“The commitment of charity foundations standing by institutional actors is essential in order to promote peace, greater social cohesion and sustainable development. Italy shares the vision of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in many sectors, such as health, a field to which we are firmly committed as a participant in the Global Fund and in the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation.”
“More generally speaking, we consider development cooperation a truly ‘strategic investment’, hence Italy’s determination to realign its own ODA criteria in order to meet the goal of 0.7 percent of the gross national income, in line with the provisions of existing laws and the commitments agreed at international level and set out in the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. Gender equality and women’s empowerment traditionally represent priority areas for Italian Cooperation, above all in some key-sectors such as agriculture. In this respect we have been working to promote the access of women to micro-credit and to land ownership, two effective means to enhance agricultural production. Still speaking of women’s empowerment, allow me to say that I am particularly proud of participating in the event that on 26 October at the Farnesina brought about the establishment of the ‘Mediterranean Women Mediators Network’,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Angelino Alfano, after meeting today at the Farnesina with Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
