The Diplomat
The acting Council of Ministers yesterday approved several voluntary contributions from Spain to international organizations, programs and funds and other entities of an international nature, for a total amount of almost 91 million euros. The largest contributions correspond to United Nations entities, which together receive more than 71 million euros.
In carrying out its mandate, and within the limits of its budget, the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) regularly makes voluntary contributions to various international organizations, programs, funds and other international entities.
By means of this agreement, the Council of Ministers authorizes Spain’s voluntary contributions to the following international organizations, programs, funds and other international entities, for a total amount of 90,981,000 euros.
The most important item, by far, is the 20 million Euros that will correspond to the Adaptation Fund for Climate Change (AF), officially instituted in 2007 in application of the Kyoto Protocol of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change with the aim of financing projects and programs to help developing countries adapt to the harmful effects of climate change.
The second largest contribution is the 10,795,000 euros earmarked for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). It is followed by 6,750,000 euros for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), 5,950,000 euros for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), 5,721,000 euros for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and 5 million euros for the African Union (AU).
The list also includes four million euros for the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), 3,500,000 euros for the World Food Programme (WFP), 3,420. 3,420,000 for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), EUR 3,200,000 for the World Health Organization (WHO), EUR 2,565,000 for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and EUR 2,530,000 for the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB).
The remaining contributions include 1,900,000 euros for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), 1,850,000 euros for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 1.5 million euros for the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the Organization of American States (OAS), 1,450,000 euros for the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), 1,400. 1,400,000 euros for the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT), 1,300,000 euros for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), 1,150,000 euros for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), 1,050,000 euros for the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and 1 million euros for UNITAID.
Below 1 million euros are the Organization of Ibero-American States for Education, Science and Culture (OEI) and the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), both with 800,000 euros; the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), with 750. 750,000; 600,000 euros for the Ibero-American Social Security Organization (OISS), 200,000 euros for the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the German Cooperation Society (GIZ) and 100,000 euros for the Latin American Center for Development Administration (CLAD).
In recent years, the Executive has tended to approve voluntary contributions in November or December. In the last Council of Ministers before the general elections of July 23 (23-J), the Government approved almost 40 million Euros in voluntary contributions for international organizations, programs and funds, a measure that did not sit well with the PP.
According to diplomatic circles close to the PP, the objective of these contributions was to revalue the figure of President Pedro Sánchez in the eyes of the recipients of these funds, in case he did not manage to remain in La Moncloa after the elections. According to the same sources, one of the possible exits for Sánchez in the event of leaving the Government and resigning to lead the opposition would be the direction of one of the international organizations or UN programs beneficiaries of the Spanish funds.
