Welcome to the Czech Republic's development cooperation website!
Official site address: www.mzv.cz/aid

Development Cooperation in General

As a member of the European Union (EU) and of the international community of democratically and economically developed countries, the Czech Republic recognizes the principle of solidarity among people and countries and assumes its part of responsibility in addressing global issues. One expression of this attitude is development cooperation, which constitutes an integral part of the Czech foreign policy. In accordance with the principles of the EU and in defence of its own interests, the Czech Republic provides its own development cooperation on the bilateral as well as multilateral basis.

The Guidelines of the development cooperation after the Czech Republic's accession to the EU, approved by Government Resolution No. 302 of 31 March 2004, define development cooperation in the broader sense as a comprehensive government policy in respect of partner countries going through the process of development and transformation; in a narrower sense, development cooperation is the assistance provided by the Czech Republic in the form of transfers of funds, material, expert and technical assistance for the purpose of achieving long-term sustainable development of partner countries.

The main objectives of the Czech Republic's development cooperation include reduction of poverty, social development, economic and industrial development, gradual integration of partner countries into the world economy, agricultural development, development and strengthening of democracy, human rights and good governance, introduction of legal principles, migration management, sustainable development with special emphasis on its environmental aspects and post-conflict renewal.

The Czech Republic's development cooperation concept for 2002-2007,noted by the Czech Government in Resolution No. 91 of 23 January 2002, states that the framework objective in the field of development cooperation is to contribute, in line with the efforts of the international community, to the reduction of poverty in less developed parts of the world by encouraging their socio-economic sustainable development. The Czech Republic identifies with the multidimensional approach to the reduction of poverty, which should not be understood only in the economic terms of low per capita income but also in the context of other social and environmental relationships. The Czech Republic fully supports the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) identified by the UN international conferences in the 1990s and confirmed by the UN Millennium Summit in 2000. The central goal is to reduce the number of people living in absolute poverty by half by 2015.

The Czech Republic's development cooperation is based on the principles of partnership (it must always respond to the demand on the part of the beneficiary, not to the offer on the part of the donor), efficiency and transparency. Development cooperation reflects the interests and needs of the Czech Republic and helps intensify political and economic relations between partner countries and the Czech Republic. Development cooperation is provided in accordance with the Czech Republic's security interests.

Principles of the development cooperation, approved by Government Resolution No. 302 of 31 March 2004, have identified as a fundamental component of the Czech development cooperation the programmes of cooperation with priority countries, with a view to encouraging the application of the principles of partnership, efficiency and transparency, and to ensuring consistent application of the Public Procurement Act (Act No. 40/2004). Once formulated, the programmes will lead to better predictability of development cooperation and facilitate planning to all parties involved.

In accordance with the objectives set out in the Principles of the development cooperation and with the Czech Republic's foreign policy interests, the Government approved the Czech Republic's plan to channel its development cooperation in the long run to the following priority countries: the Republic of Angola, the Republic of Zambia, the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, Mongolia, the Republic of Yemen, the Republic of Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro.