Development Cooperation Fund

Development Cooperation Fund (DCF)

Data

Status

Active

Start

1997

Implementation

Social Networks

No information available

The OAS Development Cooperation Fund (OAS/DCF) is an innovative non-reimbursable technical cooperation instrument that optimizes multi-sectoral partnerships and alliances to provide targeted technical cooperation initiatives that are community based, locally delivered and responsive to the specific capacity building needs of member states.

The Fund, which is capitalized primarily through the voluntary contributions of Member States, also receives contributions from other multi-lateral organizations and partners. In keeping with the organizational approach to integral development, it provides member states options for securing development assistance, as they lead and manage their own socio-economic development.

The Fund works in 4-year program cycles under thematic areas defined and approved by the member states according to their own needs and the OAS Comprehensive Strategic Plan.

Additionally, programs funded and supported by the DCF are aligned with framework instruments such as the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, among other international instruments endorsed by member states

The DCF/OAS was formerly known as FEMCIDI, which was established in 1997 and restructured in 2014 to improve its effectiveness and budgetary efficiency

For the 2021-2024 programming cycle the Fund proposes to finance programs within the Area of “Inclusive Resilience for an Effective Recovery with a Focus on Science and Technology” a total of 18 countries are eligible to participate in the 2021-2024 DCF/OAS programming cycle under four approved themes with a seed funding approved of US$1.8 million: Argentina, The Bahamas, Barbados, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Uruguay

In accordance with Article 17 of the Statutes of the Fund, countries that are up to date with their contributions to the Fund are eligible to participate in the program cycles.

Objectives

The current program cycle (2021-2024) under its 4 lines of action has the following program development objectives:

Program I: Retooling MSMEs through innovation and technology

General Objective: Improve access and dissemination of technological and non-technological tools and resources for Micro, Small and Medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) to support the reactivation of the economy while addressing diverse challenges imposed by the Coronavirus pandemic

Program II: Innovative Reskilling for Tourism sector recovery and regional economies

General Objective: Support skills diversification and repurposing of the workforce to ensure comprehensive tourism recovery and strengthen regional economies

Program III: Scientific and technological innovation for building resilience

General Objective: Foster and promote scientific and technological innovation to support the recovery post- COVID-19 pandemic and build resiliency

Program IV: Science-Based Decision-Making in Disaster Risk Reduction

General Objective: Promote evidence-based decision making to support the social and economic recovery from a compounding impact with other multi-hazards, whether biological, natural, technological, or man-made, and shocks (external and internal) as well as secondary or chain disasters

Activities

The OAS Development Cooperation Fund (OAS/DCF) is an innovative non-reimbursable technical cooperation instrument that optimizes multisectoral partnerships and alliances through the delivery of seed capital and its main activities include:

Facilitate or promote transfers or exchanges of experiences, knowledge, good practices, techniques, and technologies of an international nature if possible, or build on those that already exist at the national and/or regional levels. Promote triangular, south–south, and horizontal forms of cooperation, and others, to the extent that is possible.
Increase opportunities for coordinating and mobilizing national joint funding and funding from a range of sources, including donors and the private sector.
Contribute to the use and development of local capacities and thereby to an expansion of human capital.
Direct the programs toward strengthening institutions and on training human resources, with operating expenses preferably covered through counterpart funding.
Avoid duplication of efforts in resource allocation, with actions similar to others already carried out or under execution in the respective countries.
Ensure the sustainability of the programs’ results, so that the executing agency is able to replicate and continue on its own with the achievements obtained, once program funding comes to an end.
Combine the resources and experiences of the corresponding partners in the public and private sectors–corporations, foundations, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), universities, local businesses, diaspora groups, observer members–to take maximum advantage of their capital and investments.