AECID

The promotion of women’s rights and gender equality is one of the hallmarks of Spanish Cooperation. Spanish Cooperation's Fifth Master Plan (2018-2021) focuses on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the targets of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5, supporting gender equality as a strategic line of action so as to empower women and girls and offer them the protection necessary to enable them to fully exercise their rights. Gender equality is a key priority for the EU, as established by the new European Consensus on Development, which takes the EU Gender Action Plan II 2016-2020 as a reference in the realm of cooperation. In parallel, gender mainstreaming in development interventions continues to be a commitment, and gender issues are taken into account in the remaining SDGs and actions.

The 2030 Agenda champions gender equality not only as a fundamental human right, but also as a necessary basis for achieving a peaceful, prosperous, and sustainable world, constituting an essential element for the attainment of the SGDs. If gender inequalities are not dealt with in all areas of the Agenda, its achievement will be hindered and it will even be impossible to accomplish certain goals. Because of this, the main targets to be achieved in this regard are condensed in SDG 5.

Similarly, Spanish Cooperation's Sectoral Strategy for Gender in Development has been drawn up pursuant to the Master Plan for 2005-2008 and as an instrument for implementing Organic Law 3/2007, so as to ensure that equality is also taken into account in development policies. This Strategy takes the Beijing Platform as its model, recognizing the contribution of women’s and feminist organisations, and observes the principles of aid effectiveness, with the aim of contributing to the achievement of better equality outcomes in partner countries.

Recognition of the importance of planning in development processes has led to the approval of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID)’s Gender and Development Sectorial Action Plan. This has become an essential tool for improving the quality and effectiveness of aid, increasing coherence between the strategic aspects of the Master Plan and the operational aspects of the internal programmes of AECID’s specific interventions through all its modalities and instruments. This Sectoral Action Plan is complemented by the Sectoral Document, approved in 2016, which identifies perspectives and recommendations from the gender in development sector for AECID, with the aim of contributing to decision-making and generating more strategic alliances with partners, selecting the most appropriate cooperation instruments in each sphere of activity, and seeking how best to strengthen gender mainstreaming in all actions and instruments.

Finally, as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’s commitment to mainstreaming, all institutions are urged to promote the mainstreaming of the gender approach. For this reason, and in line with the mandate established by the Fifth Master Plan and AECID’s Strategic Plan, a Guide to Gender Mainstreaming has been drawn up for the primary purpose of providing an accurate and essential tool for AECID’s daily work.

LINES OF ACTION

• Social, political and cultural participation
• Combatting gender violence
• Sexual and reproductive rights
• Women and peacebuilding
• Women's economic and labour rights

• Preventing Violence and Crime against Women and Children, in Guatemala, amounting to €1.6 million (delegated amount: €15 million; total project: €16.6 million).
• Strengthening comprehensive systems to protect children and adolescents from smuggling and trafficking for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation, facilitating the exercise of their right to a life free from violence, in Bolivia, €2.5 million.
• More female farm workers, young women in rural areas and urban female workers from the bonded assembly plant (maquila) sector are transforming ideas, beliefs, and practices, thus promoting their self-sufficiency—as individuals and as a group—for the exercise of their economic rights and their right to a life free from violence, in Nicaragua. Amount: €2.5 million.
• For the right of women, adolescents and girls to a life free from violence, in the Cusco and Lima regions of Peru. Amount: €2.5 million.

Regional sphere

• Masar Programme, in its gender-related aspects 

• NEPAD Spanish Fund for African Women's Empowerment (further info)

Bilateral sphere

• Philippines: Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (SULONG CARHIHL), amounting to €315,978 in 2017.
• Mali: Sexual and Reproductive Health Programme, a long-term project initiated in 2009, totalling €2.5 million (further info).
• Niger: supporting the Ministry of Population, Promotion of Women, and Child Protection (€1 million), for the implementation of the National Gender Policy and the construction of the "House of Women" in the Maradi region.

Global sphere

• Support for the Safe Cities Global Initiative, undertaken with UN Women.
• Joint programme providing an Essential Services Package for Women and Girls Subject to Violence, carried out by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
• Programme for the strengthening of policies promoting gender equality and social inclusion, and for the prevention of sexual violence against vulnerable groups, in particular, persons with disabilities, WE DECIDE programme, with UNFPA.