Ministry of Foreign Affairs allocates close to 3.2 million euros to UN agencies, the Council of Europe, the OSCE and ECOWAS

These 32 international agencies not only include United Nations agencies but also such regional bodies as the Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) for a total sum of 3,185,700.00 euros.

Noteworthy in this package of voluntary contributions to international organisations, programmes and funds and to other international bodies, charged to the budget of the State Secretariat for Foreign Affairs, and for Ibero-America and the Caribbean, which was ratified just this week by the Council of Ministers, is the contribution for the sum of 850,000 euros to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

This is the main United Nations office tasked with protecting and promoting human rights around the world. This contribution seeks to comply with Spain's commitment to the multilateral system to protect and promote human rights, supporting the important work carried out by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and consolidating Spain's profile in this field.

Other significant contributions include the allocations to the International Commission against the Death Penalty, given that promoting the abolition of the death penalty is one of Spain's foreign policy priorities on human rights, and to the United Nations Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs.

There were other contributions to finance the training of African students from Member States of ECOWAS, election observation missions for the OSCE, backing for mine clearing programmes for UNMAS in the Western Sahara and the Trust Fund for Victims of the International Criminal Court.

Coinciding with the 15th anniversary of the Barcelona Conference, Spain is making a contribution of 500,000 euros to the Union for the Mediterranean. This contribution responds to the political priority of the Mediterranean region and neighbourly relations with Mediterranean partners.

Lastly, this package is completed with contributions to organisations in the field of the fight against terrorism, to guarantee security and disarmament.

In summary, this is a package through which Spain seeks to contribute to the defence and promotion of human rights, to strengthening international peace and security, to development cooperation, to fostering non-proliferation and disarmament, and to the fight against terrorism.

Non official translation