The Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Emanuela Del Re, participated in the closing event of the celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the International Institute of Humanitarian Law of Sanremo.
Speaking immediately after the message of greetings from the President of the Republic, the Vice Minister stressed how Italy has always been committed to consistently enforcing International Humanitarian Law in all contexts.
“COVID-19 is increasing vulnerabilities in fragile situations, especially in countries still devastated by ongoing armed conflicts, where health systems are extremely weak and people have very limited access even to basic services.” – said Ms. Del Re – “COVID-19 has exacerbated the complexity of crisis scenarios, and access to humanitarian assistance is one of the most serious challenges posed by the pandemic.”
According to the Vice Minister, the system of the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols, created in 1949 and which has developed since then to meet the changing needs, is now facing an unprecedented historical challenge. “Undoubtedly, the time has come to upgrade the system so that it can adapt more effectively to an increasingly complex contemporary global context. A collective effort deeply rooted in the founding values of our family, the European Union, as well as consistent with Secretary General Guterres’ call to “rebuild better”.
“The Sanremo Institute” – Ms. Del Re concluded – “thanks to its high-level expertise and experience built up over its 50-year history, can plays a unique and valuable role by contributing to a new interpretation of International Humanitarian Law and Italy is ready to further strengthen its commitment to International Humanitarian Law”.
In her closing address to the opening session, the Secretary General of the Foreign Ministry, Ambassador Elisabetta Belloni, emphasised the Foreign Ministry’s strong and traditional support of the activities of the Sanremo Institute, in particular its training programmes in the field of International Humanitarian Law.
