PRIVATE SECTOR AND DEVELOPMENT
AECID is increasingly focusing on facilitating partnerships
(SDG 17) that enable it to coordinate its work with that of other actors, identify
and take advantage of other capacities, promote and validate innovations and
mobilize the necessary resources for Spain’s contribution to the achievement of
the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It is becoming more essential than
ever to work in partnerships between the public administrations, private
companies, universities and civil society organizations.
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and
the Action Plan for the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda constitute,
respectively, the international and national frameworks for the coming years. Both
texts highlight the opportunities available to the private business sector in
its capacity as an agent for development. This entails a significant change in
business models and corporate social responsibility, to advance towards the 17
SDGs. Enterprises, micro-enterprises, cooperatives and multinationals, are
called to contribute to the SDGs in collaboration with other actors.
Spanish Cooperation’s Fifth Master Plan considers the business sector to be a
Cooperation actor, at the same level as non-governmental development
organizations (NGDOs) or universities. One of the mandates of the Plan is to
work jointly with the Spanish business sector in relation to the 17 SDGs,
facilitating the development of the private sector in partner countries and
working to ensure that the Spanish companies present in them find incentives to
act responsibly.
To support the private business sector in its
contribution to the achievement of the SDGs, AECID has two specific instruments
to promote its participation in international development cooperation.
Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) for development between different international cooperation actors (SDG 17), involving
partners from the business sector and civil society, from Spain and partner
countries, to maximize synergies, supplement resources, and enrich learning, thus
affording interventions greater scope. AECID has a protocol for managing the creation and design
stage of PPPs for development. AECID has participated in over 30 partnership
processes. Some of the spheres of the current PPPs for development are:
renewable energies, job market integration, heritage for development, creation
of micro-enterprises, and humanitarian assistance. These partnerships have been
developed in countries as diverse as Colombia, Ethiopia, Morocco, Mexico,
Mozambique, Panama and Peru.
Call for Development Cooperation Actions for
innovation projects. Annual call for grant
applications open to the business, academic and social sectors, whose objective
is to provide innovative solutions for the purpose of applying them and
replicating them on a larger scale. The projects address social, economic,
environmental and development issues of the 2030 Agenda, with an innovative
approach in terms of product, service, process or strategy. Over 100 projects
have been co-funded through the Call for Actions.
In its role as a facilitator and generator of partnerships, AECID is actively
involved in dialogue and coordination processes, networks and spaces for
learning and the exchange of experiences and knowledge related to the private
sector and development. Of particular note are the Knowledge Network and the
Thematic Community for Business and Development.
