Annual Reports SAIDC - SlovakAid

Annual Reports SAIDC

The major goal of Annual Reports of SAIDC is to present and evaluate the results we achieved working together with our partners.
Annual Reports of SAIDC are available for download below in the Documents section.

“Peace is a responsibility incumbent on all of us.” These are the words of Pope Francis, who thus urges all mankind to uphold responsibility, tolerance, empathy and humanity, all of which are needed more than ever before. If each and every one of us contributes a little bit to make our world a better place to live in, we have a chance to carry out this responsibility. Thus, Slovakia helps wherever needed under the SlovakAid brand through its project partners. 2023 marked the 20th anniversary of the implementation of official development cooperation by the Slovak Republic.

After the Government of the Slovak Republic approved the Focus of Bilateral Development Cooperation of the Slovak Republic for 2023 in January 2023, the Slovak Agency for International Development Cooperation opened 12 calls for proposals, publishing the information on its website. The calls, opened in January, February, April, May and June 2023, focused on humanitarian and development projects, posting of volunteers, co-financing EU projects and capacity building.

Following the positive experience with opening the call for Strategic Partnerships in the Republic of Kenya in 2022, the Agency opened a call for grant proposals in the form of a Strategic Partnership for the Republic of Moldova in the first half of 2023. The call aimed at creating a mechanism for long-term cooperation and to contributing to the long-term sustainable improvement of living conditions and development in the Republic of Moldova.

Unfortunately, Russian aggression against Ukraine continued through 2023. Therefore, in April and May 2023, the SAIDC opened two calls for grant proposals to help Ukraine devastated by the war: a humanitarian call to provide psycho-social assistance to people suffering from the consequences of the war, and a call for projects aimed at supporting new business partnerships aimed at the reconstruction of Ukraine. In line with the Focus, the call for development projects for the Western Balkans countries was not opened in 2023.
Despite that, the SAIDC provided financial contributions through the Slovak diplomatic missions in these countries, along with grants to support the posting of volunteers and volunteer experts in this region. In 2023, a total of 42 projects implemented by 27 of our partners in 11 countries were approved under the calls opened throughout the year and under the second humanitarian call to help Ukraine opened in December 2022. SAIDC supported the financing of 83 financial contributions through the Slovak diplomatic missions (so-called microgrants) in 14 countries. The Agency provided 24 financial contributions for 11 countries based on the decision of the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic.
The contributions include one of € 100,000 to the UN World Food Programme to provide urgent food aid to Gaza residents facing a
humanitarian catastrophe due to the sharp escalation of the conflict in the region, as well as a financial contribution of € 750,000 for the purchase of two pieces of the Slovak Bozena 4+ demining systems for humanitarian demining in Ukraine. A significant financial contribution of € 375,000 will be used to improve energy efficiency (installation of thermal insulation) of a 17-storey residential building in the 2nd largest Moldovan city of Balti. The SAIDC also supported 6 projects under the Sharing Slovak Expertise (SSE).
 
In November, the SAIDC opened a call for a 36-month EU Support for Internal Market in Serbia project, funded through the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA), aimed at integrating the Serbian market environment into the internal market of the European Union. This is the third EU ⁠delegated cooperation project for the SAIDC, after the support of local media in Moldova and support of the business environment in Kenya. “Our help knows no boundaries” a slogan used by the SAIDC throughout 2023 not only to remind that SlovakAid has been providing assistance for 20 years, but also to emphasize that the Agency is fully aware of what cooperation entails;
with our partners helping specific people in the most dire situations.
 
We will continue to pursue our mission, with commitment and accountability also in 2024.