The Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Angelino Alfano, today met the Deputy Executive Manager of UNICEF, Justin Forsyth, at the end of the ceremony for the 70th anniversary of the first meeting of the Regional Assembly of Sicily, which was held at Palazzo dei Normanni, Palermo.
Minister Alfano expressed full Italian support for UNICEF, declaring that “the strong relationship enjoyed by Italy with UNICEF is based on one basic principle: children and adolescents represent our planet’s future. If we want to construct fairer, safer, more prosperous, solid societies, we need to invest in them.”
He went on: “The Italian government and UNICEF work side-by-side on multiple fronts” and added “the protection of children and adolescents has always been a priority of both our humanitarian action and that of Cooperation towards Development. Just last Friday, I chaired the Joint Committee for Cooperation towards Development, where we resolved our annual voluntary contribution towards UNICEF should be 4.5 million euros”.
After examining new development projects for the children in the countries of the origin of migration, the principal of the Farnesina said: “Italy intends to strengthen its collaboration with UNICEF, particularly in Africa, precisely with the aim that these children and adolescents should be able to remain in their countries to build their future and no longer be forced to seek hope for a better life elsewhere.”
