In November 2005, the new strategy for Portuguese development co-operation was published – ‘A strategic vision for Portuguese cooperation’. It updates the previous one approved in 1999, entitled ‘Portuguese cooperation on the threshold of the 21st century – Strategy Paper’, and outlines Portugal’s main objectives and guiding principles.

Its first objective is the development and economic integration of the countries with which Portugal has strong historic, linguistic and cultural ties linked to a shared colonial past. Those are the Portuguese-speaking countries of Africa (i.e. Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe [the PALOPs]) and Timor-Leste in South East Asia.

Second is the promotion of the Portuguese language in those countries, in particular through support to basic education and literacy. Third, Portugal wants to increase its capacity to influence the decision-making processes of world institutions. The strategy rests on the following five guiding principles

• commitment to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which constitute the framework within which Portuguese co-operation will operate;
• support to human security, in particular in fragile states or in countries in a post-conflict situation;
• support to education and training;
• sustainable economic and social development; and
• active involvement in international debates in support of the internationally agreed objectives.

The Portuguese government has associated itself with the European Union (EU)’s collective undertaking to attain the target of Official Development Assistance (ODA) representing 0.51% of gross national income (GNI) by 2010 and 0.7% by 2015. In 2005, Portugal committed € 324.73 million to development co-operation, which represented 0.21% of GNI. This was less than in 2004, when € 829.25 million was spent on ODA. This amount, however, was due to the rescheduling of Angola’s debt.  Excluding this debt operation, ODA in 2004 amounted to € 267.7 million, so ODA has remained constant, around 0.25% of GNI, in recent years.

Responsibility for Portugal’s foreign policy, including development co-operation, lies with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs which determines the strategic vision of Portuguese development co-operation. It has responsibility for the Portuguese Institute for Development Support (IPAD), the inter-ministerial commission for co-operation, and the co-ordination of multilateral co-operation with the United Nations (UN), the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries, the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) and FAO.

IPAD is responsible for co-ordinating Portugal’s highly decentralised aid programme which is spread over 15 different ministries plus universities, other public institutions and 308 municipal governments. It was created in 2003, by merging the former Institute for Portuguese Co-operation (IPC) and the Portuguese Agency for Development Support (APAD) which was in charge of private-sector operations. As the central planning, supervising and co-ordinating body for Portuguese development co-operation, IPAD promotes projects proposed by other public institutions, ensures relations with and co-finances non-government organisations (NGOs) and deals with scholarships managed by other public entities in addition to its own.

The Portuguese model relies on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for policy, co-ordination and management and on the line ministries for implementation. Although they have their own small budgets for development co-operation, most line ministries rely on IPAD’s funding for their activities, which can be re-allocated from one year to the next. The key ministries are the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education, the Ministry of Labour and Social Solidarity, and the Ministry of Education.

Portugal’s bilateral aid concentrates on a handful of very poor countries, with a high proportion of bilateral ODA going to sub-Saharan Africa. Of the top ten recipients of Portuguese bilateral aid in 2003-04, eight were Least Developed Countries (LDCs). Most partner countries are Portuguese speaking such as Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, São Tomé and Principe, and Timor-Leste. According to the new strategy on development co-operation, Portugal intends to support other countries with which it has historical ties – Indonesia, Morocco, Senegal and South Africa – albeit with modest amounts. Portuguese bilateral aid has been declining from 78% of total ODA in 2000 to 57% in 2005. Debt relief and technical co-operation dominate Portuguese co-operation, with technical co-operation representing an average of approximately 32% of total gross disbursements between 2000 and 2004. By contrast, projects and programme aid represented only 2% of gross bilateral disbursements, compared to 16% for development in 2004. Assistance to basic social infrastructure and services was not a strategic priority for Portuguese co-operation between 1999 and 2004, with support fluctuating between 2.5% and 2.8% during that period. Activities in key cross-cutting areas for poverty reduction, such as gender equality, are not recorded, and there are no policy guidelines on the integration of gender in development. By contrast, allocations to governance-related projects show the relative importance given to this priority topic, with average gross disbursements representing USD 37 million or 20% of bilateral disbursements (discounting debt cancellation in 2004), a considerable increase compared to levels recorded throughout the 1990s. Education absorbs a major share of technical co-operation in the form of imputed student costs and scholarships. In 2003, imputed student costs represented 32% of technical co-operation disbursements, and scholarships 5%. Portugal’s bilateral assistance is based on a three-year country programming cycle leading to the elaboration of country-specific indicative co-operation programmes (ICPs) which constitute the strategic document for Portuguese co-operation in each priority country. ICPs are prepared every three years by IPAD in collaboration with embassy staff. Specific projects for each priority country are identified and entered into annual co-operation plans which are negotiated yearly at different levels within the Portuguese administration.

Traditionally, Portugal sees multilateral aid as a complement to bilateral aid and a way not only to strengthen Portugal’s integration into the international system supporting development co-operation, but also to respond to major international challenges such as poverty, disease, environmental degradation, human rights violations, human security and the transition from conflict to development. The new strategy advocates Portugal’s involvement in multilateral debates to advance the strategic interests of Portuguese foreign policy and to contribute to the elaboration of international strategies. Strengthening the Portuguese-speaking countries’ position within the international community is another important element of the strategy.

Portugal’s multilateral contributions have increased from US$ 126 million in 2000 (22% of total ODA) to US$ 158.81 million in 2005 (43% of ODA). It has always channelled the largest share of its multilateral aid to the EU, (about a quarter of Portugal’s multilateral contributions), participating actively in the negotiations leading to the Lomé and Cotonou Agreements and in the debates taking place in the context of Europe-Africa relations.

Within the UN, the Development Programme (UNDP), the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Population Fund (UNFP), the Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) are strategic partners.

Portugal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs intends to expand its presence and capacity in international financial institutions and the regional development banks in close co-ordination with the Ministry of Finance. In 2002, Portugal became a member of the Asian Development Bank (AsDB) and the Inter-American Investment Corporation of the Inter-American Development Bank which promotes private-sector development in Latin America and the Caribbean. Portugal’s share in both agencies is small but significant for expanding its presence in Latin America. The government is also considering increasing relations with the African Union, the South African Development Community (SADC) and the Economic Commission for West Africa (ECOWAS), including on peace and security-related issues.

Portugal’s efforts in population and HIV/AIDS programmes have been modest. In 2003, population assistance amounted to only 0.35% of ODA – a sum of $1.119 million – of which 72% was channelled to multilateral organisations and the remaining bilateral part all went to HIV/AIDS programmes.

After being a recipient country until the mid-1970s, today Portugal contributes to UNFPA. Until 2002, these contributions were merely symbolic, but since then, when it allocated US$ 75,000, it has regularly channelled funds into UNFPA (US$ 40,000 in both 2003 and 2004). Recently, UNAIDS has also received funds from Portugal (US$ 364,315 in 2002 and US$ 150,000 in 2003). Furthermore, Portugal has pledged US$ 7.5 million to the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria; to date it has paid US$ 2.5 million. Since 1998, Portugal has not directed any population funding through NGOs.

NGOs play a marginal role in Portuguese development co-operation despite recent steps to involve them more. The Portuguese government should consider broadening its dialogue with NGOs to include systematic consultations on country programming, ways of achieving the MDGs in the context of increased ODA, and the aid effectiveness agenda. Portuguese NGOs might also be encouraged to work more with local NGOs in Portugal’s priority countries as a means of strengthening the capacity of civil society in partner countries.

ODA bilateral disbursements to civil society organisations have fluctuated between US$ 2 million and US$ 4 million between 2000 and 2004, with a peak of US$ 5 million in 2002. Aid to and through NGOs has been negligible (less than 1% of gross bilateral disbursements in 2003/4). There are basically no contributions to local NGOs in partner countries. In terms of the geographical and sectoral distribution of IPAD’s co-financing of NGO projects, for the period from 2002 to 2005, the highest proportion has gone to Mozambique (32%), followed by Angola (24%), Guinea-Bissau (15%), Timor-Leste (13%), São Tomé and Príncipe (7%) and Cape Verde (4%). Three per cent of all co-financing goes to development education projects, and the remainder is allocated for development.

IPAD’s Department for Civil Society and Emergency Aid (DCSEA) is responsible for relations with NGOs. The department relies on embassies to provide feedback on NGO projects, although field staff do not have to include information on NGOs in their regular reporting. DCSEA works mostly with the Platform of Portuguese NGOs, financing some of its costs, as well as with five or six organisations that are not in the platform. 

However, steps have been taken recently to give NGOs a greater role in Portuguese development co-operation. Law 66/98 addresses the legal status of NGOs, sets out the requirements for their registration and defines the general conditions under which they can be co-financed. Both government and NGO representatives agree that the law should be updated to address more topical issues, such as NGO transparency and efficacy. The law was followed by a decree in 2003 that changed co-financing procedures whereby funding was granted upon the presentation of invoices. Allocation criteria and amounts are now decided on the basis of yearly calls for proposals. Among the selection criteria, projects of a European dimension, evidence of co-financing and partnerships with other countries, including from the South, are prioritised. Since 2001, a protocol between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Portuguese NGO Platform recognises the latter as an institutional structure as well as the heart of civil society organisations in country programming. 

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