The Director General for Development Cooperation of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Giorgio Marrapodi, visited the International Organizations based in Vienna from the 23rd to the 25th of January. During the visit, Director General Marrapodi held bilateral meetings with the UN Industrial Development Organization; the UN Office on Drugs and Crimes; and the International Atomic Energy Agency. On that occasion, DG Marrapodi reaffirmed Italy’s long term support for inclusive and sustainable development and its commitment to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.
During the meeting with the UNIDO Director General LI Yong, Director Marrapodi reiterated the Italian Government’s support for the Organization. He also underlined how the long-standing collaboration between Italy and UNIDO has resulted in important partnerships and initiatives to promote socio- economic development, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa Region, as well as in Sub-Saharan Africa.
A signing ceremony was held to sign two funding agreements of EUR 4.5 million to support UNIDO projects in Mozambique and Tunisia. In particular, the project in Mozambique aims at promoting the coffee value chain and at improving living conditions of small producers in the region of Cabo Delgado. The initiative will benefit from a partnership between UNIDO and the Ernesto Illy Foundation. This cooperation builds up from a similar initiative launched in 2015 in Ethiopia that has already given excellent results and that can be considered as a best practice of public-private partnership. The project in Tunisia will be co-financed by the European Union and will promote the development of craftsmanship, design, and cultural heritage in order to enhance the results of the current regional programme “Support to the Development of Culture and Creative Industries and Clusters in the Southern Mediterranean”.
During the signing ceremony, Director General Marrapodi also announced the funding of EUR 1.3 million for the second phase of a project to promote women empowerment and entrepreneurship in Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine and Tunisia. The second phase aims at extending the activities carried out during the first phase which was equally financed by the Italian Cooperation. In order to increase its overall impact, the project will benefits from a synergic, inter-agency cooperation between UNIDO, UN Women and FAO.
Moreover, the Director General visited the 5 Laboratories of the FAO / IAEA Joint Division in Seibersdorf, where the two Organizations cooperate to foster socio-economic development through the application of nuclear technologies, focusing particularly on animal diseases and crop pests control, in order to enhance agricultural and livestock production.
Director-General Marrapodi also held meetings with UNODC representatives, in order to discuss the close link between the Office’s mandate to strengthen the Rule of Law against crime and illicit drug trafficking, and its contribution to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.
