The Diplomat
The Council of Ministers last Tuesday, the last before the general elections on July 23, authorized voluntary contributions to funds from international organizations, programs and other international entities for a total amount of 38,885,760 euros.
“In accordance with its political priorities, Spain has periodically made voluntary contributions to various international organizations, programs and funds and other international entities dedicated to the defense and promotion of human rights, the strengthening of international peace and security and the fight against terrorism and international crime”, recalled the Government.
The main voluntary contribution corresponds to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), with eight million euros. The figure is almost equal to the 8.7 million granted last October to this same organization. UNHCR is usually one of the great beneficiaries of this type of contribution, with more than ten million in 2021 (6.5 million in October and four million in November).ç.
It is followed, in terms of the importance of the voluntary contribution, by the World Health Organization (WHO), with 3.95 million euros; the JPO Program – Junior Professional Officer Program (a UN initiative for the training of young professionals in the field of international multilateral cooperation), with 2.8 million; and Unicef’s GIGA Initiative (a joint program of Unicef and the International Telecommunication Union to connect all schools in the world to the Internet), with 2.5 million.
In addition, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will receive 2,023 million euros; the African Union, two million euros; the United Nations System Staff College (UNSCC, the higher school for learning and knowledge within the United Nations system), 1.86 million; the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) will receive 1.75 million euros; the UNDP United Nations Volunteers Program will get 1.5 million euros and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) another 1.5 million euros. The list includes the million euros that will each be received by the International Criminal Court (which this year celebrates its first 25 years), the Alliance of Civilizations and UN-WOMEN.
In addition, the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Middle East (UNRWA). will receive 750,000 euros; the International Organization for Migration (IOM), 721,153 euros; the Peace Consolidation Fund, 625,000 euros; the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), 500,000 euros; the counter-terrorism program against vulnerable people in Mauritania of the United Nations Office against Terrorism (UNOCT), 454,873 euros; the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), 350,000 euros; and the Women’s Fund for Peace and Humanitarianism, another 350,000 euros.
Between 200,000 and 280,000 euros will correspond to OCHA-Gender with Age Marker, the Tres Culturas Foundation, the Blue Dot Network Project, the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP ), the International Commission against the Death Penalty (CIPM) and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The Council of Europe, the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) and the UN Department for Political Affairs and Peacebuilding (DAPCP) will receive €150,000.
The list includes another fifty-year-old entities, such as the International Labor Organization (ILO), the Alliance for Water and Sanitation for All, the European Institute of Peace, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS/ECOWAS), the Global Equality Fund (managed by the Embassy of the United States) and the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations for Children and Armed Conflict (CAAC) (all of them with 100,000 euros), and many others whose amounts are around In general, 50,000 euros.
