The appeal of the 070 Campaign and the Generazione Cooperazione project
In Rome, on 3 and 5 December, to support international cooperation.
Rome 1 December. The 070 Campaign – promoted by Focsiv, Aoi, Cini and Link 2007, together with the Forum del Terzo Settore, ASviS, Caritas Italiana and Missio – and the Generazione Cooperazione project invite everyone to participate on Sunday 3 December in a mobilisation that will take place at 2.30 p.m. in Piazza Santi Apostoli in Rome, while on Tuesday 5 December, at 10 a.m. at the Hotel Nazionale in Montecitorio, we will meet the Institutions and Members of Parliament to share proposals in support of sustainable development cooperation.
The discussion on the Budget Law for 2024 has entered the decisive stages: positive signals are coming from Parliament, which we ask the Government to support. The 070 Campaign has welcomed the report of the Foreign Affairs and Defence Commission of the Senate, led by the Hon. Craxi, which calls for an evaluation of the opportunity of a gradual increase in resources to align with international commitments. In addition, amendments have been tabled to the text of the Budget Law that relaunch the proposal to entrust the Prime Minister’s Office with the adoption of a decree to determine a gradual but binding timetable to achieve the 0.70 per cent target for international aid by 2030. Finally, we note positively the approval of a parliamentary resolution supported by the majority, on the Italian position in view of the upcoming COP 28, which commits the government to “take initiatives to achieve the goal of a 0.7 per cent share of gross domestic product in development aid”.
The Government and Parliament have the opportunity to adopt a decision of historic character with regard to the future of Italian cooperation. Our country, in fact, remains far from the international objective, adopted in 1970 by the United Nations General Assembly, of allocating 0.70% of the gross national income of economically advanced countries to public aid for the development of poor countries.
A change of course is necessary.
The refinancing of development cooperation as envisaged in the current text of the Budget Law signals a further reduction in ambitions: overall levels are expected to be maintained for 2024, thanks to some exceptional interventions and the chapter of resources dedicated to the management of migratory phenomena, which are spent in Italy. In this regard, we point out that the Budget Law provides for the construction of infrastructure in Libya with a large allocation for 2024, which is then reduced in the following two years. On the other hand, the resources earmarked for the most lively and operational part of cooperation mark the pace: the allocation for the activities of the Cooperation Agency regresses, contradicting the intentions expressed by the Government to strengthen the bilateral dimension of the Italian cooperation system.
The reversal of the trend to relaunch Italy’s development cooperation is necessary and is also possible if the Government listens to the voices coming from both Parliament and civil society organisations.
Download the full press release with editorial notes
Download the full press release with editorial notes
For more details:
AOI francesco.verdolino@hotmail.it;
CINI comunicazione.cini@cininet.org;
LINK 2007 comunicazione@link2007.org;
FOCSIV ufficio.stampa@focsiv.it;
ASVIS ufficiostampa@asvis.net.