The Joint Development Cooperation Committee met again today under the chairmanship of the Italian Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs delegated to International Cooperation, Edmondo Cirielli. This was the fifth meeting since the beginning of the year.
The Committee firstly decided, with regard to the 2024 Programming, to increase the share of Cooperation resources allocated to bilateral initiatives up to 60%. The remaining component will be allocated to emergency (25%) and multilateral (15%) interventions.
Also for this edition, in coherence with the “Mattei Plan” launched by the Italian Prime Minister Meloni, the directives of the Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani and the Deputy Minister Edmondo Cirielli confirm Africa as the main recipient of the development interventions supported by Italian Cooperation, with a particular focus on income-generating sectors, such as support to start-ups and SMEs, energy transition, and professional training. In particular, the Committee approved the allocation of more than EUR 300 million in donations (to Egypt, Sudan, Kenya, Mali, Niger, Somalia and the Central African Republic) and aid credits (to Ethiopia), as well as a voluntary contribution to the OECD for the creation of an investment observatory for the Continent.
Of particular note, then, was the approval of a EUR 180 million grant for the adoption of a call for proposals in two lots — to be published in the coming weeks — for the presentation of initiatives promoted by civil society organisations and territorial authorities respectively. Again, 85% of the resources are to be used for projects in Africa.
On another front, as part of Italy’s strong support for Ukraine, a contribution has been approved that will contribute to the strengthening of that country’s macroeconomic management and support its path to accession to the European Union and the OECD.
Also noteworthy was the approval of a contribution to the Food Systems Transformation Fund launched at the UN Summit on Food Systems +2 hosted by Italy last July, and the contribution to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to foster the organisation’s action in combating human trafficking and assisting victims of trafficking, promoting activities to facilitate reception and social integration, and assisting the voluntary repatriation of migrants and refugees to their areas of origin.
Finally, the Joint Committee gave a favourable opinion on the refinancing by Cassa Depositi e Prestiti of two credit lines opened with as many multilateral development banks in Africa for an amount of up to EUR 300 million.
