EFFECTIVENESS AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE SPANISH GOVERNMENT ALLOCATION OF FOREIGN AID

The Government of Spain has signed the two international treaties that exist to improve the effectiveness of foreign aid, the Paris Declaration and the Accra Agenda for Action. One of the most important commitments in these agreements is to give aid to governments, both in form and amount, depending on their degree of governance effectiveness and transparency, and respect for human rights. Based on existing data from 2007 and 2008, this study has found that the Spanish Government seems to not have taken into consideration any of these two aspects when allocating aid to recipient governments. While the new Spanish Master Plan sets as a "horizontal priority" the "promotion of human rights and democratic governance", it is unclear how and why the Government gives its support to one or other actors.