The Diplomat
Spain and Mozambique sealed last week a new Country Partnership Framework (MAP, for its acronym in Spanish) for the period 2021-2024 that will allow the allocation of up to 47 million euros to development aid managed by Spain in this country, 11 of which will correspond to delegated cooperation from the European Union.
As reported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a press release, the new MAP was signed last Thursday at the headquarters of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) by the Secretary of State for International Cooperation, Pilar Cancela, and the Deputy Minister of Foreign Business and Cooperation of Mozambique, Manuel José Gonçalves.
The new MAP, which establishes the geographic and sectoral priorities of the joint action of both governments in favor of development, will be valid for three years and “comes to renew the commitment of Spanish Cooperation with the country, which continued working on the basis of the previous agreement, agreed for the period 2014-2016,” added Foreign Affairs. Spain’s Cooperation with Mozambique began in the 1980s with the signing of the Basic Agreement on Scientific and Technical Cooperation between the two countries.
“Spanish Cooperation with Mozambique is rich, uses multiple instruments and brings together the commitment of Spanish society with the country,” said Pilar Cancela during the meeting of the VIII Spanish-Mozambican Joint Commission for Cooperation. For Manuel José Gonçalves, the signing of the MAP “further strengthens the excellent relations that have existed between the two countries for more than four decades”.
With this new MAP, Spanish Cooperation will continue to work primarily in the northern and southern regions of the country, historical areas of action and where 70% of Spanish funding is currently implemented, with a high presence of NGODs and bilateral cooperation.
Cabo Delgado
According to the agreement, Spanish Cooperation will devote special attention to conflicts such as the one in Cabo Delgado, in the northern region, which is going through a serious situation of insecurity and violence due to the increase in jihadist attacks since 2017. For that reason, this province will continue to be the main recipient of projects and funding from Spain. The Government of Mozambique has approved a reconstruction plan for Cabo Delgado, precisely for the period 2021-202 4, and Spain is among the main donors under this plan, in response to the authorities’ call for support. In total, this region will receive 15 million euros out of the 47 million euros from the MAP. Work will also be carried out in the three provinces of the southern region: Maputo, Gaza and Inhambane.
In terms of cooperation delegated by the European Union to the Spanish Cooperation, the anti-corruption projects (executed by AECID and FIIAPP) and, within the framework of the Covenant of Mayors in Sub-Saharan Africa (COMSSA) initiative, the actions in favor of adaptation to climate change in the Maputo Metropolitan Area stand out. Likewise, the delegated cooperation of Andalusia and Catalonia has a strong presence in the provinces of Cabo Delgado and Inhambane, respectively.
“All Spanish Cooperation actions in the country will be conceived and implemented from the perspective of gender approaches and the defense of women’s rights, climate change, human rights, cultural diversity and will take into account the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the press release added.
Among the priority sectors, the health sector stands out, since Mozambique is developing the specialized medical training program, which seeks to alleviate the deficit of specialized health professionals. The star project in this area is the Manhiça Health Research Center (CISM), which aims to find solutions to the main communicable diseases that specifically affect Mozambique and developing countries in general. The CISM, which has been supported by AECID since its inception, is now 25 years old and has recently succeeded in creating the first vaccine against malaria.
