The Council of Ministers has approved a package of voluntary contributions to various international organisations, reaffirming Spain's commitment to multilateralism, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and the Financing for Development Agenda. These contributions go to various UN agencies, the OECD and the World Bank, and amount to a total of €19,125,000.
This aid package reaffirms Spain's commitment to a more just and equitable world order, and positions the country as a benchmark in international cooperation and sustainable development.
Contributions to the United Nations
The bulk of the contributions will be allocated to four major United Nations organisations (UNFPA, UN Women, UNDP and UNICEF), with a total amount of €17,500,000, reflecting the priorities of Spanish foreign policy in terms of cooperation. And they also consolidate Spanish Cooperation's strategic relationship with each of these UN funds, agencies and programmes and their objectives.
- UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund): Spain supports sexual and reproductive rights, universal access to health services for the effective exercise of these rights, and the fight against gender-based violence.
- UN Women: The contribution is intended to promote gender equality and women's empowerment, as well as to prevent and combat gender-based violence.
- UNDP (United Nations Development Programme): Spain is firmly committed to eradicating poverty, reducing inequalities, strengthening democratic governance, and promoting inclusive and sustainable human development.
- UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund): The contribution is focused on supporting the protection of children's rights, the reduction of infant mortality, the promotion of child health and education, equality between girls and boys and the prevention of all types of abuse and violence against children.
OECD and World Bank
The Council of Ministers has also approved a voluntary contribution of €625,000 to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for the 2024 financial year.
This contribution is broken down into several items: support for the Development Assistance Committee (CAD), to fight poverty and inequalities, support fragile States and promote triangular cooperation and the evaluation of public development policies; for the Development Centre, to promote innovation programmes, the construction of inclusive societies and regional sustainable development studies; and the Tax and Development programme, to advance tax justice in developing countries.
Lastly, Spain has decided to contribute €1,000,000 to the World Bank's Rapid Social Response Adaptive and Dynamic Social Protection Programme for 2024, as part of the Spanish Cooperation's contributions to the financing for development agenda for the IV International Conference to be held in Spain in July 2025.
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