There is a part of the character of cities that has nothing to do with gastronomy or heritage, but with their values. And Castilla y León, like the rest of the Spanish autonomy, is modeled on the image of a Constitution which, beyond … Great deeds are reflected in small actions, in layers of society. Freedom of expression transformed into a heated but open debate, the right to education in every school or the right to strike in the form of a demonstration of indignation. They display a whole system of guarantees, responsibilities and freedoms which do not exist elsewhere in the world. So things are, Support for cooperation projects becomes a means of “exporting” and promoting this modelto defend the education, health or equality as hallmarks of the house. Not with the grandiloquence that always accompanies ideals, but with concrete plans, managed by NGOs and associations who know the needs on the ground. In this sense, the Council maintains lines that finance some of them, an “impulse” to build prosperity and improvements.
Last November, without going any further, a call for international cooperation for development was resolved. will support 15 projects and 10 microprojects in Africa and Latin America with almost four million. “The inhabitants of Castilla y León are united and the Commission must live up to this solidarity,” underlined the advisor to the Presidency, Luis Miguel González Gago, while introducing it.
Although each project has its own planning and execution logic, which responds to a very specific local context, there are certain common models, in which the strategic lines prioritized for this year by the Ministry of the Presidency were sought, “in an ordered and temporalized planning, based on international circumstances, always changing”. The road map is, in any case, the IV Master Plan of Cooperation for the Development of Castilla y León, which structures everything that is done in this area between 2023 and 2026.
To summarize the diversity of this latest call, the advisor specified that “all actions will be directed towards the most vulnerable populations in the supported territories”. And concretely, they will receive “special attention” to women, children and young people, indigenous peoples, displaced populations, farmers and sick or dependent peoplehe explained.
Thus, the interventions target communities in Bolivia, Guatemala, Burkina Faso or Mozambique, among other countries, and in this edition, 44 percent affect access to drinking water and sanitation, as the Council explains. 36 percent are directly related to food and eight to health promotion. Other relevant topics that emerge concern education or housing.
A solidarity label
This is neither the first nor the last call or solidarity initiative promoted by the regional administration. In September a newly created label was introduced under the name “Solidarity Castile and León” with which the Council wanted to recognize the commitment of thirteen local entities, companies and NGOs in the sector.
As mentioned, in addition to the distinction, with the seal, a program has been reissued so that local entities and companies in Castilla y León co-finance projects with associations of your choicewith the help of the Council up to 90 percent, which allowed small contributions from municipalities and companies to solidarity actions. To date, nine projects have been approved, also in South America and Africa, which the Council supported with a total of 397,809 euros. With this money, the Council put on the table 150,000 euros more than last year in this same line of financing.