Terms & Requirements
An ICI project must be based on the needs of the developing country and an initiative of an agency from that country focused on capacity development. Complementary and additional objectives may be, for example, improvement of the partner organisation's services and product development, development of its organisation and reform of ways of action, upgrading of personnel's skills and knowledge, internationalisation, and networking.
The developing country agency represents the public sector. The Finnish agencies are government agencies and public bodies (valtion virastot ja laitokset) that belong to the same legal person, namely the Government of Finland. Government-owned corporations are ineligible.
The project duration can be from 12 to 48 months
The MFA provides financing under the following terms
Although the participating Finnish agency is not expected to finance the project, it is responsible for the use of funds based on Finnish legislation. The agency will need to make adjustments within their own personnel and financial resources to make the ICI project possible and, in practice, their contribution tends to reach well beyond the project budget.
A Project Document is submitted that describes how the project’s goals are aligned to the country-specific priorities of the Regional Department within the MFA. The MFA’s Quality Assurance Board additionally analyses the compatibility of the project within Finnish development policy as well as its effectiveness.
Project planning should be about 3-9 months. The MFA provides up to 100,000 € for planning costs.
The MFA’s Regional Department provides financing for 2-4 years. Financing is normally between 0.5-2.0 Million €.
If the project is successful, the Regional Department may consider continuation. In that case, a new Project Document needs to pass the same steps.
The ICI can be used to finance a variety of ODA-eligible capacity development projects. ICI projects are expected to be in line with the goals and principles of Finnish development policy.
