Eduardo González
The Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) and the Instituto Cervantes of Dakar have closed a program to promote Spanish in Angola.
On December 1, the director of Cultural and Scientific Relations of the AECID, Santiago Herrero, and the director of the Instituto Cervantes of Dakar (Senegal), Concha Barceló closed, in the presence of the Spanish ambassador in Luanda, Manuel Lejarreta, the Academic Mission organized by both institutions in Angola. Held in Luanda, this Mission has included a week-long training course for teachers of Spanish as a foreign language, as well as several meetings with government and academic authorities, laying the foundations to promote Spanish in the sub-Saharan country.
The initiative is part of the agreement reached in 2019 by the Instituto Cervantes and the AECID to implement a project to train trainers in Spanish as a foreign language through the ACERCA Training Program for development in the cultural sector. With an initial duration of four years, this agreement has been extended in 2023 for four more years, until 2027. Throughout this time, a total of eleven Academic Missions have been held in nine countries in the region: Ivory Coast, Benin, Gabon and Cameroon (2019); Ghana, Senegal and Mozambique (2021); Ivory Coast and DR Congo (2022); Benin and Angola (2023).
The ACERCA Training Program for Development in the Cultural Sector of Spanish Cooperation was created in 2005 to strengthen the capacities of partner countries in all areas of culture. One of the fundamental lines of work is the education and training of cultural actors and managers of public and private institutions. It is also aimed at facilitating meetings between experts and professionals with a view to establishing cooperation mechanisms, regional strategies and networking.
To carry out these objectives and allow work in different regions, cultural areas and levels of action, ACERCA has the structure of Spanish Cooperation abroad: Embassies, Cultural Centers, Technical Cooperation Offices and Training Centers. The ACERCA Program works in all Ibero-American countries, in Sub-Saharan Africa (Angola, Cape Verde, Ethiopia, Guinea Conakry, Equatorial Guinea, Mali, Mozambique, Niger and Senegal), in North Africa and the Middle East (Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Mauritania, Palestine and Tunisia), within Asia, in the Philippines.
The ACERCA Program is managed jointly by the AECID and the International and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policies (FIIAPP) and follows what is established in the Master Plan of Spanish Cooperation in force at all times. In Spain, depending on the characteristics of each activity, the ACERCA program has the collaboration of Institutions of the Spanish Public Administration (Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports, Autonomous Communities, City Councils, Universities, etc.). civil society organizations and private entities most linked to the training objective.
