The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Luigi Di Maio, is in Marrakech today to attend the Ministerial Meeting of the Global Coalition against Daesh that will be co-chaired by Morocco and the United States. Established in September 2014, the Coalition currently comprises 85 Countries and Organizations and stands out for its multidimensional approach in combating terrorism, with a focus on stabilization, foreign fighters, communication, and tackling their sources of financing.
Minister Di Maio is scheduled to attend the panel dedicated to Iraq and Syria, two key countries in the Coalition’s actions, to also reaffirm Italy’s commitment in Afghanistan and in the African continent. Italy is among the major contributors to the support and training activities offered to the military and police forces in Iraq, both through its presence on the ground and through the funds allocated to the stabilization of the areas liberated from ISIS. Moreover, Italy also finances projects in the agricultural, healthcare, educational, humanitarian demining and local governance-building sectors in the North-East of Syria, through a 1-million-euro contribution to UNICEF for a program to reintegrate in their communities of origin Syrian minors currently hosted in camps in the North-East of the Country.
The Marrakech meeting is also scheduled to convene the Africa Focus Group (AFG), created at the initiative of Italy and which also co-chairs it. The AFG intends to promote an approach combining the security dimension with the need to tackle the deep-set causes of radicalization phenomena by leveraging Africa’s ownership of the initiatives to combat terrorism.
On the sidelines of the Ministerial Meeting, Minister Di Maio will also hold several bilateral meetings.
