The Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, thanked the representatives of Spanish civil society for their work in implementing the 3rd Africa Plan. At this third plenary meeting of the Africa Board held today, recommendations and proposals were presented on gender mainstreaming and to promote the achievement of the goals of Sustainable Development Goal 5 of the United Nations 2030 Agenda.
The document was drawn up by representatives of NGDOs, of the Academy and of organisations of African communities in Spain. The minister claimed that this “will fuel Spain’s action in Africa and provide a valuable contribution to the government’s feminist foreign policy”.
Simon Nong, President of the association Active Africa, responded to the minister, as spokesperson for the representatives of civil society on the Africa Board, thanking him for his attendance, as “it shows the political will to forge dialogue and ties with civil society, since “one step does not make a path”. He conveyed the positive assessment of the Africa Board as an exercise in consultation, monitoring and accountability, which must be strengthened with more resources. He highlighted, as a result of the Board’s activity, the recommendations for gender mainstreaming, which pave the way for joint work and to forge alliances.
In this regard, Ainhoa Marín (Royal Elcano Institute) explained that to address these five areas that span these recommendations for SDG5 (human mobility, economic empowerment of women, governance, global health, and peace and security) a series of cross-cutting focuses has also been identified to implement the 3rd Africa Plan: coherent policies for sustainable development, an intersectional and feminist gender approach, human rights, and an eco-feminist, participative and intercultural approach. Ainhoa Marín also pointed out that the Africa Plan must stress access by women to the use of land and commit to something that Spain has developed little: strategic alliances between companies and NGOs.
Marta Iglesias (MPDL and spokesperson for the NGDO Coordinator) stated that the specificity of women regarding causes of migration must be addressed, along with violations of their rights within this framework and, human mobility in general. To this end, she pointed to female genital mutilation and the phenomenon of human trafficking, calling for support for “investigations and action” to help dismantle trafficking networks.
For his part, Antumi Toasijé (Pan-African Centre) stressed the need to acknowledge “the progress made by African States and societies” and that “Spain must learn about the good practices in some African countries”. Meanwhile, Deborah Ekoka (United Minds) underscored the recovery, valuation and spread of the “tradition of African women in their fight against patriarchy”.
During the meeting, which then continued chaired by the State Secretary for Foreign and Global Affairs, Ángeles Moreno, the implementation of the 3rd Africa Plan was also addressed, after almost three years of application. Its implementation is accompanied by innovative mechanisms, such as the inclusion of indicators in its annual monitoring for their evaluation in 2023 by the Institute for the Evaluation of Public Policies.
In addition, a pilot project in Senegal was presented on the coordination of stakeholders and instruments to promote Spain’s business presence and investment in Senegal. This is a commitment under the Focus on Africa 2023, which caters for the demand from civil society to improve the coordination of Spain’s foreign action.
In fact, for Marta Blanco (CEOE), “we need a Spain Team” on the ground. In turn, Jesús Jiménez (Exporters and Investors Club) indicated that Spain is relatively unknown in Sub-Saharan Africa, calling for official Spanish instruments to support companies to be more effective. Jaime Montalvo (Chamber of Commerce of Spain) welcomed the pilot project in Senegal, which will shortly make contributions to the draft action plan.
The representatives of civil society that took part at the Africa Board were Marta Iglesias (MPDL), Spokesperson for advocacy of the Governing Board of the NGDO Coordinator); Ignacio Valero (CESAL); Simon Nong (Active Africa); Marta Blanco, President of International CEOE; Jesús Jiménez (Exporters and Investors Club); Jaime Montalvo (Chamber of Commerce of Spain); Ainhoa Marín (Royal Elcano Institute); Antumi Toasijé (Pan-African Centre) and Deborah Ekoka (United Minds).
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