The new Cooperation Master Plan prioritizes West Africa and the Sahel for the first time

Eduardo González Yesterday, the Council of Ministers approved the Master Plan for Spanish Cooperation 2024-2027, the document that sets the objectives and priorities for the coming years and that includes, for the first time, West Africa and the Sahel as a priority region. Both the Master Plan and the Royal Decree of the Statute of Cooperating Persons, which was also approved yesterday, “are two of the first milestones in the deployment of the new Cooperation Law for Sustainable Development and Global Solidarity, approved in February 2023 by broad social and political consensus,” declared the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through a press release. “The Master Plan lays the foundations to face the great current global challenges, such as the construction of peace, hunger, inequalities or the climate crisis, and will allow for a reinforced Spanish Cooperation, capable of continuing to be present effectively wherever it is needed more,” declared the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares. “Cooperation is part of our foreign policy, it is a hallmark of Spanish society and it is our greatest contribution to peace, prosperity and stability in the world,” the minister continued during the press conference after the Council of Ministers. The document, he assured, is the result of “a long participatory process” in which civil society, autonomous communities, city councils and parliamentary groups have participated. “It has broad political and social support,” he added. West Africa and the Sahel The new Master Plan, according to Albares, includes, “for the first time”, West Africa and the Sahel as one of the priority regions, which will include the development of a specific strategy for this area. According to Foreign Ministry, the countries of origin of migratory flows require “a reinforcement of cooperation to address the root causes of migration.” In this regard, the Ministry recalled Albares' recent trips to Cape Verde, Gambia and Senegal, countries that send irregular migration, to strengthen political dialogue and cooperation, as well as the recent allocation of 180 million euros to promote the employment of young people. in Senegal in the next four years. In addition, and based on the new Master Plan, Spanish Cooperation will also prioritize work with partner countries in North Africa, the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa, as well as with the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. In addition, special attention will be paid to emergencies and humanitarian needs in Ukraine, a country identified in the Master Plan as “of special interest” (like Afghanistan) and in which Spanish Cooperation has already disbursed almost one hundred million euros for humanitarian action. The Master Plan, according to the minister, will focus its vision on the role of international cooperation to promote a “triple just transition: social, ecological and economic” and comply with the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals. Likewise, it is committed to a series of principles that are transversal to all the actions of Spanish Cooperation through a series of “priority sectors”, such as the construction of peace, the fight against poverty and inequalities, human rights, the feminist approach and gender equality, access to water and education, environmental sustainability, climate justice and cultural diversity. In addition, and within “Spain's commitment to multilateralism as the most certain way to peacefully resolve conflicts”, the Master Plan provides for the development of a Multilateral Policy Strategy for Sustainable Development and the holding of the IV International Conference on Financing. for Development, which will take place in Seville in 2025, explained the minister. Cooperators On the other hand, the Council of Ministers also approved yesterday the Royal Decree of the Statute of Cooperating Persons, which replaces that of 2006, and which incorporates several new features, such as the expansion of the application framework, the improvement of the rights of cooperators and their families and the reinforcement of the duties of both the cooperators and the promoting entities. In addition, measures are established to promote the training and professional development of collaborators, as well as to facilitate their reintegration once their international mission has ended. “For example, provision is being made for aid workers and humanitarian workers to benefit from a compensation and disability regime similar to that of journalists working in conflict zones or troops participating in international peace operations,” Albares explained.

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