AECID to allocate eleven million euros to innovation for development projects in 2026

Eduardo González The Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) will allocate eleven million euros in 2026 to subsidize innovation projects in the field of development cooperation, practically the same amount as in the previous year. As published last week in the Official State Gazette (BOE), the call for proposals is aimed at financing initiatives driven by partnerships between the private business sector, academia and research, and non-governmental development organizations (NGDOs). The objective of these actions is to promote innovative solutions that contribute to sustainable development, with a special focus on combating inequalities, gender equality, human rights, and environmental sustainability. The aid is structured in two modalities: the first corresponds to innovation actions that address social, economic, environmental, and development challenges of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, while the second modality refers to knowledge-based actions, which are not typical cooperation projects, but rather will be aimed at strengthening the capacities of the AECID and Spanish Cooperation actors in order to improve the quality and effectiveness of cooperation in partner countries. Regarding the geographical scope, innovation proposals may be developed in the priority countries established in the current Spanish Cooperation Master Plan, as well as in specific contexts such as Lebanon, Syria, Afghanistan, Ukraine, and the Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf (Algeria). Knowledge-based actions, on the other hand, will be implemented in Spain. The following may be beneficiaries of this call for proposals: private sector business groups (companies, social economy enterprises, business associations, and similar entities), social sector entities (non-governmental development organizations registered with the AECID), and academic and research entities (universities, university foundations, research centers, and similar public and private institutions). This call for proposals is part of the resolution adopted on February 23 by the AECID regarding subsidies for 2026, which allocate more than €375 million for development cooperation, humanitarian action, innovation, cooperation agreements for sustainable development, and the promotion of memory, peacebuilding, and conflict resolution in Latin America and the Caribbean. This is the second call for proposals since the approval of the new Spanish Cooperation Master Plan 2024-2027. In accordance with the resolution of February 23 and this call for proposals, the AECID will allocate up to a maximum of eleven million euros for innovation and knowledge for development grants, with an initial amount of one million euros, which may be increased by up to ten million euros with additional funding. The minimum grant amount that can be requested for innovation projects is no less than 400,000 euros and no more than 900,000 euros. Similarly, the minimum grant amount that can be requested for knowledge-based projects is no less than 100,000 euros and no more than 500,000 euros. This total amount is virtually the same as in the 2025 call for proposals, which was 11.5 million euros. In any case, the budget for last year represented a significant increase of 28 percent compared to the nine million euros allocated in 2023. Furthermore, 2023 saw a 135 percent increase compared to the previous year. In fact, funding for innovation has steadily increased in recent years. Up to three million euros were offered in 2019, and this amount rose to five million euros between 2020 and 2021—two years that were clearly impacted by the need to increase support for innovation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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