Policy Updates

On September 5, 2023, the Italian government announced a new contribution to UN Women totaling EUR2 million (US$2million) to support and reinforce the protection of women on the border between Senegal and Mali.

The 2023 conflicts in the border region have spurred higher levels of GBV against women and girls. Italy has previously committed to supporting human rights and economic development with African partner countries in the region.

On June 9, 2023, Italy's Joint Committee for Development Cooperation approved EUR66 million (US$71 million) worth of projects for partner countries.

African partners comprised the main regional focus of funding, including an EUR10 million (US$11 million) grant to support job development for women and young adults.

Bilateral contributions in the package focused on international organizations, particularly those working in global health and the UN system. Key partnerships included UNICEF, UNESCO, the WHO, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and the Bari Overseas Agronomic Institute. The projects particularly targeted food security, climate adaptation, and gender equality.

In addition, the committee adopted a resolution to establish an AICS office in Kyiv, Ukraine to showcase the Italy's ongoing support for the country.

On May 24, 2023, Civil Society 7 released its review of the May 2023 G7 Hiroshima Summit.

The report looked at six topics, including the nuclear disarmament, climate and environmental justice, the transition to a fair economy, global health, humanitarian aid and conflict, and a resilient and open society, and presented the following findings:

• Nuclear Disarmament: The G7 summit did not focus on nuclear disarmament, and its leaders did not show any commitment to starting time-bound negotiations. While condemning Russia’s nuclear threats, they justified their own nuclear weapons as being for defense and deterrence;
• Climate and Environmental Justice: The G7 summit acknowledged the need to strengthen adaptation measures, enhance resilience support for vulnerable groups, and increase support to the most vulnerable countries for avoiding, minimizing, and addressing losses and damages. It emphasized the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, including non-CO2 gases, and reaffirmed commitment to global methane reduction efforts. However, the report argued that the G7’s approach to climate change, in particular its descriptions of fossil fuels, is far from ideal;
• Transition to a Fair Economy: The G7 summit prioritized “economic security” from its perspective rather than focusing on resolving challenges faced by partner countries. It aimed to decouple supply chains from China, but such decoupling could impose additional burdens on developing countries. The summit lacked strong commitments regarding debt restructuring, international negotiations, and debt cancellation. It also weakened the organization's stance on business and human rights;
• Global Health: The G7 summit fell short of expectations due to time constraints and limitations imposed by Japan. It failed to address intellectual property rights as a key factor in addressing the pandemic and ensuring equitable access to therapeutics. The summit lacked specific commitments, and its focus was more on ordering and reaffirming previous pledges rather than providing the required funding and technological contributions;
• Humanitarian Aid and Conflict: The G7 summit's commitment of US$21 billion in support, with particular focus on addressing food crises and prioritizing education, was welcomed. However, apart from this financial commitment, the summit lacked clear and concrete commitments. It failed to mention the importance of strengthening local leadership and access to humanitarian aid and protection; and
• Resilient and Open Society: The G7 summit did not address the concept of an open society or democracy in its statements. It neglected to discuss civic space and shrinking civil society, and its focus on democracy mainly revolved around countering information warfare. The summit did not address issues like digital space safety, fake news, freedom of expression, or topics covered in previous G7 meetings. The treatment of non-regular immigrants and their dire situations was a significant problem. The summit lacked references to freedom of expression and did not improve citizen participation or support for civil society organizations.

C7 aims to achieve a society envisioned by the SDGs that leaves no one behind, and its criticism of the G7 Hiroshima Summit was presented as a means of holding leaders to account for their role in building a better world.

The leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) assembled in Hiroshima from May 19-21, 2023 to discuss a wide range of global issues requiring immediate and long-term attention.

On May 20, 2023, the leaders released a communiqué outlining their commitments to the international community. Among other issues, the communiqué focused on infrastructure, humanitarian crises, climate change, global health, and gender.

Key commitments included:

• Mobilizing up to US$600 billion by 2027 for the G7 Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, also known as PGII;
• Investing US$21 billion to address worsening humanitarian crises including the global food crises;
• Pledges to mobilize US$100 billion in climate financing annually from 2020 to 2025 for mitigation actions and transparency on implementation;
• Coordinating efforts to enhance governance for health emergencies, promote sustainable health financing, launch the Pandemic Fund, and support LICs and MICs in implementing health regulations; and
• Strengthening gender equality and the rights of women, girls, and LGBTQ+ people through effective, multi-sectorial policies.

The G7 Hiroshima Summit 2023 was held during a tense period for both Europe and Asia. The leaders took a strong stance against further aggression and reconfirmed their commitment to promoting sustainable ODA and international collaboration.

On January 10, 2023, Italy was elected by acclamation to the Vice Presidency of the Executive Council of UN Women, the world's leading agency for women's rights within the UN system.

Italy joined the Executive Board in 2022 for a two-year term. The office was assumed by Ambassador Maurizio Massari, Permanent Representative of Italy to the UN, who will hold the position until January 2024.

The 2023 Executive Council Chairmanship went to Ukrainian Ambassador to the UN, Sergiy Kyslytsya. Along with Italy, three other Vice Presidents were elected to represent their respective geographies, including Colombia, Cameroon, and Thailand.

On December 21, 2022, the Netherlands condemned the Taliban’s decision to ban women from attending universities in Afghanistan through a joint ministerial statement.

The foreign ministers of Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States and the High Representative of the European Union, strongly condemned the Taliban’s recent decision. The ministers also condemned the Taliban’s practices of barring girls from secondary schools and imposing other harsh violations of the human rights of women and girls in Afghanistan.

The statement warned of consequences for development cooperation in Afghanistan should the ban continue, and were in close contact with the United Nations, which was also urging the Taliban to reverse its decision immediately

The Italian Alliance for Sustainable Development (ASviS), funded in 2016 to promote debate and raise awareness of sustainable development in Italy, has presented a list of 10 priorities to the major political parties who will run in the next early elections in September 2022. Among them, ASviS has called on all parties to include these priorities in their political programs to achieve the UN Agenda 2030 targets. Among them, the Alliance has asked to:
Ensure that public investments are used to achieve the SDGs, in line with the 'National Strategy on Sustainable Development,' as well as the 'National Recovery and Resilience Plan;' Create a public research center able to assess future needs and draw scenarios to reduce vulnerabilities to external shocks; Consolidate reforms and ensure more transparent analyses assessing the impacts of national and local policies on sustainability targets; Reform parliamentary committees with the aim of creating horizontal working groups on sustainable development in both parliament chambers; Strengthen local strategies for sustainable development; Prioritize a fair and just ecological transition with the aim to achieve a 55% reduction in greenhouses gas (GHG) emissions by 2030; Reduce inequalities by tackling the gender divide, youth unemployment, and the 'North-South divide;' Reform the welfare system to tackle poverty, improve education and ensure that everyone has access to public services; Integrate the 'One Health' approach in all domestic policies, boosting the country's capacity to tackle current and future health crises, as well as the world's capacity to monitor, prevent, and eradicate emerging epidemics; and Support multilateralism by reaching the 0.7% ODA/GNI target.
Report - Italian Alliance for Sustainable Development (in Italian)

Italian Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Marina Sereni chaired the fifth meeting of the Joint Development Cooperation Committee.
During the meeting, the Committee approved Italian funding for the World Bank, the International Center for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM) to support rural development projects in Tunisia, and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), to support a project in Syria to support victims of gender violence. The Committee also gave the green light to support a project on responsible business through the UN Global Compact and unlocked resources to be used by Cassa Depositi e Prestiti to carry out three initiatives in the Balkans and Africa.
The Italian Agency for Development Cooperation also presented four briefings. The first outlined the outcome of the 2020 call for contributions to CSO-promoted initiatives, which received approximately US$190 million. The second detailed the US$22 million in raised funds as a result of the 2021 call for contributions to initiatives to raise awareness of global citizenship. The third gave an overview of initiatives recently approved by the Director of the Agency; and, finally, the Committee announced the adoption of a “Gender Glossary” to promote knowledge of terms related to gender equality and the empowerment of women, girls, and children in cooperation initiatives.
The Vice Minister also provided information on the initiatives financed through the Migration Fund by the Directorate General for Italian Citizens Abroad and Migration Policies.
News article - Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs(in Italian)

The Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) published its 2021 Annual Report, which was presented at the National Development Cooperation Conference, Coopera 2022 in June 2022. Between 2019 and 2021, the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) allocated US$600 million to implement its programs, US$646 million to new investments, US$173 million to tackle new emergencies, and US$216 million to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

AICS invested the most in food and nutrition security in 2021, with around US$50 million in funding, followed by good governance and civil society support (US$46 million), gender equality (US$43 million), health (US$35 million), environmental protection and climate mitigation (US$32 million), education (US$27 million) and support for people with disabilities (US$20 million). 

Report - AICS (in Italian)

Italy's Joint Development Cooperation Committee approved a package of interventions worth approximately €180 million($200 million): €22 million (US$25 million) was allocated for multi- and bi-lateral projects on food security and social, economic, and environmental development in Africa, the Middle East, and the Balkans, and €158 million ($179 million) was allocated for voluntary contributions to International Organizations:

• €85 million (US$96 million) was allocated to the healthcare sector: €54 million (US$61 million) for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, €24 million (US$27 million) to GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, and €4 million (US$5 million) to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI);
• €37 million (US$42 million) was allocated for sustainable development and education: €17 million (US$19 million) to The Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat (UN DESA), €7 million (US$8 million) to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), €5 million (US$6 million)to the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), €3 million (US$3 million) to the Mediterranean and Agronomic Institute of Bari (CIHEAM/IAMB), and €3million (US$3 million) to the International Development Law Organization (IDLO); and,
• €27 million (US$31 million) was allocated to the humanitarian sector and to support gender empowerment: €9 million (US$10 million) to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), €6 million (US$7 million) to the International Red Cross (CICR), €5 million (US$6 million) to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), €3 million (US$3 million) to United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA), and €3 (US$3 million) to UN Women.

Press release - Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (in Italian)