During the 6th Meeting of the “African and Spanish Women Network for a Better World” held in Windhoek, Namibia, on Saturday, April 9 2011, the NEPAD Agency and the Government of the Kingdom of Spain launched the second call of proposals for the NEPAD/Spanish Fund for the Empowerment of Women. Speaking on behalf of the Government of the Kingdom of Spain, Honorable Soraya Rodriguez, Vice Minister in charge of International Cooperation, welcomed the spirit of partnership that exists between her Government and NEPAD. She went on to add that the Spanish Government has learnt a lot in working with the NEPAD Agency and that the renewal of the Spanish Fund “is a solution to the basic needs of the African women”. The NEPAD/Spanish Fund for the empowerment of women aims at providing financial support to projects carried out by women in Sub-Saharan Africa and concretely promoting gender equity and the autonomy of women, while increasing women ability to contribute in accelerating the process to reach the Millennium Development Goal (MDG), mainly goal number 3. The grants to be awarded will range from 50,000 Euros to 500,000 Euros over a period of one year to two years or less. Dr. Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, Chief Executive Officer of the NEPAD Agency reasserted the importance of the gender dimension in the development strategy of the continent. He welcomed the presence of Honourable Soraya Rodriguez which, according to him, “is a step forward in the interaction between the NEPAD Agency and the Spanish Government for the set up of optimal conditions to a dynamic partnership”. It is in this regard that he mentioned that lessons learnt during the previous phase would enable the Agency to conceive “a results oriented management approach that will call for the definition of rigorous and pertinent criteria for the selection, the follow-up and the assessment of projects”. Dr Mayaki also recognised “the strong support of the Spanish Cooperation to NEPAD” while promising that “the NEPAD Agency will do its best to be as more efficient as possible in the implementation of the NEPAD/Spanish Fund for the empowerment of African Women” which, “I would like to recall, aims at promoting the economic autonomy and the institutional capacity building of African Women”. In 2008, NEPAD launched the first call for proposals, during which the NSF Steering Committee approved 46 projects from 23 African countries with funding to the tune of 6.285 million Euros. Out of the 46 projects, 25 have ended and the remaining projects are on-going. Source: Myjoyonline.com