​Ministry approves programmes for over 60 million euros

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Angelino Alfano, chaired the Joint Development Cooperation Committee today.”Among the recipients of the programmes and initiatives that were approved this afternoon,” said the Minister when opening the session, “there are Countries that play a key role in managing migration flows, such as Tunisia, Libya and Sudan.””With respect to Libya,” the Minister highlighted, “our approach to the management of migration flows, based on a combination of solidarity and security, won a unanimous support at the UN General Assembly. On that occasion, we pressed ahead with requesting that the UNHCR and the IOM return to that country as soon as possible.””We want Italian NGOs that have experience in the field and can operate in crisis areas to give a major contribution, in coordination with the Libyan authorities and local NGOs, bearing in mind that the security of all operators is of the utmost importance. I have reaffirmed our goal to my interlocutors in Tripoli yesterday and they have confirmed their full support and availability. We are preparing a first call for tender for humanitarian assistance in Libya, which I presented on 25 September last.””We refuse,” the Minister said, “to be held hostage by a paradox entailing a compromise in relation to undignified treatments reported in the Libyan camps after we have saved half a million lives at sea. It is in this context that I believe that our Development Cooperation can also provide a most substantial contribution.”Programmes were approved today; specifically an environmental health programme for the city of Tripoli and a programme to benefit disadvantaged communities in Tunisia, both to be financed through the Fund for Africa.”We confirm our commitment to contribute to the stabilisation of the Middle East by approving initiatives addressed to people living in crisis areas. Among them, I would like to single out the initiative to support Libyan municipalities facing the social and economic consequences of the Syrian crisis. Also, I cannot but mention the initiative to promote an equal access to economic opportunities and to dignified work for women in Palestine,” said the Minister. The Committee also adopted other initiatives in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Afghanistan, and Pakistan and aid credits designed to revitalise the cultural and natural heritage and to improve the juvenile penal system in Guatemala. “It is further evidence of the attention we pay to Latin America and in particular to sectors that are key for its socio-economic development,” concluded the Minister.