On Tuesday 9 December, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, presented the new Feminist Cooperation Strategy of Spanish Cooperation to the Council of Ministers, as well as the National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security 2025-2030, within the framework of Spain's Feminist Foreign Policy. With these measures, the Government is reinforcing its commitment to defending gender equality and transforming the power structures that perpetuate discrimination, from a cross-cutting approach that prioritises equality, empowerment and the eradication of violence against women and girls.
In this way, Spain continues to be an international benchmark in feminist public policies, contributing to the transformation of discriminatory social, political and economic structures in order to achieve gender equality in the world and meet the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda.
The new Feminist Cooperation Strategy, agreed upon by all cooperation actors and validated by the main consultative bodies, adapts to conceptual and regulatory advances, as well as to international and national commitments on gender equality, at a time of crisis for multilateralism and of questioning of international human rights and sustainable development frameworks, in which the rights of women and girls are under threat.
Four pillars
The initiative is based on four pillars: rights, representation, resources and partnerships. These aim to advance the full and effective realisation of the rights of women, adolescents and girls globally, promoting female participation in leadership positions and increasing the economic and human resources dedicated to combating gender inequalities. Finally, the document advocates for the promotion of major strategic partnerships that will realise the promise of building a more just world for all people.
The Feminist Cooperation Strategy comes at a time of profound transformation for Spanish Cooperation, following the approval and implementation of Law 1/2023, through which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation aims to project to the world the commitment of Spanish citizens to solidarity, equality and social justice, and to promote new strategic frameworks that strengthen the joint work of all cooperation actors in addressing global challenges.
Sustainable peace
In a global situation in which sexual violence is systematically used as a weapon of war and cuts in development aid jeopardise the autonomy of millions of women around the world, the third National Plan on Women, Peace and Security 2025-2030 is presented with the conviction that peace and security are only sustainable when women participate fully in their construction, when their rights are protected and when their leadership is recognised.
This Plan is structured around five strategic lines of action that define how Spain will implement this United Nations Agenda to build a safer, fairer and more equal world. The first of these is crisis and conflict prevention, with a commitment to preventive diplomacy, equal participation in decision-making spaces and the economic and political empowerment of women as tools for social stability.
Based on evidence from the global study commissioned by UN Women, which shows that when women are at the negotiating table peace agreements are more durable, inclusive and effective, the second strategic line is committed to the full, equal, safe and meaningful participation of women in all peace, mediation, disarmament and decision-making processes.
The third line focuses on protecting the human rights of women and girls, with a firm stance of zero tolerance for all forms of sexual violence in conflicts. For its part, the fourth line guarantees the integration of a gender perspective in humanitarian action, including access to sexual and reproductive health.
Finally, the fifth line consolidates the institutionalisation of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda throughout the General State Administration, ensuring policy coherence, budgetary resources, specific indicators and accountability mechanisms.
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