<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>The Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) confirmed this Monday that grants for humanitarian action in 2025 have increased despite the extension of the General State Budget.</strong></h4> This was stated by sources from the Agency (which reports to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) to <em>The Diplomat </em>in response to a report in this newspaper indicating that the maximum amount of €17 million announced last week by the Official State Gazette (BOE) represented a decrease of almost 20 percent compared to the amount initially announced last March. The Resolution of the Presidency of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation calling for grants for the development of humanitarian actions in 2025, published on the AECID website, announces "a maximum amount of €17 million" and specifies that the call will be funded from the 2023 General State Budget, although it may also be funded with the credits provided for in the General State Budget, "if credit is available." In early March, the AECID announced that €21 million would be allocated for humanitarian actions, as part of a total €85 million package for development cooperation, humanitarian action, and innovation grants in 2025. Therefore, the lack of a General Budget for 2025 has forced a 19 percent reduction (from €21 million to €17 million) in the maximum amount planned for this call for proposals and a maximum additional amount of €4 million (which would bring the total to the initially planned €21 million) to be allocated to grants without the need for a new call for proposals. The effectiveness of this funding will be subject to the availability of funding. According to the aforementioned AECID source, the 2025 call for humanitarian actions makes "a notable effort to increase its budget even with the extended General State Budget," since, "compared to the €15 million published in 2024, this year the AECID has an initial budget of €17 million, which will be increased to a total of €21 million once the income tax funds are received." "In total," she adds, "this will increase by €1 million compared to the previous year." The same source adds that, in addition to this call, the AECID has allocated an additional €3 million to humanitarian action grants in Palestine (Gaza and the West Bank) through four Spanish NGOs. Therefore, "in total, at least €24 million will be allocated to humanitarian response through Spanish NGOs." <h5><strong>The call </strong></h5> The Official State Gazette published last Wednesday the resolution of the AECID Presidency approving the public call for grants for the development of humanitarian actions in 2025. The resolution was signed on May 6 in Madrid by the agency's director, Antón Leis. These are the first calls for proposals since the approval of the new Master Plan for Spanish Cooperation 2024-2027. The beneficiaries of these grants will be non-governmental development organizations that have obtained AECID accreditation for carrying out international development cooperation interventions, including humanitarian action, and that have obtained special accreditation from the European Commission for humanitarian interventions. Groups without legal personality composed of entities that meet the above requirements or of entities legally constituted in the country or countries where the intervention will be carried out may also benefit from these grants. Public administrations, international or multilateral organizations, and any entity in which a public administration participates are excluded. The objective of these grants is to finance humanitarian action projects, as established by the 2023 Law on Cooperation for Sustainable Development and Global Solidarity, including disaster prevention and preparedness, emergency response, response to complex, chronic, and recurring crises, early recovery, and the protection of people in particularly vulnerable situations. Actions may be carried out either in one country or in several, if they are bordering countries experiencing the same humanitarian crisis. Ultimately, the objective of this call is to address the current context of conflict and multiple and overlapping crises globally. For example, the call provides for a reserve of at least 15 percent of the available credit for countries in the Sahel.
