Two ambulances were sent to Moldova as part of the development aid in 2014. (source: TASR)
Of this sum, more than €16 million will go for bilateral development aid, according to the document submitted by the Foreign Affairs Ministry for interdepartmental review.
The document stipulates that for Slovakia’s development cooperation the year 2016 will be “a year of challenges on the international level”. The key agenda for the humanitarian aid will be the migration crisis, which will require more intensive efforts in the country, but also in affected territories abroad.
“The formal step in this respect is the registration of Syria and the neighbouring countries of the Middle East to the list of SlovakAid’s territorial priorities,” the ministry explained, as quoted by SITA.
The ministry also reminded that the rules for development cooperation changed, and that this year it will be coordinated by six ministries, namely the ministries of foreign affairs, finance, interior, education, defence and agriculture.
The official development aid will be sent mostly to the programme countries, i.e. Moldova, Kenya and Afghanistan, particularly for health care, education, water management, public affairs administration, and construction of civic society institutions.
“Also the countries of Eastern Partnership and western Balkans will be among the priorities of Slovakia’s development cooperation, where the key priority will be the activities related to transferring the transformation and integration experiences,” the ministry document reads.
The Foreign Affairs Ministry plans to allocate €600,000 for the material humanitarian aid. As much as €200,000 will go to Southern Sudan, while €300,000 will go to projects in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo and €300,000 on projects in Georgia. Ukraine should receive €700,000 within the development and humanitarian aid. The material aid will be secured also by the Interior Ministry, as reported by SITA.
The Interior Ministry will allocate €100,000 for material humanitarian aid. Moreover, it will spend €790,000 on missions and operations of the crisis civil management of the EU and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. It will also give €1,200,000 to help refugees.
The Defence Ministry will provide the bilateral development cooperation via sending civil experts to missions of the crisis management that take place outside Slovakia. It will allocate €300,000 for this purpose. Another €10,000 should go towards humanitarian and development activities.
The Education Ministry will provide scholarships to 48 new applicants from developing countries and 176 students who currently study at the public universities, allocating more than €1,880,000 for this purpose. Part of the programme is also scholarships for Slovaks living abroad, SITA reported.
