EL BLOG DE LA FIIAPP. Cooperación Española

When thinking about Africa, words like poverty, hunger, and war spring to mind… However, Africa has made progress in many respects in recent years, largely thanks to the work being carried out on this continent by cooperation and humanitarian agencies and the United Nations (UN).

According to the UNICEF ‘Generation 2030’ report, Africa is the continent with the second largest population, with more than 1 bn inhabitants. In addition, it is expected that 1.8 bn children will be born in African in the coming years, doubling its population. 

However, according to UNICEF, sub-Saharan Africa is the region with the second highest mortality rate among children under the age of five in the world. In 2016, of the 2.6 million children who died at this age, 38% were from sub-Saharan Africa. Despite these figures, infant mortality fell by 4.6% between 2000 and 2016. 

Life expectancy, disease and malnutrition 

If we talk about life expectancy, although life expectancy in Africa fell during the 90s because of the AIDS epidemic, the continent has achieved much in this area in recent years. Currently, Africans live an average of 9.4 years more than they did fifteen years ago. 

With this in mind, it should be noted that Africa is the continent most severely affected by diseases like AIDS and malaria. According to the latest available AIDS figures, some 17.5 million people contracted the disease in 2016. On the other hand, according to figures provided by WHO, in 2015, 241 million people had malaria, 88% of whom were in Africa.  

Regarding chronic malnutrition (low height per age), information provided by UNICEF reveals that this fell from 7.1% in 1990 to 4% in 2017. In this same line, acute malnutrition (low weight per height), decreased from 44% to 24.3%. This percentage means 58.7 million children were afflicted.  

Education and poverty

In the meantime, when it comes to education UNESCO says that approximately 153 million adults in Africa are illiterate, two thirds of whom are women.  When it comes to primary education, figures from 2016 show that 20.8% of children of this age did not go to class and 57.8% did not receive secondary education. 

Regarding poverty, 40 of the 50 most underdeveloped countries are in Africa. In the last annual report published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in 2016, the poorest countries were the Central African Republic, Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Guinea, South Sudan and Mozambique.  

Africa Day 

On 25 May 1963, the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) was founded to promote unity and solidarity among African states, end colonialism, foster international relations and give a voice to the continent. This is how Africa Day came about. The OAU was the forerunner of the current African Union (AU), an organisation created in 2002 to promote economic and political integration and cooperation among its member states, inspired by the European Union.  

2030 Agenda and the SDGs 

The 2030 Agenda fosters sustainable development in Africa, especially if the “leave no one behind” commitment is to be met. As we already have pointed out, Africa has the least developed countries. In 2016, Africa was home to 60% of the world’s poor, and this figure is expected to continue growing in the coming years, despite the progress made on the continent.  

In the 2063 Agenda, the African Union foresees a self-sufficient and sustainable Africa which is recognised throughout the world.  

“Adding to the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda of the United Nations, the 2063 Agenda lays the foundation for the entire continent’s resilience and social and economic progress. The United Nations remains firmly committed to supporting Africa’s efforts”, said the Secretary-General of the United Nations on Africa Day in 2018. “What’s good for Africa is good for the world”, reiterated Guterres. 

FIIAPP in Africa 

FIIAPP is leading projects in several African regions to improve the current situation. These projects focus on security and justice, public administration and social affairs and economic and environmental development. 

When talking about security and justice we would highlight the following projects: ‘GAR-SI Sahel‘, ‘SEACOP‘, the ‘ Application of the Rule of Law in the Horn of Africa and Yemen‘, ‘SENSEC-EU Senegal‘, ‘EUROMED Justice IV‘, ‘EU-ACT‘, ‘ARAP Ghana‘, the ‘Fight against terrorism in the Middle East and North Africa‘, ‘ECÍ-Niger‘ and ‘A-TIPSOM‘. 

Rafael Ríos, head of the A-TIPSOM project says that it “complements the Nigerian government’s strategy, not only by making the measures viable and sustainable, but also by establishing that coordination and cooperation between all countries is essential to the long-term goal, which is to reduce the number of men and women who fall victim to this new 21st-century form of slavery”. 

FIIAPP also has several projects focused on public administration and social issues such as’Bridging the Gap‘,’SOCIEUX+‘,’Support for the higher education system in Morocco‘, the ‘Modernisation of public finances in Algeria’, the ‘Institutional Strengthening of the Ministry of Communication and its partners operating in the audio-visual field and communications in Morocco’ and ‘Support for the institutional reform and the development of skills in the Higher Institute of the Judiciary in Morocco’ and ‘Living without discrimination in Morocco‘. 

Lucía Molo, project technician of the ‘Living together without discrimination in Morocco’ initiative, says that the primary aim is “to reinforce mechanisms and public policies to prevent and combat racism and xenophobia towards the migrant population in the Kingdom of Morocco through guidance, exchange and transfer of knowledge”. 

In terms of projects that aim for economic and environmental development, we would highlight the ‘“Institutional support to improve the capacities of the research and innovation system in Tunisia‘ and the ‘Safer road transport of dangerous goods in Morocco’ projects. 

Francisca Guzmán, the coordinator of this last project, stated that it “aims to improve safety and strengthen the structure and activities linked to transporting dangerous goods by road, and its main goal is to prepare the regulatory texts mentioned in Law 30/05”. 

FIIAPP has developed other projects for Africa, some of which are outstanding, such as the ‘Local Development Programme (LDP) in Angola through the Social Support Fund (FAS IV)‘. This project, financed by the European Union and managed by the Foundation, has helped to reduce poverty through the effective decentralisation of the provision of basic public services and by increasing income and business opportunities.  

In recent times there has been a change in international development agendas, and also in the public policies of different countries, towards ever more comprehensive approaches which are less incrementalist than those seen before. To mention one example, if climate change is a global issue that affects different sectors and multiple territories, does it make sense to focus on cities, to reduce emissions in central hubs or in restricted areas? It may not have a significant impact in terms of reducing emissions, but it does have a significant impact in terms of changing the development model and its relationship with cities. It is not a matter of summing efforts together city by city—this is never-ending—and achieving certain goals, but one of changing behaviour from one generation to another.   

In terms of the international agenda, this trend has been marked by the acceptance by most countries of a series of objectives that shape development, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is as if these countries are committing themselves to a de facto renewal of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaimed by the General Assembly of the United Nations, on 10 December 1948, just 70 years ago. These newer development goals focus on poverty, hunger, health, water, industry and climate, among other issues, and they focus on a different way of doing things.  

An interesting example of this is the work of groups of women who, in the 1980s, fled the war in Guatemala to find refuge in the southern areas of Mexico, then later, on their return to Guatemala, they managed to promote substantial changes in the communities where they were resettled. These are processes that occurred outside the major axes of the social and political conflict that marked the cities, neighbourhoods and rural areas, the counterinsurgency struggle and violence, but they were able to articulate a sense of community that would become essential at the time when democracy was re-established. Once the women achieved co-ownership of the land in the communities to which they returned, there was a change in power relations, and if that is accompanied by organisation and leadership, as was the case, it can lead to other changes in terms of the participation and political representation of women at the national level.  

The new vision that the SDGs promote consists of the analysis of problems from a broader perspective and in promoting changes in power relations, not just in progress measured in percentages for compartmentalised goals.  To this we must add what we already knew, that both civil society and the local sphere play a very important role in the implementation of public policies.  

As the rationale behind the SDGs is not incrementalist, it has a great potential to encompass actions that arise in local and civil society spheres, and it is not limited to drawing up lines of action in which the State is the only player. It is here where the impact of small, locally supported actions can be very positive at the national and even global level.  

In 2015, during the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit held in New York, 193 countries approved the 2030 Agenda for global goals: the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The UN defines sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

These objectives expand the scope of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) signed in 2000 and involve more actors committed to eradicating poverty, reducing inequalities, and combating climate change.

The 17 SDGs set global targets ranging from eliminating poverty and hunger to reducing economic and gender inequalities, protecting the planet, conserving biodiversity, and ensuring universal access to basic services such as health and education. They also include the creation of partnerships and cooperation among countries to move together toward sustainable development.

The European Union’s Commitment to the SDGs
The European Union is committed to adopting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and integrating them into its legislation and political actions, prioritizing efforts across three fundamental pillars of development: economic, social, and environmental.

The EU also aims to create spaces for reflection on the long-term future of development and to extend the coherence of its policies beyond its borders, supporting third countries in building peaceful, stable, and resilient societies.

The European Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, Neven Mimica, expressed this commitment as follows:
“My goal is to achieve genuine consensus, under the shared responsibility of EU institutions and Member States, that allows us to lead global action in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals.”

FIAP in the 2030 Agenda
The International and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policies (FIAP), as a public institution managing international cooperation projects, works in line with the European Union’s foreign policy and the principles of the 2030 Agenda.

Its work focuses on modernizing public institutions in partner countries, contributing to the SDGs across various areas:

• Social policies and rights
  FIAP manages projects promoting access to basic social services such as health, education, and employment.
  The EUROsociAL program fosters social cohesion in Latin America through exchanges among experts in justice, governance, and public finance. It contributes particularly to SDGs 16 and 17.

• Economy and public finance
  Projects like the Modernization of Public Finances in Algeria strengthen fiscal systems, aligned with SDG 17.1.

• Infrastructure and transport
  FIAP supports initiatives such as the Improvement of Ukraine’s Railway System, which contributes to SDG 11.2 (access to safe, affordable, and sustainable transport systems).

• Green economy
  Aligned with the EU’s 2030 Energy and Climate Framework, projects like EUROCLIMA support climate change mitigation and adaptation, consistent with SDG 13.

• Security and the fight against organized crime
  FIAP carries out initiatives addressing irregular migration, human trafficking, and drug trafficking, such as the Support for Drug Legislation in Bolivia. This work contributes to SDG 16, targets 16.4 and 16.11.

• Justice and transparency
  The EUROMED Justice program promotes effective, democratic, and human-rights-based judicial systems in the Euro-Mediterranean region, in line with SDG 16.3.

Opinions expressed in this blog are the sole responsibility of the author.

Editorial note (updated October 2025):
This content, originally published in 2017, remains a key reference for understanding FIAP’s commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Since then, the institution has continued promoting public sector reform, social cohesion, and the green transition in alignment with the 2030 Agenda and the European Global Gateway initiative.