Environmental sustainability is one of the key cross-cutting objectives of Spain’s Development Cooperation Plan for 2009–2012. Combating climate and habitat change is a priority area in Spain's efforts to promote the sustainable management of natural resources based on development models with the potential to enhance local communities’ well-being and livelihoods.
Against this backdrop, on 16 March 2009, Christian Mersmann, Managing Director of the Global Mechanism (GM) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and Juan Pablo de Laiglesia, Director of the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation and Development (AECID) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) whereby the Government of Spain allocated 500 000 euros to the GM, as part of its 1 million Euro contribution to the UNCCD.
Spain’s contribution will be used for:
- cooperation programmes in Honduras, the Dominican Republic, Mauritania, Peru and Haiti;
- setting up the Mesoamerican Investment Platform for Sustainable Land Management (PIMAST);
- developing and implementing initiatives to address climate change and land degradation; and
- supporting the GM’s South-to-South Cooperation Programme – SolArid – which is currently operational in Algeria, Morocco, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Tunisia, Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Níger, Senegal and Chad.
For more information:
Mr Aymeric Songy
Donor Cooperation Advisor
Tel. +39 06 5459 2558
a.songy (at) global-mechanism.org
