Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Antonio Tajani, with Deputy Minister Edmondo Cirielli, chaired at the Farnesina the second meeting of this year’s Joint Development Cooperation Committee and the eleventh plenary of the National Council for Development Cooperation (CNCS).
The Joint Committee was also attended by the Minister of the Interior Matteo Piantedosi.
This was the first time that a Minister of the Interior took part in such a meeting, given the focus of this Committee on the assisted voluntary repatriation project. During the meeting, a EUR 20 million programme for the assisted voluntary repatriation of migrants in Algeria, Tunisia and Libya to their countries of origin was approved. The initiative, in cooperation with the International Organisation for Migration, aims to strengthen the protection of vulnerable migrants, totalling some 3,300 beneficiaries.
Prompted by Minister Tajani, the Joint Committee also resolved to set up a fund for cooperation projects implemented by the regions, with the aim of sharing the experience of the territories in networking between public and private actors. The Committee also increased the allocation for projects by civil society organisations and allocated additional resources for co-financing innovative business solutions for investment in human capital, in line with the increase in scholarships for studying in our country.
Speaking at the National Council for Development Cooperation – which brings together over 70 of the main public and private, profit and non-profit, development cooperation actors – Minister Tajani reiterated the valuable contribution of cooperation to our country’s main foreign policy objectives: peace, development and growth. The Minister also recalled how Italy is among the few countries that, even in this period of crisis, is maintaining the same level of funding for humanitarian and development aid, remaining a reference partner in various areas of the world.
In the Middle East, Italy has played a leading role in humanitarian assistance thanks to the launch – exactly one year ago – of the ‘Food for Gaza’ initiative, which in recent months has also been extended to the reception of sick children, together with their families, by Italian health facilities. In Africa, Italy continues to work for the creation of partnership partnerships, in line with the Mattei Plan approach. Moreover, even in situations of extreme emergency such as the one that recently struck Myanmar, Italian Cooperation immediately mobilised, allocating financial resources in favour of the earthquake-stricken areas. Finally, Minister Tajani recalled the synergies that the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is promoting with the private sector in view of the Conference on Ukraine’s recovery to be held in Rome next July.
The National Council for Development Cooperation represents the main forum for dialogue on strategies, guidelines, and ways to further strengthen the effectiveness and impact of Italian Cooperation’s action in the world. As an integral part of growth diplomacy, Development Cooperation aims to enhance the ‘Italian System’ in all countries of intervention, involving central and local administrations, the private sector, academia, the third sector, diasporas, as well as the world of spontaneous cooperation, such as missionaries.