The Diplomat
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will allocate up to 484,000 euros in grants for the promotion of human rights domestically or in the “international arena of interest to Spain,” an amount much higher than in 2020 and even in the previous “golden age”.
According to the resolution, signed last April 11 by the State Secretary for Foreign Affairs and for Ibero-America and the Caribbean, Cristina Gallach, and published this week by the BOE, the objective of these grants is “to contribute to the development, improvement of knowledge and strengthening of human rights in the different spheres, through the realization of projects at national level, or at international level of interest for Spain”.
The beneficiaries of these grants will be private non-profit entities, public or private, based in Spain, which have previous accredited experience in human rights activities or whose objectives are the dissemination, promotion or protection of human rights. Preference will be given to projects that have an impact in any of the following areas: the fight against the death penalty, the fight against racism, xenophobia and other related forms of intolerance; rights of persons with disabilities, business and human rights, economic, social and cultural rights, human rights to drinking water and sanitation, human rights defenders, non-discrimination on the basis of gender, sexual orientation and gender identity, children’s rights and the rights of victims of terrorism.
The maximum amount will be 484,000 euros, distributed among all successful applicants. The maximum amount of the grant awarded may not exceed 20,000 euros. This amount exceeds by 265% the €175,371.69 offered in 2020. Between 2007 and 2011, the maximum amount of grants for activities to promote human rights was 350,000 euros, but in 2012 (at the height of the Spanish Risk Premium crisis), the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs reduced this amount by 47% and, from then until 2019, it remained at 184,000 euros. In 2020, after the first wave of COVID-19, it was reduced by 9%.
In the previous edition, more than thirty projects were selected with very similar amounts for each one, among which the 7,992 euros awarded to Fundación Triángulo for its activity against hate speech related to sexual orientation and gender identity in social networks and the 7,000 euros received by Fundación Ecología y Desarrollo, FELGTB and Asociación Cultural de Ayuda de la Comunidad de San Egidio stood out.
