Collaboration between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Civil Protection was the subject of two accords signed today by MFAIC Secretary General Michele Valensise and Head of the Department Fabrizio Curcio at the Farnesina.
“The two accords create the conditions making for a leap in quality in an already solid relationship between the Farnesina and the Civil Protection Department, involved for a long time now in fostering Italy’s most effective response to the emergencies caused by natural disaster and offering protection to Italian nationals involved in emergency situations abroad”, commented Amb. Valenise
“The general agreement calls for collaboration between the Italian Development Cooperation and the Civil Protection Dept. with the activation of a joint crisis cell for the immediate launch of ground activities, synchronisation of operations and coordination of institutional communications in the case of natural calamity. A work group will also be formed to include other civil society institutions and organisations concerned with humanitarian assistance.
“During the Italian-led European semester last year”, engineer Curcio asserted, “the Department and the Ministry did much to promote discussion at various levels, along with the increase and improvement of intervention procedures between the civil protection sector and humanitarian aid. Today’s signings, which are also the result of those efforts, are truly important not only for the Italian system but also at international level, marking a point of no return”.
The second accord regards cooperation between the Farnesina Crisis Unit and the Department. “Our latest experiences, among them the earthquake in Nepal, have shown that the professional and technical-scientific skills of both institutions are an effective tool in the protection of Italian citizens abroad”, Valensise added.
The agreement also proposes to encourage collaboration in risk assessment and prevention in third countries and a mechanism for information management and transmission to foreign embassies in Italy in the case of emergencies involving their citizens on Italian soil.
