Financing and cooperation opportunities
During the first part of this 2022, ORU Fogar has disseminated various calls for cooperation and has announced different financing possibilities for the regions.
During the first two months of the year, ORU Fogar has been working with R20 to promote the Subnational Climate Fund. The Global SCF is composed of two funds: the first for technical assistance of $28 million, which allows regional authorities prepare and present impactful and bankable projects; and a second equity investment fund of $750 million. Thus, ORU Fogar organized presentations of the fund in all the countries where the Fund can work and ORU Fogar has a presence. Thus, presentations were made to the president of ORU Fogar, the regions of Morocco, Ivory Coast, Kenya (to the Council of Governors and all the environmental technicians of the councils), Burkina Faso, Uruguay, Chile, and Ecuador. The departmental elections have prevented the presentation of the fund to the Association of Departments of Senegal. This will be done as soon as the new regional presidents are in place.
The FIEM Fund of the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism was also publicized, which should enable studies related to the fight against climate change, water and waste management, agro-industry, tourism, energy, infrastructure, digitalization, and institutional modernization to be carried out. These studies to be carried out in America and Africa regions should be implemented by Spanish companies.
In October 2020 we organized two webinars with their African and Latin American members, to discuss project funding possibilities, with the participation of the Directorate General for International Cooperation and Development (DEVCO) of the European Commission. With the participation of over 80 regions from the two continents, the "EU Priorities (DG DEVCO) for the next programming period 2021-2027" were presented. Now, with the priorities already set, we have been in contact with the Unit G2 Local Authorities, Civil Society Organizations and Foundations of DG INTPA of the European Commission. And we have started to organize meetings of regions, to make them aware of the new programming, as well as to put the regions in contact with the respective delegations of the European Union in each country. Finally, the Multi-annual Indicative Program 2021-2027, corresponding to each country, has been distributed among the members of ORU Fogar. With this document, the regions can learn about the priorities of the European Union's cooperation in their country and how to take advantage of them.
At the same time, European TAIEX aid, which enable the exchange of experts between European and Maghreb administrations, have continued to be promoted, basically among Moroccan regions.
We are also working to take advantage of the European Commission's Asylum, Migration, and Integration Fund (AMIF) for the period 2021-2027. We understand that, between European regions and regions in Latin America and Africa, they can propose projects in several areas. The first is to support voluntary assisted to return and to reintegration. There can also be cooperation in promoting legal migration and combating irregular migration. There are also resources for projects to combat human trafficking.
Finally, within the network, the dissemination of the possibilities presented by the carbon credit markets for the territories has begun. Based on the experiences of regions that are already working on the issue, the possibilities of financing reforestation or ecosystem rehabilitation projects are disseminated, as well as how to convert these projects into bonds and how to put them on the market.
