Deputy Minister Marina Sereni chaired the fifth meeting of the Coordination Panel on Afghanistan with representatives of civil society organisations, local authorities and the other administrations involved. The discussion focused on examining the humanitarian situation and identifying priorities with a view towards programming the allocation of resources for 2022 and reviewing progress on the reception and humanitarian corridors put in place in accordance with the memorandum of understanding with the Italian State, signed on 4 November 2021 by the Community of Sant’Egidio, Federation of Evangelical Churches in Italy, Tavola Valdese, ARCI, Caritas Italiana, IOM, INMP (Italian National Institute for Health, Migration and Poverty) and the UN Refugee Agency. The meeting was held in view of the imminent arrival, on special flights from Tehran and Islamabad, of over 300 Afghan refugees to various regions all over the country thanks to the humanitarian corridors.
The Deputy Minister said “Afghanistan is still one of the main areas of intervention of the Italian Cooperation Service. In addition to assuring our contribution to the work of the United Nations Agencies and the other international humanitarian organisations active in the Region, we wanted to hold this meeting to take stock of the activities of the numerous Italian civil society organisations in the country and in the region and together assess the priorities and best instruments to continue to support the Afghan people, paying special attention to the position of women, the protection of health and education”.
