AECID - Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo

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The Azahar Programme is an initiative of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo, AECID), based on a coordination effort of all public and private bodies involved in Spanish development cooperation in the field of sustainable development, environmental protection and preservation of natural resources in the Mediterranean.

Together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation through the AECID, the Ministries of the Environment, Rural and Marine; of Finance; of Science and Innovation; and of Industry, Tourism and Trade, along with the Autonomous Communities of Andalusia, Asturias, Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, Castille-La Mancha, Catalonia, Madrid, Murcia, Navarre and Valence, the Funds Confederation for Cooperation and Solidarity and the Biodiversity Foundation are also involved in Azahar.

The Azahar Programme is open to participation by other Autonomous Communities and local authorities, as well as by the general public through NGO’s and academic and research institutions that show interest in, and have developed or tried to develop, significant activities in the Programme areas of action.

In particular, Azahar is aimed at three large sub-regions of the Mediterranean: the Maghreb, the Middle East and the South East of Europe and, within these regions, those countries considered as priority and included both in the Master Plan 2005-2008 and in the Annual Plans for Spanish Cooperation: Albania, Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Mauritania, Serbia, Montenegro, Syria, the Palestinian Territories and Tunisia.

The aim of the Azahar Programme is to generate a real impact on human development in the Mediterranean Basin countries, compatible with the preservation of their natural resources and environmental protection, contributing towards the fulfilment of the commitments assumed in the international environmental forums by the beneficiary countries.

The actions of the Azahar Programme must comply simultaneously with the following three principles or basic criteria:

· The development of local populations and the improvement of their living conditions within the framework of the Spanish policy of international development cooperation in its aim to fight against poverty of all kinds.

· Environmental protection and the preservation of natural resources.

· Strengthening of organisations and institutions by promoting local planning and management capacities.

In this sense, the Azahar Programme involves actions concerning land preservations, sustainable water management, renewable energies and the efficient use of energy, sustainable development, sustainable production, and environmental planning and management; and an effective response in those areas is looked for to face the main environmental problems of the Mediterranean basin countries with the extensive experience and knowledge that Spain can offer.

Azahar Programme Office
Direction for Cooperation with Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe
Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID)
Avda. Reyes Católicos, 4
28040 Madrid (Spain)
Phone: +34 915 838 448
Fax: +34 915 838 219