Salvador Illa's government will allocate €8M more for cooperation projects

The President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, recently reiterated in Parliament his commitment to development aid and foreign cooperation. He did so in the midst of an intense debate due to criticism from the opposition. Parties such as Vox and Aliança Catalana reproached the wastefulness in foreign action while public services are collapsing in Catalonia.

The Illa government is keeping its word and has just announced a new injection of €8 million to strengthen cooperation policies. Foreign Affairs Minister Jaume Duch made the announcement during his official visit to Morocco. 

Foreign Action was one of the strategic sectors of Pere Aragonès's government. One of the conditions PSC agreed upon with ERC in exchange for Salvador Illa's investiture was to safeguard this department's spending. In the 2024 budget, the Catalan government allocated €42.7 million to cooperation, and €57.1 million to the Secretariat of Foreign Action (according to information from Vozpópuli).

Opposition parties were outraged after learning how the government is spending Catalans' money. There are 70 projects, such as the creation of inclusive communities in Palestine (€500,000) or the fight against machismo in Morocco (€300,000). Meanwhile, in Catalonia, aid for dependency doesn't reach the majority of those who need it.

When the opposition denounced this injustice, government parties and their supporters accused them of being far-right. Now the government is doubling down on cooperation with a generous injection of money that could have been allocated to people in need in Catalonia.

Morocco, one of the most benefited countries

The Generalitat government is opting for an increase in cooperation aid after Donald Trump cut off funding to all these organizations. "In this scenario," the Catalan executive points out, "we reaffirm our commitment to solidarity and international cooperation." Their priority is "support for democracy and human rights, feminist cooperation, and humanitarian action."

This is how Minister Duch announced it, who is currently in Tangier to visit some of the cooperation projects funded from Catalonia. According to his announcement, this new contribution will mean a 20% increase for cooperation.

One of the most benefited countries will be Morocco. There, the Generalitat is running projects such as the center for minors who are collateral victims of gender-based violence. Even though in Catalonia one out of every three children and adolescents is at risk of poverty or social exclusion, the government considers it appropriate to increase resources for third countries.

€800,000 more for UNRWA

Additionally, Minister Duch has announced €800,000 more for UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees. This organization is under investigation for possible links to Islamist terrorism. Many Western countries, such as the US, Germany, and Switzerland, have suspended aid to this NGO. 

Aliança Catalana and Vox requested the immediate suspension of aid to UNRWA from Catalonia. The government not only is not suspending them, but is giving them more money. With this new contribution, Catalonia has already allocated more than €8.4 million to this agency since 2004.

"With these actions, the government is consolidating its bond and commitment to multilateral organizations in an international context of growing distrust toward multilateralism," can be read on the department's website.