The Region grants its 2026 international cooperation awards

The Regional Ministry of Presidency, Youth, Foreign Action and Emergencies has granted the International Cooperation Awards of the Region of Murcia for the year 2026, recognizing the humanitarian work of five awardees in Africa and Latin America. The decision is formalized through the Order of September 3, 2026, by counselor Marcos Ortuño Soto, published in the Official Gazette of the Region of Murcia (BORM) No. 206 on September 7, 2026, pages 20382 to 20384.

The awards were called for by the order of July 31, 2026, published in BORM No. 177 on August 3, 2026. The Jury for the awards was constituted on August 28, 2026, and issued the evaluation report proposing the granting of the awards in their five categories.

The awardees

The order grants one award for each of the five called categories:

• International Cooperation Worker: José Gil Martínez, president of the Itara association, for his humanitarian work since 2005 in countries such as Mali, Cameroon, Senegal, Kenya, Honduras, Madagascar, the Sahrawi camps, and Equatorial Guinea, with a special dedication to surgery in disadvantaged countries.
• Cooperation Agent: the Catholic University of San Antonio de Murcia (UCAM), for its commitment to volunteering and humanitarian action in Latin America and Africa, including its collaboration with Bomberos por Bomberos in Venezuela.
• Project: the “Comprehensive program for health cooperation, prevention and capacity building in Senegal” by Cirugía Solidaria de Murcia, with actions in Sandiara, Dahra, and Abéné.
• Commitment: Jorge Martínez Pardo, for more than 20 years of development cooperation and projects such as “Pastillas contra el dolor ajeno” for Doctors Without Borders or “inicia.travel”.
• Volunteer: César Javier Claros Wandosell, corporal of the Fire and Rescue Service of Murcia, promoter and president of Bomberos por Bomberos.

Outstanding trajectories

José Gil Martínez has accumulated extensive experience in international cooperation since 2005, focused on the field of surgery in disadvantaged countries of Africa and Spanish America. For his part, César Javier Claros Wandosell participated in relief efforts following the 2010 Haiti earthquake, coordinating assistance and reconstruction, and in 2026 he traveled to Venezuela to provide aid following the earthquakes suffered in the country, where he coordinated water purification actions, structural shoring, and reconstruction support, in collaboration with the United Nations.

Regulatory framework and effects

The grant is based on Presidential Decree No. 5/2026, of May 29, on the reorganization of the Regional Administration, and Decree No. 87/2026, of June 11, which assign the competencies in development cooperation to the Directorate General for External Action and Cooperation. The order, which exhausts the administrative route, takes effect from the day following its publication in the BORM, and the delivery of the awards will take place in a public act at the time and place to be determined in due course.

Relevance

These awards highlight the role of Murcian society in international cooperation, from individual volunteering to universities and NGOs, and emphasize projects that combine training, direct assistance, and knowledge transfer in the most disadvantaged countries.

Source: Official Gazette of the Region of Murcia, No. 206, September 7, 2026, I. Autonomous Community, pp. 20382-20384 (official reference: NPE A-070926-4267).