<h6><strong>The Diplomat</strong></h6> <h4><strong>Queen Letizia concluded her cooperation trip to Cape Verde this Thursday with a meeting with the First Lady, Débora Katisa Carvalho, with whom she discussed the issues of children and women in the African country.</strong></h4> The purpose of the Queen's trip, which began this past Monday and during which she was accompanied at all times by the Secretary of State for International Cooperation, Eva María Granados, was to learn about the work that Spanish Cooperation is carrying out in Cape Verde in the areas of gender equality, comprehensive development (reducing inequalities and localizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the blue economy (sustainable use of marine resources). The final day of the trip took place early in the morning at the Presidential Palace, where she enjoyed a working breakfast with Débora Katisa Carvalho, First Lady of the Republic. During the breakfast, according to the Royal Household, topics related to children (children with special needs, children with speech problems, deaf-mutes, and autistic children) and women were discussed, particularly colon and breast cancer (the leading cause of female mortality in Cape Verde), addictions, and menstrual health. The Queen then traveled to Trindade, where she visited the Fazenda Esperança Therapeutic Community, where she held a brief meeting with young people undergoing training to prevent drug addiction in adolescents. Later, she visited the project "Training and empowerment of women victims of gender-based violence and/or at risk through social and labor reintegration" at the Santa Catarina Employment and Vocational Training Center in Assomada, which is aimed at young women and adolescents experiencing sexual exploitation, trafficking for various purposes, and gender-based violence. Finally, Queen Letizia concluded her cooperation trip with a brief visit to the Amaranta Foundation shelter. After being seen off at Nelson Mandela Airport by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of the Cape Verde Government, Miryam Vieira, and the Spanish Ambassador to Cape Verde, Ana Paredes, the Queen returned to Spain. This is the Queen's tenth cooperation trip, resuming a tradition initiated in 1997 by Queen Sofía (who, in fact, made a cooperation trip to Cape Verde in April 2006). Previously, Queen Letizia traveled to Honduras and El Salvador (2015), Senegal (2017), the Dominican Republic and Haiti (2018), Mozambique (2019), Honduras again (2020), Paraguay (late 2021), Mauritania (May 2022), Colombia (June 2023), and Guatemala (June 2024). The objective of these visits is to support Spanish Cooperation, learn firsthand about the work carried out by the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation and Development (AECID) and Spanish non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and verify the effectiveness of Spanish-funded projects and their direct impact on beneficiaries. <h5><strong>Cooperation in Cape Verde</strong></h5> Spanish Cooperation has been present in Cape Verde since 1999 and is currently one of the priority countries in the West African region. With the new Master Plan for Sustainable Development and Global Solidarity 2024-2027, Spain has renewed its commitment to the sustainable development of Cape Verde, a lower-middle-income country where a cross-cutting approach is being implemented to combat social, economic, and ecological inequality. In 2021, Spain and Cape Verde signed the latest Advanced Cooperation Agreement, which prioritizes progress in gender equality, economic growth and employment, the reduction of inequalities, adaptation to climate change and environmental sustainability, the use of marine resources, and the strengthening of partnerships within the framework of the 2030 Agenda. In the 2021-2024 period, the AECID invested more than €13 million in cooperation projects in Cape Verde. In addition, NGOs are currently implementing projects totaling more than €3.7 million through CERAI, the Triángulo Foundation, the Association for Peace and Development, the Religious Foundation for Health, and the Amaranta Foundation. There are 32 Spanish volunteers in Cape Verde.
