The Italian government will disburse €3.5 million to ensure the sustainable development of marine and coastal resources in the province of Cabo Delgado, in northern Mozambique, it was announced on Thursday.
“We are turning words into concrete actions,” said Italian Ambassador Gabriele Annis in Maputo at the signing ceremony for a memorandum between the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) and Mozambique’s National Institute for the Sea (INAMAR).
The Programme for the Sustainable and Integrated Development of Marine and Coastal Resources in Cabo Delgado Province is part of the EcoBlu project, launched in the city of Pemba, in the north of the country, marking, according to the diplomat, the partnership between the various actors involved in sustainable development.
“The programme will be implemented through a complementary approach, with one component managed by the civil society organisation Oikos and another directly managed by AICS, allowing for a combination of field experience and institutional coordination,” he explained.
According to Gabriele Annis, the initiative is part of a “trajectory of consolidated cooperation,” which also includes other programmes focused on the economic opportunities that oceans and coasts create, but with a specific focus on sustainability and respect for the biological balance of natural resources.
“The EcoBlu programme, implemented with the technical and financial support of Italian cooperation, including initiatives in partnership with [oil company] ENI, will focus on crucial areas: institutional strengthening, biodiversity conservation, training and technical capacity building in maritime spatial planning and management, and the development of policy instruments to ensure that long-term sustainability is ensured,” she added.
The diplomat also pointed out that the memorandum signed today is a “living instrument,” providing for technical cooperation, experience sharing, capacity building and, above all, the joint construction of solutions adapted to the Mozambican reality: “We do not bring ready-made models, but rather an outstretched hand to walk together, learning from each other.”
The Secretary of State for the Sea and Fisheries valued the agreement for arising in the context of the need to ensure the conservation and preservation of marine ecosystems through the responsible use of national maritime space, with a view to the sustainable development of the country, highlighting Cabo Delgado in particular, through the economic empowerment of coastal communities, thus reducing pressure on marine resources.
Momade Juízo added that the cooperation is in line with Mozambique’s government’s guiding instruments, which encourage economic diversification through an integrated approach that includes the principles of the blue and green economy and represents a continuation and consolidation of the institutional partnership between Mozambique and Italy in the field of sustainable management of marine ecosystems.
“We urge Inamar, the implementing director of this initiative, to ensure that the resources allocated by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation must be managed carefully and efficiently,” he concluded.
Source: Club Of Mozambique / Lusa
