, knowledge and experience, and it aims to co-operate with them. Currently, efforts are in progress to set up an institutional and legal framework that will enable the government to fund NGOs.

Although there is no legal co-operation framework with NGOs, Cyprus already frequently works with NGOs on an ad hoc basis. This is possible as a part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs budget which funds micro-projects. Thus, NGOs can contact the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and submit proposals for micro-projects.

Contact

Petros Mavrikios
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus
Presidential Palace Avenue
1447 Nicosia
Cyprus
Tel: +357 22 401186
Fax: +357 22 661881
Email: pmavrikios@mfa.gov.cy

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Lambrianides, Emmanuela, Senior Co-ordination Officer, Planning Bureau, Department of Economics and Development Co-operation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus

Mavrikios, Petros, Attaché, Department of Economics and Development Co-operation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus