Eduardo González
In 2024, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will once again allocate up to 484,000 euros in subsidies for the promotion of human rights at the national level or in the “international area of interest to Spain”, the same amount that has been granted since 2021 and much higher. to that of the period 2012-2020 and even to that of the previous “golden age”.
As established by a resolution of the State Secretary for Foreign and Global Affairs, published this past Tuesday in the Official State Gazette (BOE) and signed on March 22 by the director of the Cabinet of the aforementioned State Secretary, María Luisa Benítez -Donoso Tarascón, the beneficiaries of these subsidies will be “legally constituted, non-profit private entities, based in Spain, that have previous accredited experience in human rights activities or whose objectives are the dissemination, promotion or protection of human rights.”
The objective of the call, the resolution continues, is “to contribute to the development, improvement of knowledge and strengthening of human rights, through the implementation of projects independent of the current operation of the entity, national or international, of interest to Spain”.
When granting subsidies, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will preferably assess those projects that affect one of the following areas: fight against the death penalty, the fight against racism, xenophobia and other related forms of intolerance; rights of people with disabilities, business and human rights, economic, social and cultural rights; human rights to drinking water and sanitation, human rights defenders, non-discrimination based on gender, sexual orientation and gender identity; rights of the child, rights of victims of terrorism, trafficking in human beings and information technologies, artificial intelligence and human rights.
The maximum amount will be 484,000 euros, distributed among all applicants who are beneficiaries. The maximum amount of the subsidy awarded may not exceed 20,000 euros. This amount is the same amount that has been granted since 2021, when the Ministry decided to exceed by 265% the 175,371.69 euros offered in 2020. Between 2007 and 2011, the maximum amount of subsidies for activities to promote human rights It was 350,000 euros, but in 2012 (at the height of the Spanish Risk Premium crisis), the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs reduced this amount by 47% and, from then until 2019, it remained at 184,000 euros. In 2020, after the first wave of COVID-19, it decreased by 9%.
In the previous edition, more than eighty initiatives were selected, among which the projects Human Rights in the International Activity of Companies stood out, with 10,900 euros and organized by Fundación Foro de Encuentros-Foro de Foros; and Development of the LOPIVI in social entities of children and youth in vulnerable situations: challenges and implications and knowledge of the Strategy for the eradication of violence against children and adolescents and its implications, with 10,642 euros and organized by the Education and Cooperation Foundation-
Likewise, the projects VI Social Forum of Women and Girls with Disabilities, organized by the CERMI Mujeres Foundation, were subsidized with 10,000 each; the Conference on the protection of survivors of sexual violence from the perspective of human rights, organized by Asociación Otro Tiempo; Stand Right, organized by Down Spain-Spanish Federation of Institutions for Down Syndrome; Transatlantic Networks against Trafficking, organized by the Association for the Prevention, Reintegration and Care of Prostituted Women; FXJ.World, organized by the Valencian Community Foundation for Justice; and Meet ALS, organized by the Francisco Luzón Foundation.
