The Diplomat
On March 22nd, the Basic Agreement on Development Cooperation between Spain and Ethiopia, a treaty that was signed in Addis Ababa a little over fourteen years ago, on January 30th, 2007, came into force.
The Agreement, published on April 22nd in the Official State Gazette, was signed by the then Secretary of State for International Cooperation, Leire Pajín, during a working visit to Ethiopia in January 2007 and subsequently led to the creation of the Spain-Ethiopia Joint Commission and the opening of the Technical Cooperation Office (TCO) in Addis Ababa.
During that same working trip, Leire Pajín also signed the Cooperation Agreement in the fields of education, culture and youth, which, like the aforementioned Basic Cooperation Agreement, came into force many years after its signing, specifically on January 17, 2020, thirteen years later.
The Basic Cooperation Agreement will be applicable in various areas, such as basic social services, especially health, education, access to drinking water and sanitation, food security and human resources training; infrastructure development and support for the development of the productive sectors; the protection and respect for human rights, gender equality and the defense of the most vulnerable population groups; the strengthening of democratic structures and civil society; the protection and improvement of the environment with a view to sustainable development; cultural promotion and the development of scientific and technological research and its application to development cooperation projects.
The development cooperation activities provided for in the Agreement may be carried out mainly through programs, projects and technical cooperation, food aid, emergency aid, aid and subsidies to non-governmental organizations, micro-credits or any other instrument agreed between the parties. Spain shall bear the expenses corresponding to it in application of this Agreement up to the limit established, for each annual period, by the General State Budget, without ruling out the necessary support from Ethiopia for the activities carried out under this Agreement.
