Spain should keep direct representation for Catalonia in UNESCO. This is the proposal the Catalan vice-president, Josep-Lluís Carod-Rovira, has put forward in New York, where he also took the opportunity to sign a framework agreement with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Catalonia’s is the first non-state government to reach an agreement with such UN programme. Carod-Rovira argued that the Catalan Statute of Autonomy is the only Statute within Spanish framework to include provisions regarding participation in international organisations.
According to Agencia Catalana de Notícies, the Catalan vice-president has suggested the idea to Hélene Gosselin, Director of the UNESCO Liaison Office in New York. The model set forth by Carod is very similar to that applied between Canada and Quebec. Since 2006 Quebec has been granted special status as part of Canada's delegation to UNESCO. It is in fact the only Canadian province enjoying such position, since Quebec is a French-speaking territory within an English-speaking country.

Collaboration with UNDP

Collaboration between UNDP and the "Generalitat" –the Catalan government– started in 2004, but the framework agreement has not been signed until 2009. According to Carod, “after a long time of multilateral contribution with international organisations, the agreement means our will to collaborate with international organizations has been reinforced”. The Catalan government has been cooperating with United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNDFW), while the Catalan Agency for Development Cooperation has collaboration agreements with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), etc.

New delegation office in New York

In his official trip, Carod has also inaugurated the new delegation office of the Catalan government in the US, which is located in the Rockefeller Center, New York. Andrew Davis, Doctor of Philosophy from University of Nottingham, has been appointed as Delegate of the Government of Catalonia, to the United States of America. According to the Generalitat, the Delegation “will work to facilitate bilateral relations with authorities in the United States, Canada and decentralised governments” and “to promote and coordinate relations of collaboration between the Generalitat and the United Nations, as well as other international organisations which have headquarters in North America and which are of interest and relevance to Catalonia, particularly in terms of international relations and cooperation for development”.

During its current term of office, the Generalitat has opened delegations in Berlin, London and Paris.

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Further information in Catalan Countries profile.