Reforming the Spanish Cooperation system

2021

reforming-the-spanish-cooperation-system

Few can argue against how much the world has changed from the one we knew before the pandemic, and from the one that existed when the cooperation system in Spain was created. Across this period, the international agenda has evolved, and not just in relation to the inclusion of new issues such as climate change and now the COVID-19 emergency. It is less sturdy, stable, tangible and constant and ebbs and flows and is on increasingly shakier ground. This change is not unfamiliar with the incorporation of new actors into the cooperation system, actors which contribute another perspective of development and make it more complex and heterogeneous.

The Spanish cooperation system must adapt to changes occurring in the international sphere and accommodate a more ambitious agenda, connected at once to the SDGs and climate change. The current system possesses fruitful aspects that are worth persevering with, but also requires a profound overhaul, one which converses with new actors that have surfaced and have done so with a broad gaze that rises above the specifics of each one.

We set out from a shared diagnosis which stresses the excessive fragmentation of the system, the set-up of ill-suited institutional architecture and the existence of technical, economic and human resources which are insufficient and, at times, inadequate for the management demanded. The decade of budgetary revisions we have all experienced has unquestionably compounded these shortcomings, making this reform even more timely and necessary.

We have a patently suboptimal cooperation system and a government proposing “reformist ambition and social sensitivity”, essential characteristics to ambitiously and rigorously deal with the deep-seated reform the system requires, redesigning its institutional architecture and equipping it with resources and the regulatory framework it needs to operate properly.

The reform, which would crucially need the consensus of all actors, includes, among other issues: a new International Cooperation Law; an in-depth reform of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) and the Humanitarian Aid system; financial cooperation; a greater integration of different actors; a more ambitious budget; and suitably trained human resources with reasonable labour systems and prospective professional development settings. In other words, a reform plan that includes institutional, political, legislative, budgetary and administrative measures.

By resolving the scope sought by the reform, the idea of undertaking a “comprehensive reform” would thus be worked upon. It is time to define the desired development model, a model which, as things stand, has neither been debated nor agreed upon. Therefore, we need a “what for” in the reform. The cooperation model that arises must respond to the challenges brought by the future, such as the fight against poverty and inequality, particularly related to gender, intensified by the pandemic, and the climate emergency.

The Law of Cooperation for Sustainable Development and Global Solidarity will be taken to the Spanish Cabinet in February 2022 to thereupon begin the procedure in Congress during the next period of sessions. Solidarity, global justice, climate change, gender and human rights shall be the guiding principles of this policy and must be within people’s reach. Most resources will be intended to bolster these pillars.

ODA, as public policy, requires a budgetary commitment, the road map of which leads us to 0.7% by 2030, with intermediary scaling that is unclear -apart from the 0.28% in 2022, reflected in general budgets- while 10% of resources will be for Humanitarian Action, with the creation of a flexible response fund for emerging crises.

The reform requires a re-examination of instruments, including those assigned to financial cooperation, as with the Development Promotion Fund (FONPRODE); the recognition of actors, especially NGDOs, as an expression of solidarity with civil society; the development of new partnerships and alliances, and a new charter for AECID that strengthens its capacities regarding human resources and enables talent and specialisation to be retained.

There must also be an analysis of where decentralised cooperation will fit in if the desired aim is pursued, whereby joint initiatives can participate and leadership, knowledge and experiences can be shared. Beyond the contribution of resources and initiatives promoted, decentralised cooperation backs priorities and action and management models that sometimes differ from cooperation carried out by Spain’s Central State Administration and are highly appreciated and valued by the majority of non-state actors.

On a final note, the need to strengthen governance with strong institutions must be highlighted: the Ministry as the centre of the system; an Advanced Development Cooperation Council; an Inter-Ministry Commission; a new Sectorial Conference of Development Cooperation to promote the wealth of decentralised cooperation; and an Evaluation Office of Spanish Cooperation.

The task ahead is vast, but there does appear to be the political will to move it forward -in the months ahead we will be able to clear up any doubts.