An aid system coherent and orderly. This is the opportunity the crisis gives us. We shouldn’t waste it

2011: Italian Regions will spend 30 per cent less on international cooperation for development than they did in 2009, according to the Interregional Observatory on Development Cooperation. The OICS also points out that this downward trend was evident early on in 2010, at a time when the funds spent on development projects in the Southern part of the world and partnerships with other regions outside Europe were cut by 20 per cent. The Director of OICS, Gildo Baraldi says that “the significance of these numbers lies in the fact that over 80 per cent of Italy’s decentralised cooperation for development is financed by Regional funds”. Although on the whole the scenario is bleak, it does nonetheless present an opportunity, that of “turning a system that until now has been fragmented and disorganised into one that is coherent and orderly”.
A negative picture…
In terms of funding, yes. The funds provided by the Regions for international development have decreased, following a considerable and continuous expansion which took place between 1995 and 2008. This reduction, however, could also provide the opportunity to rationalise the interventions of decentralised cooperation for development carried out by Italian agencies in order to avoid overlapping duplication and lack of synergy.
How can greater efficiency be achieved in international aid?
In view of the 2015 Expo, a database for information regarding decentralised cooperation in Italy will be created. The project will be coordinated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in collaboration with the Regions, local agencies and universities which put forward projects of cooperation to systematise the interventions funded by all the different bodies and institutions. It is a goal and at the same time a new starting point to foster greater transparency and coordination.
Why are Italian Regions investing less?
The budget cuts that Regions have suffered leave few alternatives. If a Region has to decide whether to use the available resources for an emergency within its own territory or a project in the Southern part of the world it is likely that the first option will prevail. Added to this problem is the unresolved issue in Italy regarding the stability pact which prevents Regions, Municipalities and Provinces from going over the budget of the preceding year. The paradox is not the pact in itself but in its interpretation. A Region normally uses a part of its own funds in order to be able to access more substantial funds from the European Commission or from the Italian government. National law states that Regional funds fall under the Stability Pact; however, a new interpretation is beginning to take hold according to which the Stability Pact also applies to grants, that is to say the EU and government funding that Regions are able to attract. It is incongruous because the funds are taxed twice. Moreover, it is a perverse mechanism because it discourages Regions from doing anything in collaboration with the government or the European Union as they are made to pay taxes on these funds as though they were their own. This aspect, along with the fact that the available resources are limited, means that Regions prefer to work alone, and it discourages an interesting phenomenon that had begun to emerge in recent years, namely, the capacity of the Regions to initiate partnerships with other Regions and local agencies in order to maximise their respective strengths.