Development co-operation
2030 Agenda – Sustainable Development Goals
The year 2015 will go down as the year that seventeen sustainable development goals were defined, as set out at the UN summit in New York (USA) from the 25th to the 27th of September, which brought together world leaders intent on adopting an ambitious agenda with a view to the eradication of poverty and for economic, social and environmental development on a global scale by 2030, which became known as 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Funding
With a view to increasing the effectiveness and impact of its interventions, Portugal is continuing its co-operative efforts in order to increase predictability and rationalise the allocation of development funding whilst focusing on the following issues from the perspective of promoting synergies and establishing complementary entities, regardless of the financial source (i.e. central administration, etc).
Transparency
Camões, I.P., as a public institution in Portugal, is fully committed to total transparency. Transparency is an essential factor of the organisation, in the work procedures we adopt and how our information is reflected to the general public.
Ethics
As a way of promoting transparency, the Camões, I.P. board of directors understands how necessary it is to prepare and disseminate a code of ethics that adequately reflects the values and standards of conduct for all those responsible for the Institute, along with its employees and collaborators.
Auditing and evaluation
Camões, I.P. commits its management and human resources to an independent process of auditing and evaluation. We are subject to the common procedures common of the entire civil service in order to improve our productivity and responsiveness in addition to the implementation and results of specific undertakings.
To this end, both individuals and collective entities with the competence to evaluate projects concerning the Portuguese language and culture and related co-operative projects can register their details on our Evaluation Exchange (Bolsa de Avaliadores) by completing this application form and sending their curriculum vitae to
Portuguese co-operative projects are periodically evaluated by a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the results of which can be consulted in the Portuguese co-operative CAD study (Conclusions and main recommendations, Evaluation details).
Anti-Corruption Plan
The issue of corruption is a clear violation of Camões, I.P’s principles and we are fully committed eradicating such practices. On the recommendation of the Council for the Prevention of Corruption (CPC) relating to all public institutions, Camões, I.P. created and approved a risk management plan for corruption and other related offences, which serves as a working tool for good management and applies to everyone within the organisation.
Combating Corruption of Public Officials Overseas
Fighting corruption in international commerce is a challenge for every single country. In light of this, and because Portugal adheres to terms of the Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions, Camões, I.P. has been adopted measures that effectively contribute to the fight against corruption, in line with the Convention's provisions and recommendations and as a means to addressing these concerns to the partner countries.
The Portuguese entities involved in the various roles of overseeing the development of co-operative programmes, projects and other related activities, with or without direct funding from Camões, I.P, should be alert and proactive in any situation where, directly or indirectly, acts of corruption (including attempts) by foreign employees or public officials on the part of their collaborators or contracted companies, thus reporting such situations to the proper criminal investigation authorities.
Furthermore, regarding any entities that break the law in terms of corruption, Camões, I.P. will take all necessary measures to effectively remove such an initiative financed by this Institute.
Reporting an infringement
In the framework of the Code of Ethics and the Anti-Corruption Plan, public officials must report any irregular practices that come to their notice and co-operate in any disciplinary or criminal investigation procedures by their respective entities.
For this purpose, any infringement can be reported here.
Any information received will be fully confidential.
Report and results
DAC Examination 2015
An examination of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) or Portuguese Co-operation was carried out by Luxembourg and the Czech Republic on the 10th of November 2015.
Resilience
Since the 1970s, the word resilience has been used in a number of circumstances ranging from natural disasters to engineering and ecological issues and even child psychology. In the context of development, its use has often been related to humanitarian issues, an area that has seen a significant development. The ‘resilience’ of a given system, organisation, individual or ecosystem can be seen as its ability to prevent, respond and/or recover from an extreme situation. In view of this, the amount of attention given to this subject is constantly undergoing changes.
Fragility
The definition of fragility in the development process emerged in the 1990s and the designation of a "fragile state" is used to describe a set of situations, from countries in crisis, at war and in the process of reconstruction to humanitarian crises, disasters and situations of extreme poverty.
According to the OECD’s definition, "A fragile region or state has weak capacity to carry out basic governance functions, and lacks the ability to develop mutually constructive relations with society. Fragile states are also more vulnerable to internal or external shocks such as economic crises or natural disasters”.
Policy coherence
In an increasingly globalised and interdependent world, EU member states recognise the need for greater coherence between the policies that affect, directly or indirectly, the developing countries.
European Consensus
The European Consensus agreement signed in December 2005 by the Presidents of the Commission, Parliament and European Council (to which the European External Action Service was added in 2014), defines for the first time the framework of common principles with which the European Union and its member states implement their development policies, in a spirit of complementarity (in line with the terms of the treaty). The legal basis for the existence of a European development policy was introduced in 1992 in the form of the Maastricht Treaty and in 2000 the European Commission approved its Development Policy Statement, which was limited to the European Commission’s co-operation policy.
Development effectiveness
“Partner-led aid is harmonised, aligned and focused on the poorest, most predictable and disconnected, to be channelled through effective institutions and those focused on results (...)" (OECD/DAC)
Since the adoption of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the United Nations General Assembly at the Millennium Summit in 2000, donors and partners have sought to increase and improve the level of assistance provided in terms of quality, timeliness, appropriation and impact.
In actual fact, there’s broad international consensus on the need for more effective aid which in turn has forced donors and partners to review their policies, procedures and methods for providing help. To this end, they have organised a series of important events that have shaped today’s development co-operation, namely the Conference on Financing for Development (Monterrey, 2002) and the High Level Fora on Aid Effectiveness, Rome (2003), Paris (2005), Accra (2008) and Busan (2011), where the issue of aid effectiveness was definitively placed at the heart of international debate.