VIENNA, SEPTEMBER 29 – At the United Nations in Vienna, the Italian Permanent Representative to the International Organizations, Ambassador Alessandro Cortese, addressed the UNIDO Programme and Budget Committee: “Italy attaches the utmost importance to effective and sound management of UNIDO and remains committed to support its strategic vision, technical expertise, partnerships-based model including with private sector, to promote inclusive and sustainable industrial development”.
The UNIDO Programme and Budget Committee (27 members) meets once a year to assist the Board in the preparation and examination of the work programme, the budget and other financial matters. In view of the measures taken following the COVID-19 pandemic, the thirty-sixth session, initially scheduled for 15 and 16 June 2020, has been postponed to 29 and 30 September 2020.
Ambassador Cortese recalled that last July, Italy proudly partnered with UNIDO and funded its first digital conference focused on building women’s economic resilience to global challenges and emerging crises. Being one of the largest bilateral donors to UNIDO, Italy remains committed to support the Organization, in light of its qualified experience in the fight against poverty, unemployment and environmental degradation, within the framework of the 2030 Agenda, and in particular for the attainment of SDG 9: “Our financial and
technical support to UNIDO remains highly significant: in the last four years, Italy has allocated more than 32 million US dollars to fund UNIDO’s activities mainly in North and Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East”.
Among these activities, the projects approved last July by the Italian Development Cooperation will contribute to promoting circular economy in the Southern Mediterranean and to enhancing the textile value chain in Jordan, infrastructure management in Iraq and food security in Sudan. This year, Italy has also renewed its support to UNIDO through the
Junior Professional Officer programme, by making available one young professional in the Department of Energy.(@OnuItalia)
