Today and tomorrow Deputy Minister Marina Sereni will be attending the meeting of the G7 Development Ministers hosted in Berlin by the Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Svenja Schulze. The meeting offers an opportunity to exchange opinions between the G7 partners on different issues, starting with the war waged by Russia against Ukraine and its negative fallout, the most serious of which are the effects on food security. The other issues on the agenda include infrastructure investments for sustainable development, partnerships for ambitious climate action, just development and social equity transition, the development of female-oriented policies in times of crisis and responding to the many crises in the African continent, again with a focus on food security.
“Italy reaffirms its support to Ukraine – said Sereni – and emphasizes the need to fully respect international humanitarian law. We ask that humanitarian workers and social society organizations, including Italian ones, who do their best to assist the most vulnerable people – starting with women, who are the principal victims of this war – be assured full, safe, and unconditioned access. Italy will continue to do its share to support the Ukrainian Government and people during this crisis, placing particular attention on the civilian population’s growing humanitarian needs. To this end, we are evaluating further short-term initiatives, both in terms of funding and in the donation of goods. However, we must overcome the pure emergency phase.”
“Italy – Deputy Minister Sereni continued – traditionally considers food security a key topic in multilateral fora. We reaffirmed this under the Italian Presidency of the G20 in 2021 with the Matera Declaration, which introduced a number of transformational actions that are especially topical today.” She went on: “Italy sees with great concern the rise in food prices; and this is why we plan to organize a Dialogue with 24 Mediterranean Countries, coordinately with the German G7 Presidency and in collaboration with the FAO, specifically to examine the problems and the needs, and single out common solutions and efforts to tackle this multidimensional crisis in a partnership spirit.”
In relation to infrastructure investments for sustainable development, the Deputy Minister pointed to the need to “invest more and better”. She said: “We must start from the most pressing challenges: climate change and strengthening healthcare systems worldwide. We must start from common standards, implementing the recommendations developed by the Ad Hoc Expert Working Group convened under the German G7 Presidency to further develop the reasoning promoted under the Italian Presidency of the G20 on infrastructure quality standards.” Sereni then underscored the importance of the ownership of the projects by the Countries concerned, expediting partnerships, and quickly and materially outlining projects capable of attracting investments.
