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Spain has embraced the MDGs, convinced that a fairer world is possible. It has therefore made an unprecedented effort in the area of development cooperation during the past four years.

There has been too little progress towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). At present, 40 per cent of the world’s population is living below the minimum sanitation threshold, two thirds of all illiterate people are women and over 65 per cent of the people affected by HIV/AIDS live in Africa.
 
The MDGs, contained in the United Nations Millennium Declaration, were adopted by 189 countries, including Spain, in September 2000. In so doing, the international community made a commitment not only to the world’s poorest women and men but also to itself.
 
The Goals explicitly recognize the interdependence of growth, poverty reduction and sustainable development—development supported by democratic governance, the rule of law, respect for human rights, and peace and security. The MDGs are based on measurable targets with time frames and indicators for monitoring the progress achieved. In that regard, Goal 8—develop a global partnership for development—expressly recognizes the shared responsibilities of both developing and developed countries, and includes a proposal that each developed country should allocate 0.7 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) to increase official development assistance (ODA).
 
Spain has embraced the MDGs, convinced that a fairer world is possible. It has therefore made an unprecedented effort in the area of development cooperation during the past four years. In its most recent review of Spain’s cooperation activities, the Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) recognized this effort and Spain’s commitment to more than doubling the percentage of GDP allocated to ODA, in order to reach the 0.7-per-cent target set by the United Nations by 2012. The review also recognizes that with budget allocations of 0.5 per cent of GDP for 2008, Spain ranks, in absolute terms, eighth among the world’s donors and seems well placed to achieve its goals. The Government realizes, however, that some challenges remain and that, in addition to increasing ODA, Spain needs to continue its effort to improve the quality of assistance, consistency of policies and coordination of stakeholders.
 
Achievement of the MDGs is an ongoing effort that underlies Spain’s development cooperation policy, as reflected in the Master Plan for Spanish Cooperation for 2005-2008. In December 2006, in the overall context of the inadequacy of international resources for achieving the Goals, and in accordance with Spain’s commitment to a targeted and strategic multilateralism, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Spanish Government signed an ambitious agreement to establish the Spain-UNDP Fund, designed to accelerate efforts to achieve the MDGs in a number of countries and to support United Nations reform efforts at the country level. Spain has donated a total of €528 million (euros) to the joint Fund, to be allocated and disbursed between 2007 and 2010. These resources are derived from developing countries’ external debt payments to Spain. Specifically, this initiative has been launched as a result of the December 2006 adoption of the Spanish External Debt Regulatory Act.
 
The Spain-UNDP Fund has two primary objectives. Firstly, it endeavours to support the UN reform process—and is doing so by depositing the funds (€528 million) allocated for UNDP into the Programme’s account, so that UNDP can collaborate with other UN agencies. Secondly, the Fund aims to accelerate the achievement of the MDGs in selected countries by supporting policies and programmes that endeavour to have a significant, measurable impact on the Goals. It seeks to facilitate innovation in development practices and the adoption of mechanisms that improve the quality of assistance, as envisaged in the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness.
 
The agreement establishing the Fund covers all sectoral and geographic priorities that are included in the Master Plan for Spanish Cooperation, which sets out Spain’s policy, justification and financial priorities for achieving the MDGs. Nevertheless, it is important to stress that the Fund is managed in a manner consistent with the processes of a multilateral body and that its decision-making should not focus on the priorities or interests of a particular donor.