The Diplomat
The Council of Ministers yesterday authorized the annual call for grants from the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) to finance Cooperation and Education for Development and Global Citizenship projects carried out by Non-Governmental Development Organizations (NGDOs).
The call for proposals is aimed at “promoting initiatives to fight against poverty and in favor of sustainable development abroad, as well as to promote education for development and global citizenship in Spain”, according to the AECID. This call, with a maximum amount of 30 million euros, will be funded with the social interest fund from the Social Purposes box included in the Personal Income Tax declaration.
As stipulated in the V Master Plan for Spanish Cooperation, the initiatives financed must take into account human rights, gender equality, environmental sustainability and the fight against climate change. Priority will also be given to proposals that incorporate a comprehensive and multisectoral approach and that are aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their areas of action, such as gender equality -in particular, the promotion of women’s participation in public life and the fight against violence against women-, the fight against human trafficking -especially of women and children-, digital education and the ecological transition.
AECID maintains in this call the geographical contexts prioritized in 2020. Therefore, cooperation initiatives with vulnerable populations in Bolivia, Cape Verde, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Equatorial Guinea, Haiti, Honduras, Jordan, Mali, Morocco, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Niger, Palestine, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Senegal, Tunisia and with the Sahrawi population in Algeria will be favored.
“In all these countries, AECID has expert cooperation personnel for the identification and monitoring of cooperation projects and programs financed by the Agency, as well as for the coordination and support to all Spanish Cooperation actors working there”, the Agency assured. The Spanish territory is also included in this call as an area of action, especially with regard to the promotion of education for development and global citizenship.
The call for cooperation projects will be aimed at NGDOs which, due to their experience and presence in the partner countries, carry out a great deal of work in cooperation for development and make an important contribution to education for development and global citizenship in Spain. Proposals must be carried out in a single country and must include a set of actions to achieve a specific development objective.