With over 30 years of operations, the Chilean Agency for International Cooperation and Development (AGCID) has expanded its global programme portfolio beyond Latin America and the Caribbean to include countries in Africa and Asia. Concurrently, it graduated from the list of countries eligible to receive official development assistance (ODA) from the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) in 2017. The dual role (partner and beneficiary) of international co-operation has been a path that Chilean co-operation has charted over the past decades. Additionally, a Cooperation Policy for 2030 and the Strategy 2023-2026 have been defined, outlining Chilean co-operation guidelines in terms of South-South and triangular co-operation.
Development Co-operation Profiles
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Chile
Introduction
Policy
Chile’s vision, policy and strategies for international development co-operation for 2015-18 and 2023-26 align with the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as with Chile’s foreign policy. In its dual role (co-operation partner and beneficiary), Chile continues to deepen strategic partnerships for development, including North-South (Chile-Spain Triangular Cooperation Mixed Fund, Chile-EU Bilateral Fund for Development in Transition, Chile-EU Joint Fund for Triangular Cooperation, and KIZUNA with Japan); South-South (Pacific Alliance and Chile-Mexico Fund); and South-Global (Chile Fund Against Hunger and Poverty and Ibero-American South-South Cooperation Chilean Fund).
In 2016 and 2019, Chile co-chaired the LAC-DAC Dialogue on Development Co-operation and participated in the third LAC-DAC Dialogue, which was organised by Peru in 2021. Chile is a member of the core group of the Global Partnership Initiative on Effective Triangular Co-operation.
Aligned with its strategy, Chile seeks to mitigate the effects of ODA graduation, playing a prominent role in international debates on “Development in Transition” in partnership with countries in the region, the European Union (EU), and the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. Within this framework, Chile and the European Union created the Bilateral Fund for Development in Transition, aimed at promoting and supporting Chile’s transition towards sustainable development, creating a platform for strategic dialogue, which has contributed to generating new modalities of co-operation between both partners.
Moreover, Chile continues to have development partnerships with Germany, Japan, Spain, Switzerland, the Walloon Region of Belgium, and the European Union for national development and in alliances for triangular co-operation.
Chile’s support to sustainable development
Chile is a member of the International Forum on Total Official Support for Sustainable Development (TOSSD). As a provider of South-South co-operation, Chile started reporting on TOSSD at its inception in 2020 on 2019 activities.
Chile reported USD 4.7 million in support of sustainable development in the form of cross-border resources to TOSSD recipients. All these activities were extended by AGCID.
Contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals
In 2022, Chile’s support to sustainable development mainly contributed to advancing SDG 4 (quality education), SDG 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions) and SDG 11 (sustainable cities and communities).
Cross-border resources to TOSSD recipients (Pillar 1)
Geographic allocation
In 2022, USD 4.6 million (98%) of Chile’s cross-border resources to TOSSD recipients were allocated to individual countries and regions. In total, Chile’s cross-border flows reached 26 countries and territories in 2022. A majority of this financing was provided to recipients in Latin America and the Caribbean (89%). Partners in other regions, such as Europe and Africa, received 8% of Chile’s cross-border resources. Partners receiving the largest support included Mexico, Peru and the Plurinational State of Bolivia. Nearly 2% (USD 72 000) of Chile’s TOSSD was unallocated by region.
Sectoral distribution
In 2022, USD 3 million (63%) of Chile’s cross-border resources targeted social infrastructure and services in TOSSD recipients, with a particular focus on education (USD 1.4 million; 30%). Production sectors, such as industry, mining and construction or agriculture, forestry and fishing, were allocated USD 0.5 million (11%). A sum of USD 0.6 million was provided for humanitarian aid.
Triangular co-operation
Chile engages in triangular co-operation. Its main beneficiaries in 2022 were the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the Dominican Republic, Paraguay, the Caribbean and Central America (member countries of the Central American Integration System, “SICA” in Spanish, as the channel), Suriname, Colombia, and South America.
The main sectors of its triangular co‑operation are multi-sectoral activities, government and civil society, and energy. Chile disbursed USD 203 800 of TOSSD on triangular co-operation activities in 2022. More information on Chile’s triangular co-operation projects can be found in the OECD’s voluntary triangular co-operation project repository. Chile is a core group member of the Global Partnership Initiative on Effective Triangular Co-operation. It is also chairing the Ibero-American Programme for Strengthening South-South Co-operation for 2022-24.
Chile’s efforts in the area of climate change action
Chile’s development co-operation focuses on different aspects of the fight against climate change. One of the projects in this field aims to “mitigate the effects of the health emergency and drive economic recovery in selected study areas in Chile and Colombia”.1
The objective of the project is to develop tools that, based on the use, processing and analysis of satellite imagery, enable the establishment of energy and food security strategies to mitigate the negative effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in vulnerable communities.
The project aims to contribute to mitigating the effects of the COVID-19 health emergency and drive economic recovery through the generation of interactive maps of the renewable energy potential (biomass and solar) for decision making, enabling energy and food security in selected study areas. This project arises from the co-ordinated efforts of multiple executing institutions with the support of the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ).
The project’s results include: a database of the communities and study territories; proof of concept for biomass energy explorers and for solar explorers, provided through a report detailing implementation opportunities and a georeferenced map; proof of concept for a tool to estimate impact indicators of technological developments in the selected study areas.
Partners and participants include: the Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences of the University of Chile; the University of the Andes (Colombia); GIZ; the Chilean International Cooperation Agency for Development; and the Ministry of Energy (Chile).
Beneficiaries include: the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development; the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; the Ministry of Mining and Energy; the Mining and Energy Planning Unit; the Agustin Codazzi Geographic Institute; the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies; and the Fraunhofer Chile Research Foundation.
Budget: The project had a total budget of EUR 1 031 912, broken down as follows: Colombia EUR 436 908; Chile EUR 297 502; Germany EUR 297 502.
1. The full title of the project is “To Mitigate the Effects of the Health Emergency and Drive Economic Recovery through the Generation of Interactive Maps of the Renewable Energy Potential (Biomass and Solar) for Decision-making, Enabling Energy and Food Security in Selected Study Areas in Chile and Colombia”.
Sources: AGCID, https://triangular.latlon.cl; www.centroenergia.cl.
Institutional set-up
AGCID manages and co-ordinates bilateral, triangular and regional co-operation for development co-operation as a partner and a beneficiary. Other partners involved in Chilean co-operation include national (subnational and local) public entities, as well as academia, civil society organisations and private sector partners.
The Modernization Law of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chile (Law 21.080 of March 2018) grants AGCID the function of co-ordinating and managing the National System of International Cooperation, including international co-operation for development actions carried out by state agencies and other actors.
Additional resources
Chilean Agency for International Development Cooperation (AGCID): https://www.agci.cl
AGCID (2023), Estrategia de la Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo de AGCID 2023-2026 (in Spanish), Chilean Agency for International Development Cooperation, Santiago, https://www.agci.cl/images/centro_documentacion/Estrategia_de_Cooperacion_AGCID_2023_2026.pdf.
Chile has been a member of the OECD since 2010. It is a member of the International Forum on TOSSD. Chile has been reporting on TOSSD since 2020 on 2019 data.