The Diplomat
The director of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), Antón Leis, concluded this Sunday a working trip to Guatemala in which he participated in the launch of a new program of the Cooperation Fund for Water and Sanitation (FCAS) of the Spanish Cooperation in the city of Sololá.
According to AECID, this is the Institutional and Technical Strengthening Program for the provision of drinking water and sanitation services to improve Resilience in Communities in the Municipality of Sololá, implemented by the NGO Acción contra el Hambre and with a cost of 700,000 euros.
The initiative will strengthen the prevention, preparedness and response capacities of the municipality of Sololá, in terms of water and sanitation systems in the face of emergencies, sudden events or contingencies and fostering community resilience. Since 2006, the Spanish Cooperation has been present in the Lake Atitlán Basin supporting actions to improve drinking water and sanitation coverage.
Also in Sololá, Leis visited the Ecomuseum of Lake Atitlán, where he was able to see its function as a meeting point, dissemination and enhancement of the cultural heritage of the peoples that make up the Mankatitlán community. During this visit, Antón Leis met with representatives of Mayan women’s organizations, with whom he discussed the fight against violence against women, the need to strengthen the rights of women and girls, and gender equity.
During his visit to Guatemala, Leis held meetings with various government representatives, as well as with Spanish and Guatemalan civil society organizations in order to discuss progress and challenges in the fight against gender violence, human rights and culture and development of Spanish Cooperation. The director of AECID visited this Central American country after last week’s trip to Honduras.
The AECID director also visited one of the most emblematic projects of Spanish Cooperation in Guatemala City, the Workshop School of the Historic Center. This workshop school is the most consolidated of the Guatemalan National Program. It was promoted in 1999 by the Spanish Cooperation as a response to the emergency suffered by the country after the devastation of Hurricane Mitch, with a project to build 40 social housing units for those affected by this disaster.
Last September 2021, the IX Joint Spanish-Guatemalan Cooperation Commission, COMIX, was signed, through which the new Spain-Guatemala Country Partnership Framework 2021-2024, MAP, came into force, establishing the priorities of the Spanish Cooperation in Guatemala for the coming years. These priorities are fully aligned with the 2030 Agenda, and focuses its efforts on three key issues: the fight against chronic child malnutrition, the promotion of the right of women, girls and adolescents to a life free of violence, and the strengthening of the rule of law and the realization of human rights.
