Spain contributes €21 million to international organizations, including €12 million to UNDP and UNICEF

Eduardo González The Council of Ministers authorized this Tuesday the disbursement of almost €21 million in voluntary contributions to international organizations, including €6.5 million to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and €5.5 million to the regular budget of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). "The contribution to UNDP, a key partner for Spanish Cooperation for its work in eradicating poverty, reducing inequalities, and building countries' resilience to crises, represents an increase of 1.5 million euros compared to 2024; while that of UNICEF, of great importance for its work in protecting the world's children, has increased by half a million euros," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated in a press release. "With these contributions, and following the upward trends of recent years, Spanish Cooperation renews and increases its contributions to the regular budget of strategic agencies and is on track to achieve 0.7% of Gross National Income allocated to Official Development Assistance by 2030," he added. In addition, the Government provides almost nine million euros (8,648,000 euros) for international organizations, programs, funds, and other international entities, including three million euros for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), three million euros for the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), 1.8 million euros for the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), another million euros for the UNDP, and one million euros for the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB). The remaining amounts include a further €326,000 to UNICEF, €326,000 to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), €326,000 to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), €320,000 to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), €200,000 to the Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) Partnership and €200,000 to the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC). Higher Council for Cooperation for Sustainable Development On another note, the Council of Ministers endorsed the Royal Decree establishing the Higher Council for Cooperation for Sustainable Development and Global Solidarity, "which constitutes the last of the three coordination and consultation bodies provided for in Cooperation Law 1/2023." This new body, which replaces the Development Cooperation Council, "seeks to strengthen dialogue and institutional participation with civil society and other stakeholders, in addition to contributing to better articulating decentralized cooperation, one of the elements with the greatest added value in the cooperation system," the Foreign Ministry continued. With this latest step, according to the Ministry, "this final step completes the regulatory rollout that will give rise to a new body that will be chaired by the minister and will include representatives from public administrations, NGOs, human rights associations, universities, social partners, and experts in cooperation and humanitarian action." The new Council will have a newly created Standing Committee, tasked with streamlining internal work, chaired by the Secretary of State for International Cooperation, Eva Granados Galiano. Among the main changes are two positions from autonomous communities, which will rotate annually based on the date of approval of their Statutes of Autonomy. Local entities will be represented through the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP) and the Confederation of Cooperation and Solidarity Funds (CONFOCOS). The Higher Council for Cooperation will also include the most representative peace organizations, aid workers, and volunteers at the state level, as well as youth organizations and the state's public business sector.

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