SPAIN

POPULATION AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH ASSISTANCE
OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Although Spain remains a minor contributor to international population and reproductive health efforts, the policy environment for increased aid to this sector appears to be improving. In 1996, Spain allocated 0.59 percent of total development assistance to population activities–well below the average for donor countries of 2.0 percent. Although funding levels continue to lag, the establishment of a coalition of Spanish NGOs concerned about population and reproductive health, together with the passage of a parliamentary resolution in support of UNFPA, are signs of a changing policy environment. It remains to be seen whether these developments will lead to increased financial support for population programs, either through multilateral organizations or through Spain’s bilateral development agency.

1 Development Assistance: Policy and Funding

Spain is a relatively new member of the international donor community, with an official aid program that only began in 1985. Overall development aid did not reach significant levels (0.2 percent of GNP or greater) until 1990. In 1997, Spain gave $1.2 billion in development aid or 0.23 percent of GNP. Currently, Spanish aid strongly emphasizes commercial opportunities overseas for domestic business interests through the Development Aid Fund (FAD), a program of concessional credits for businesses. Spanish aid is administered through several government departments within two major ministries: the Ministry of the Economy and Finance, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which houses the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation (AECI).

Historically, Spanish development aid has been closely linked to the Latin America region, where Spain has cultural and historical ties, and to countries where it has a strong commercial interest. Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Nicaragua are among the top 10 recipients of Spanish assistance. The geographic allocation of Spanish assistance differs greatly for commercial credits versus bilateral grant aid for projects, reflecting the different criteria for commercial and development assistance. In the early 1990s, China was a leading recipient of Spanish commercial credits, while Equatorial Guinea received the largest proportion of grant aid.

The Spanish government has reiterated support for the allocation of 20 percent of development aid to social sector spending. Most social sector programs funded by Spain are implemented through NGOs. Some Spanish NGOs have questioned the government’s method of estimating social sector allocations; Spain has historically counted all projects in health, education and sanitation as social sector programs, even if these projects are financed through commercial credits.

Spain is the only European country with a strong, organized political advocacy movement focused specifically on the issue of foreign aid. The "0.7 percent movement" has staged demonstrations and conducted public education activities since 1995 to make the case for increased levels of bilateral aid. Observers in Spain credit the group with increasing public awareness about foreign aid issues and creating a favorable environment for future increases in aid levels. At the present time, however, Spain is just emerging from several years of domestic economic difficulties, and the new conservative government–elected in 1996–has yet to clearly articulate changes in policy on foreign aid.

2 The Policy Environment for International Population Assistance

The Cairo conference recommendations are not yet reflected in the thinking of government officials involved in development assistance. Spain was actively engaged in the ICPD process, primarily through the participation of the former Minister for Social Affairs, Christina Alberti. Unfortunately, new policies reflecting the Cairo agenda and increased funding levels for reproductive health programs have yet to materialize.

Advocates for population assistance in Spain cite confusion among government officials regarding the definition of population assistance as an obstacle to effective programming of existing resources. Spanish government sources tend to report all social sector programs as being population-related, making it difficult to distinguish policies and disaggregate expenditures relating more narrowly to reproductive health.

Among NGOs and parliamentarians, awareness of the importance of reproductive health needs in the developing world appears to be rising, resulting in a number of positive developments since the ICPD. Among these was the establishment of the Spanish Interest Group on Population, Reproductive Health and Development (SIG) in 1996. The SIG–an umbrella organization made up of academics, medical and development NGOs, women’s organizations, parliamentarians and the national family planning association–conducts diverse advocacy activities in support of population and reproductive health assistance. Through its work with parliamentarians, the SIG initiated an all-party motion in support of UNFPA, which passed in 1998, and has published a report on Spain’s response to the ICPD.

3 Trends in Funding for Population Assistance

Overall Funding Levels:

Trends in population assistance provided by Spain are difficult to assess since limited data are available. The Spanish government has only reported on its contributions for two years since Spain became a population assistance donor in 1993. In 1993, Spain reported spending $578,000 on population through the multilateral channel, primarily reflecting its contribution to UNFPA. In 1996, Spain reported spending $7.4 million on population assistance–$3.3 million bilaterally and approximately $4.1 million through multilateral channels.

Multilateral Funding:

The basis for Spain’s reported contributions to multilateral organizations involved in population activities is unclear. Spain maintained its contribution to UNFPA between 1995 and 1997 in local currency terms; in 1996, the Spanish contribution was the U.S. dollar equivalent of $475,000. This represents only about 12 percent of the total the Spanish government reports spending on population activities through multilateral channels. In 1997, Spain’s contribution to UNFPA had fallen in U.S. dollar terms to $408,000.

Spain also supports some reproductive health-related initiatives through other UN organizations. For example, in 1996-97, it supported maternal and child health projects in Algeria and Morocco through UNICEF, and HIV/AIDS prevention activities in Latin America through UNAIDS.

Bilateral Funding:

Spain reported no bilateral funding for population programs in 1993, and $3.3 million in 1996. No information was reported to UNFPA on population assistance for 1994 or 1995. Based on this incomplete data, trends are difficult to evaluate. However, the 1996 figure appears to be a substantial overestimate of actual spending on reproductive health, reflecting the tendency by the Spanish government to include health, education, human rights and sanitation projects as part of population spending. In addition, the increase between 1993 and 1996 likely reflects the broader definition of population assistance introduced in 1995 by UNFPA.

4 Program Priorities

Geographic Priorities and Areas of Program Emphasis:

Spain is currently cofinancing UNFPA multi-bilateral projects in the Philippines, Algeria and Mauritania. The Philippines project is a two-year $1 million effort implemented through UNFPA. The project supports an information and education campaign to increase awareness of reproductive health and to improve services in 14 provinces, with the aim of assisting the Philippines in achieving the ICPD goal of reducing maternal mortality rates by 50 percent by the year 2000.