Slovakia’s share in development aid is the motif of the “10 Years under the SlovakAid Logo” conference that opened in Bratislava October 16, marking the anniversary of the agency.
“SlovakAid is a success story of aid, solidarity and co-operation,” said Foreign and European Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajčák – who opened the conference – as quoted by the TASR newswire. “Through SlovakAid, we have been present in almost 20 countries, and we have implemented more than 400 projects.”
In addition to several foreign ministers attending the conference, European Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs attended and discussed Slovak aid in sub-Saharan Africa.
Lajčák participated in several bilateral meetings as well, including signing an intergovernmental agreement on development co-operation with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of Moldova Natalia Gherman. Later in the day, Lajčák met with Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Policy and Minister for Information Society and Telecommunications of Montenegro Vujic Lazovic, as well as with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of Kenya Amina Mohamed.
He also awarded Golden Plaques to David Chaplin and Maroš Čaučík for the cooperation with Foreign Ministry on official development aid and for their contribution to improving the system of development aid. Chaplin is Canadian citizen, manager and expert of the CIDA development agency and co-author and head of the programme of development aid for the central-European Countries (ODACE) which resided in Bratislava in 2004-2006. Čaučík co-founded the SlovakAid and contributed to its establishment, and he also co-founded and had chaired the Platform of Non-governmental Development Organisations, one of ministry’s key partners.
The biggest recipients of Slovak foreign development aid will be, as of next year, Afghanistan, Kenya and Moldova, TASR wrote. The conference is part of the ongoing Development Week (October 14-18).
(Source: TASR)
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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