[International development cooperation from the D. Orem self-care theory]

This article aim is to analyze the performance of Spanish cooperation from the perspective of Orem self-care theory, from the next hypothesis: the Spanish international cooperation programs works as total compensation systems.

cross sectional and descriptive study in which qualitative analysis was performed 3 African countries: Mozambique, Angola and Namibia. The variables were management, focused area and resources used.

All countries have a shared management of the cooperation. Mozambique has developed training activities (72%), management support (38%) and direct health care (27%), focused on the area of the fight against infection and tropical diseases. In Angola, the activities are based in training (37%), management support (37%) and health care (75%) in the area of basic health services (25%), fighting against tropical diseases (50%) and improving maternal and child health (25%). Namibia focuses on the health care area (100%) through direct assistance activities and management support.

Health cooperation programs developed by the Spanish state have probed to work as partial compensation system.