From Scattered to Strategic: Iceland's Evolving Innovation Portfolio for International Development - Part 2

For most development organisations and funders, innovation remains a sprawling collection of activities, often energetic, but largely uncoordinated. To a dregree, this has also been the case for Iceland's development co-operation. Iceland, a comparatively small but energetic player in the international development co-operation system, provided the equivalent of 0.28% (roughly 67 million Euro) of it 2021 gross national income towards Official Development Assistance. The primary goal of Iceland's development co-operation policy 2019-2023 is to reduce poverty and hunger, while mainstreaming human rights, gender equality and sustainable development. Currently, Iceland invests about 20.7 million Euro in innovation for international development. As a small provider, Iceland leverages its comparative advantages in gender, geothermal energy, fisheries and land restoration. Iceland has been investing in diverse innovations across these areas, mainly to help spark and seed new solutions. For example, the country is financing exploration projects to adapt its innovative geothermal energy solutions to countries in Sub-Sahara Africa as well as providing financial and technical support for innovators to test and scale novel solutions.