Support for government agencies that participate in development cooperation
The Institutional Cooperation Instrument (ICI) supports Finnish government agencies and public bodies to engage in development cooperation. The projects funded through ICI aim to strengthen the expertise of state actors, including ministries and public bodies, in developing countries.
Experiences of cooperation
Finnish government agencies and public bodies have implemented a total of 140 projects since 2008, with 20 projects in progress in 2025. Most projects have been carried out in high-competence fields, with principal focus being on the management of natural resources. The participants from Finland and the partner countries include agencies responsible for weather information, soil and minerals management, monitoring the state of the environment, and industrial licensing. Projects have also been implemented in other administrative branches, such as in tax administration and in educational systems. The partner countries have valued the specialised competence, collaborative approach and flexibility of Finnish experts. In many cases, cooperation has led to new assignments from partner countries or international providers of funding.
Projects typically last from three to four years, which is a relatively short time given the demanding circumstances. Experience shows that an equally long follow‑up phase is often needed to ensure lasting results.
Principles of support
ICI projects must be based on the needs of the developing country and initiated by the developing country organisation. The project activities must aim for capacity development.
Objectives related to capacity development and complementing it may include improving the partner organisation’s services, developing products and organisational structures, reforming organisational practices, strengthening staff knowledge and skills, networking and internationalisation.
In developing countries, the organisations eligible to participate are public sector agencies. In Finland, eligible organisations consist of government agencies and public bodies that form the same legal entity as the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
The Finnish government agency or public body is accountable to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs for the implementation of the projects and the proper use of funds.
Project preparation
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has drawn up practical guidelines, which describe the preparation of a project as a process. Project preparation has two main phases: drawing up a project concept note and preparing the actual project document.
The Finnish government agency or public body and the partner agency draw up a preliminary concept note for the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The concept note is made in a standard format and should contain 3 to 10 pages, as well as appendices.
Applicants are advised to contact the Foreign Ministry’s regional department for the target country early in the process to confirm that funding is available for that country.
The Foreign Ministry will assess the quality of the concept note and the feasibility of the project. If it supports the project, the actual planning can start. The Ministry allocates funding for the planning.
In the planning phase, the Finnish organisation and the partner country organisation prepare the actual project document.
The Foreign Ministry assesses the project document and, after hearing its quality assurance group’s recommendation, makes a funding decision. The decision is based on project management criteria, which include project relevance, effectiveness, feasibility and sustainability.
If a decision is made to award funding for the project, the Ministry gives an ICI assignment to the Finnish organisation, which assumes responsibility for the project’s implementation by signing an assignment contract and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
Services of a facilitation consultant
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has hired a consultancy firm (a ‘facilitation consultant’) to support the preparation and monitoring of projects.
The facilitation consultant provides support for project planning and initiation for the Finnish government agencies and public bodies whose projects have been approved for further planning by a Foreign Ministru regional department.
During the implementation phase, the facilitation consultant also monitors that the Finnish organisations’ reporting is in line with the law, the administrative instructions and the contract.
In short, the facilitation consultant supports Finnish government agencies and public bodies to ensure high development impact for their projects. However, the parties to the contract have responsibility for the project.
A manual to facilitate project management
The purpose of the Institutional Cooperation Instrument Manual is to create common practices for project-level administration.
The manual contains templates for the required documents and recommendations to facilitate the administration and monitoring of the development cooperation appropriation for institutional cooperation.
The manual was updated in May 2025. Updates are listed at the start of the manual.