SPAIN / USA – The Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) and the Organization of American States (OAS) signed an agreement Monday through which the AECID will contribute $2.02 million to key programs of the Organization in 2024.
After signing the agreement, the assistant-secretary general of the OAS, Nestor Mendez, highlighted that “this new cooperation will allow us to continue strengthening the electoral missions, the Mission to Support the Peace Process in Colombia, human rights, as well as the dialogue on innovative public policies for the benefit of people of African descent, and the strengthening of social, cultural and environmental rights.”
For his part, the director of the AECID, Anton Leis, said that “in the agreement that we signed today, in this voluntary contribution of 2.02 million dollars, we are going to focus on democracy, on the promotion and protection of human rights and the strengthening of peace.”
The Permanent Observer of Spain to the OAS, Carmen Montón, explained that her country “is the only one that has a cooperation fund with the OAS, a fund that is close to celebrating 20 years of existence. The constitution of the Spanish Fund for the OAS represented the creation of a unique instrument through which the Spanish commitment to cooperation with this Organization, which we consider a fundamental partner in an absolutely priority region, and its member states, has been materialized and organized,” added ambassador Montón.
Director Leis and ambassador Montón also met with the Joint Commission between the OAS General Secretariat and the AECID, where the lines of cooperation financed by the two contributions received in 2023 were established.
The director of the AECID also met with representatives of the Department for Electoral Cooperation and Observation (DECO), the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM) and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to learn about the upcoming implementation of the programs financed by the Spain Fund.
Since the creation of the Fund in 2006, Spain has contributed more than $72 million to finance some 195 OAS projects and activities. Spain has been an observer country of the OAS since 1972.
