Murcia grants the 2026 International Cooperation Awards in five categories

The Regional Ministry of Presidency, Youth, Foreign Action and Emergencies of the Region of Murcia has granted the 2026 International Cooperation Awards in its five categories, recognizing the work of individuals, entities, and projects with international humanitarian projection. The decision is formalized through the Order of September 3, 2026, signed by the regional minister Marcos Ortuño Soto, and is published in the Official Gazette of the Region of Murcia (BORM) No. 206 of September 7, 2026, pages 20382 to 20384.

The awards stem from the call for applications approved by the order of July 31, 2026 (BORM No. 177, of August 3, 2026). Pursuant to Article 7 of said order, the evaluation of the candidacies was the responsibility of a Jury, constituted on August 28, 2026, which issued its minutes proposing the granting of the awards. The authority is based on the Presidential Decree No. 5/2026, of May 29, and Decree No. 87/2026, of June 11, which attribute the competencies in development cooperation to the General Directorate of Foreign Action and Cooperation.

The winners in each category

The order grants the awards to the participants proposed by the Jury in the five modalities:

• International Cooperation Worker of the Region of Murcia: Mr. José Gil Martínez, president of the Itara association, for his humanitarian work in international cooperation since 2005 in countries across Africa and Spanish America, with a special dedication to surgery in Mali, Cameroon, Senegal, Kenya, Honduras, Madagascar, the Sahrawi camps, and Equatorial Guinea.
• International Cooperation Agent: the Catholic University of San Antonio de Murcia (UCAM), for its commitment to cooperation, volunteering, and humanitarian action in Latin America and Africa, with initiatives such as the collaboration with Bomberos por Bomberos in Venezuela following the earthquakes suffered in the country.
• International Cooperation 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 in community health, prevention, multidisciplinary surgery, digital transformation, child health, and dentistry.
• Commitment to International Cooperation: Mr. 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”.
• International Cooperation Volunteer: Mr. César Javier Claros Wandosell, corporal of the Fire and Rescue Service of Murcia, who participated in the aid following the 2010 Haiti earthquake and in 2026 traveled to Venezuela, coordinating water purification, structural shoring, and reconstruction through Bomberos por Bomberos and in collaboration with the United Nations.

Effects and delivery of the awards

The order, which exhausts the administrative route, takes effect from the day following its publication in the BORM. An optional appeal for reversal may be filed before the head of the Department or a contentious-administrative appeal, in accordance with Article 123 of Law 39/2015, of October 1. According to Article 9.2 of the call for applications, the delivery of the awards will take place in a public act, at the place and date to be determined in due course.

Recognition of Murcian solidarity

These awards consolidate the Region of Murcia as a benchmark in international cooperation, by highlighting both academic and health institutions as well as the volunteers who bring Murcian aid to the most vulnerable settings in the world. The distinction awarded to firefighters, surgeons, and university members underlines that regional solidarity is exercised through training, technical specialization, and sustained commitment over time.

Source: Official Gazette of the Region of Murcia, no. 206, September 7, 2026, I. Autonomous Community, 3. Other Provisions, pp. 20382-20384 (official reference: NPE A-070926-4267).