Vice Minister Emanuela Del Re had a conversation in VTC with the Vice Secretary-General of the United Nations. Amina Mohammed. Both expressed great joy and satisfaction for the award of the Nobel Peace Prize 2020 to the World Food Programme (WFP), based in Rome. “In this award, there is also a little bit of Italy,” said the Vice Minister, also recalling the humanitarian base in Brindisi used by the WFP in its operations.
The conversation then focused on the humanitarian situation in the Sahel, for the deterioration of which Del Re expressed concern. “We are witnessing security, humanitarian, epidemic and environmental crisis. This multifaceted crisis limits access to basic social services and humanitarian assistance, fuelling conflict and insecurity, which in turn exacerbate inequalities,” he said.
“This requires a double action: providing humanitarian assistance for an immediate coordinated response to the needs of the population, while strengthening community resilience through an integrated approach that focuses on the provision of productive means and basic services inaccessible crisis areas – continued the Vice Minister – The Sahel represents an area of strategic interest for Italian Cooperation and Italian foreign policy in general, as demonstrated by the opening of embassies in Niamey and Ouagadougou and our membership of the Alliance and Coalition for the Sahel”.
Concerning the Food Systems Summit 2021, the particularly active role of Italy in the advisory committee chaired by the Vice Secretary-General was recalled. Vice Minister assured that we would continue to contribute with our utmost effort to the success of the Summit.
