Italy has been a convinced member of the United Nations for 60 years because it has “multilateralism in it genetic makeup”. Proof of this lies in a broad-based commitment in various international theatres, peace missions and human rights campaigns, as Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs Mario Giro pointed out. He was speaking at the opening of the annual “Farnesina Open Doors”, dedicated this year to the 60th anniversary of Italy’s membership the UN and the 70th of the UN itself. The foreign ministry has mounted an exhibition for the occasion, entitled “The Challenge of Peace, Italy with the United Nations: 1945-2015”. “Italy has spared no effort in striving to achieve the objectives” of the UN, convinced that multilateralism is “the only choice for a stable and peaceful international community”, Giro explained. “At this moment of uncertainty”, he added, “we may have some doubts, but we believe that the UN is essential precisely now”, it being “the only setting we have for international dialogue”. “Without the UN we would not have a more secure and stable world, nor would there be greater peace”, Giro continued, “and that is why Italy is so broadly committed within the UN”, starting with our contributions to “so many peacekeeping missions” and the hospitality offered to “numerous UN agencies, a commitment by the government despite current financial restrictions”. The under-secretary underscored that this “is a collaboration that cannot but be continuously strengthened, which is why we are a candidate for a non-permanent seat on the Security Council for 2017/2018”.
The opening event also saw the participation of current President of the SIOI (Italian association for international organisation) Franco Frattini, who said he was convinced that “never before has there been such a need for the UN to continue and strengthen its efforts”. On the risk of disaffection with the United Nations “no one should let themselves be carried away by negative feelings”, on the contrary, “we are working so that those efforts will have greater support”. “If the UN sometimes struggles”, he stressed, “it is almost always because its members do not provide the conditions under which it needs to work” For that reason, he concluded, it needs to be given “more tools and greater strength in order to work better”.
