The Diplomat
The Government has authorized, between November 2019 and March 2023, voluntary contributions to international organizations for a value of more than 450 million euros.
This was reported by the Executive last May 10 in response to a parliamentary question from MP Pablo Cambronero, of the Mixed Group, on the recent decision of the Council of Ministers to authorize a donation of more than 130.5 million euros to international organizations, a substantial part of which, 45 million, will go to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
Specifically, Cambronero (former MP of Ciudadanos and member of the Mixed Group since March 2021) stated in his written parliamentary question that “it is surprising that in recent times no less than four agreements have been reached by the Council of Ministers in this regard, always with amounts of millions of euros taken from the treasury”. “Of course that international solidarity is important, but we must remind this Government that in Spain there is a growing level of poverty and there are social services seriously threatened while the Government donates and donates abroad,” he continued.
Therefore, the MP asked the Executive “how much public money has been given to international organizations, plans or foreign governments so far in this legislature by the mechanism of the Agreement of the Council of Ministers”, how “the Government controls the destination and effectiveness in the use of such public money” and why “131 million Euros are granted extra budget to these organizations at this particular time.”
In its response, the Government assured that, at the proposal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it has authorized voluntary contributions to international organizations for a total of 452,365,501 Euros between November 2019 and March 2023. “It should be noted that some of these contributions are multi-year and, therefore, the amount disbursed during these years is lower,” it specified.
Apart from that, according to the Government, these amounts are processed in accordance with the Law on Treaties and other International Agreements, of 2017, which establishes that “the contributions or voluntary contributions made by the General State Administration not provided for in Treaties and International Agreements must be authorized by the Council of Ministers.” Likewise, each of these contributions “is made within the framework of an agreement that establishes the control mechanisms, objectives and safeguards necessary to ensure the proper destination of the same” and, to this end, “the relevant bodies of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation carry out the appropriate monitoring and control”.
The Government also assured that the multilateral development and humanitarian agencies to which these amounts are destined “are organizations of recognized prestige, of which Spain is a member”, including its membership in their executive bodies. “Funding to multilateral development agencies is, moreover, a true reflection of Spain’s commitment to strengthening multilateralism in order to achieve the sustainable development goals for which these different voluntary contributions are intended,” it said.
The 130,545,000 euros authorized at the end of March by the Council of Ministers “form part of the budget” of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) and its processing “responds to the humanitarian and development needs and commitments that Spain must face as an international actor.” In addition, the AECID “monitors the execution of the funds in order to ensure their optimal use”.
“The current context is characterized by a multi-systemic crisis, affecting health, food security, economic growth and human development due to the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and global supply problems with a generalized increase in the prices of basic services. Therefore, there is a need to accelerate the response to humanitarian needs in the various contexts,” the Executive warned.
“At the same time, certain funds to which Spain has committed, such as the recently created Pandemic Fund, require the disbursement of funds to advance in their establishment and implementation. Thus, for the sake of resource efficiency, all those annual contributions already committed to specialized development funds, such as the Global Partnership for Education or the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, have been incorporated into the processing of this file,” it concluded.
