At a meeting in Rome on Monday that approved millions of euros of government funding for international development, deputy foreign minister Emanuela Del Re underlined the crucial role it plays in Italy's foreign policy.
In her opening remarks to the fourth annual meeting of the joint development cooperation committee, Del Re underscored the “absolute centrality, strategic value and propositional capacity of international development cooperation in Italy’s foreign policy, the foreign ministry said.
The Italy-Africa Conference taking place in Rome on Thursday was "a precious opportunity to jointly develop an Italian-African partnership in pace with the times and with our ambitions, along the lines already outlined by the prime minister and and Minister Moavero,” Del Re said.
She was referring to Italy's premier Giuseppe Conte and its foreign minister Enzo Moavero Milanesi.
The committee approved almost 150 million euros for specialised organizations and agencies as well as bilateral contributions and earmarked 70-million euros to fund civil society organisation projects, the foreign ministry said.
Kenya, Tunisia, Senegal, Mozambique, Somalia, Jordan, Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the United Nations including the Food and Agriculture Organisation will benefit from the funds, according to the foreign ministry.
"Our contributions aim to guide countries, populations and individuals along the road towards sustainable development, as provided for in the (UN's) 2030 (sustainable development) Agenda, working together for the common good, in the conviction that they might produce dividends in terms of peace and security for us and for future generations,” said Del Re.
