The Department of International Cooperation of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation (SECI)1 and the Spanish Agency of International Cooperation (AECI)2 have lately embarked on a furious activism to publish sector strategies.
The Plan Director 2005-08 promises a strategy paper for multilateral development policy. This paper is likely to be even more interesting than sector strategies because, instead of focussing its analysis on the question of “what to do?”, it rather presents strategies on the question of “how to do it?”.
At best, it will therefore establish one of a series of possible links between general policy statements (sector strategies) and its transformation into poverty reduction on the ground.
This comment analyses a number of challenges and opportunities that going multilateral represents for the Spanish government’s development assistance to the third world, and it advocates for a strategic approach to decide why, when and how the multilateral approach can best be integrated into Spanish aid policy.