Isabelle Berro-Amadeï visits cooperation projects in Tunisia

Visite d'Isabelle Berro-Amadeï en Tunisie © IADH

From 3 to 6 July 2023, a Monegasque delegation* led by Isabelle Berro-Amadeï, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, paid a visit to Tunisia to meet local partners and visit projects supported by Monaco’s Department of International Cooperation.

The working visit began with the Minister attending a meeting of the Board of Directors of MedFund, a trust fund for Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean established by Tunisia, Monaco and France and chaired this year by Tunisia’s Environment Minister, Ms Leila Chikhaoui.

During her meetings with a highly committed Tunisian civil society, Ms Berro-Amadeï observed the central role of the Mediterranean in the various exchanges and partnerships. She recalled “the commitment of the Prince’s Government to entrepreneurship for women and young people in the Mediterranean region” and the support provided by Monaco’s Department of International Cooperation to two initiatives: J-Med, a call for proposals to support youth in the Mediterranean, and the Mediterranean New Chance Network (MedNC), which backs 343 employment initiatives for 52,000 young people in nine Mediterranean countries.

The Monegasque delegation also visited with several local, international and multilateral partners working for access to decent work (Shanti, the Association Patrimoine pour l’Economie Solidaire (APES) and UN-Habitat) and for education and child protection (Rafiq, Handicap International, Health & Psychology, SOS Villages d’Enfants), two priority areas of cooperation in Tunisia.

The trip also resulted in the signing of the third phase of a project to support the employability of refugees and asylum seekers in Tunisia. At the signing ceremony with Ms Monica Noro, Tunisia’s Representative to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation recalled that “the inclusion of refugees and displaced persons is a serious commitment for the Monaco Department of International Cooperation over the 2022-2024 period.” One of the highlights of the visit was conversations with Syrian and sub-Saharan refugees at the offices of the Institut Arabe des Droits de l’Homme.

Tunisia has been a partner country of the Principality since 1993, the year of Monaco's accession to the United Nations. A framework cooperation agreement was signed by the two States in 2008, followed by an agreement on social affairs in 2017. Isabelle Berro-Amadeï recently invited her Tunisian counterpart to come to Monaco in February 2024 to co-chair the fourth meeting of the Monaco-Tunisia Bilateral Commission on Foreign Affairs 

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 *  The Monegasque delegation comprised: Isabelle Berro-Amadei, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Selima Bensaid-Lakhoua, Consul General of Monaco to Tunisia, Emilie Silvestre, Programme Coordinator for the Department of International Cooperation (DCI), Julien Siri, Programme Manager for the DCI, and Wanessa El Amri, Country Coordinator for the DCI in Tunisia.