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Interview with Dr. Grazia Sgarra and Dr. Stefano Del Debbio

This month we share an interview with Dr. Grazia Sgarra and Dr. Stefano Del Debbio, from AICS (Italian Agency for Development Cooperation), dedicated to the topic of International Development Cooperation. Good ideas in a circle and good reading! 

1. There is much talk of profit involvement in cooperation: what is the state of the art, at the Italian level, of entrepreneurial involvement in cooperation projects? 

The topic has certainly made giant strides in recent years, because enterprises – in the aftermath of the Cooperation reform – have become to all intents and purposes subjects of cooperation, and along these lines we have had to build all projects from scratch. Today we carry out many outreach activities, meetings, training. Of course, our latest studies show that enterprises do not know the theme and the opportunities offered by Development Cooperation, its purposes, the instruments … this is why a cultural operation is needed, because enterprises certainly know how to internationalise, but it is HOW to go and invest in Developing Countries that needs to be understood. For this reason AICS has defined an ad hoc business model, called ISI (Innovative, Sustainable and Inclusive), which we promote within a series of videos we have made to illustrate the cooperation carried out by for-profit (here is the YouTube channel). Then we have the for-profit call, in its third edition, which has so far selected around 50 innovative initiatives. The balance is therefore positive, given that we were starting from zero, also because we have really touched upon the difficulties of companies investing in Developing Countries, understanding once again how important the Bottom Up approach is. Last but not least, Covid left a heavy mark for many companies….but from here, we have to start again and we are doing so.

1. Cooperation has always attracted many highly motivated young people: in your opinion, do university and post-graduate courses really succeed in preparing profiles ready to work in cooperation or is there a lack of connection between theory and practice?

Compared to the past, there are universities with courses on cooperation and this specialised training is a big step forward. Obviously, there are not big numbers, because it remains a niche, but that is good. The link with the world of work shows a certain focus on institutional recruitment (UN, EU, etc.). AICS has several agreements in place with universities for curricular traineeships … although it remains a job that is learned on the ground. Greater synergy with the opportunities for experience offered, for example, by the non-profit sector, but also by the Agency itself, in developing countries would be desirable. Of course, the impact on the field is harder, you need a vocation, you have to feel it inside … in any case, this phenomenon should also be seen in the context of a progressive evolution of the profession that increasingly gives priority to locals, reducing the number of expats.

1. One has the impression that AICS’s great work to support cooperation initiatives often remains within insider circles: in your opinion, how could the Agency’s efforts be communicated more effectively?

Communication is crucial for AICS and the Agency should invest more and better. This is evident from all the international due diligence we undergo: they show a lot of work and quality, but not enough communicated outside the circles to insiders. Recently things have improved a lot: every one of our offices around the world follows the same communication guidelines (which our stakeholders are also expected to follow!), has communication officers, website. The AICS also has an editorial line, “Oltremare”, and then of course all the networking activities of the AICS promote our work to external stakeholders. The limitations, then, are mainly due to the fact that we are understaffed and unfortunately we don’t always manage to value ourselves. We really have beautiful stories and work….people would pay to hear stories like those of our projects 😊

1. If you had to share a critical issue and an opportunity that characterise the present of Development Cooperation, what would they be? 

Certainly the opportunity is to aim to grow and improve over time. For example, the recent entry of 32 new officials in the technical directorate, now in training, will hopefully provide new life and energy to the entire structure, which has been waiting for them since 2017. The critical point is that we still need to grow a lot as a cooperation ‘system’. 

1. Which book or film would you recommend to the readers of the De-LAB newsletter, to deepen their understanding of the profession of Cooperator and the work, in general, that is done in Development Cooperation?

As a book, we would recommend “The Obstinate Good” by Paolo Rumiz, and as a film “The Boy Who Caught the Wind” which talks about Africa and Frugal Innovation, and “The Garden of Lemons”, a novel against the backdrop of the Israleo-Palestinian crisis. These are not technical texts, but they convey the many human nuances of our work.