The government’s determination to strengthen the Italian Development Cooperation as a strategic investment for Italy in its attempts to meet the challenges posed by security, global growth, climate change and migration.
This was the message that emerged from the first meeting of the Inter-Ministerial Committee for Development Cooperation chaired by the Prime Minister yesterday at the Lower House, whose participants included Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Paolo Gentiloni as Vice Chairman, and Deputy Minister for Development Cooperation the Hon. Lapo Pistelli.
Minister Gentiloni underscored how the Development Cooperation was an essential component in the overall presence of the country system in primary areas of interest for Italy. He pointed out, at the same time, that it was necessary to bridge the considerable divide with other G7 counties in terms of the financial resources earmarked for this sector.
The possibility for the Italian Cooperation to play a stronger role, and direct greater resources to that end, falls within an increasingly international context in which the themes of development will be the central focus in near future of major international events intended to design a new framework of strategies for sustainable development. These include the Conference of Addis Ababa of 13-16 July on development funding; the UN Summit of 25-27 September for the adoption of the new sustainable development agenda; and the December climate change conference in Paris.
The CICS was established through Law no. 125/2014, which reformed the Italian Cooperation system. The Committee, whose members include the ministries identified in art. 15, par. 2 of the same law, ensure the planning and coordination of the development cooperation activities carried out by the public administration, as well as consistency in national development cooperation policies.
During the meeting, the Committee approved a three-year planning document that outlines the Italian Development Cooperation’s strategic vision and will constitute a common framework for ministries and other cooperation actors. The CICS also approved a report on the development cooperation activities carried out in 2014 by all government bodies, as well as Italy’s participation in banks and development funds and multilateral organisations.
