Isabelle Berro-Amadeï pays official visit to Mauritania

Visite à Nouakchott de l’école « Les Espoirs du Désert » de l’ONG mauritanienne SOS Exclus ©DR

From 25 February to 1 March 2024, a Monegasque delegation* led by Ms Isabelle Berro-Amadeï, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, travelled to Mauritania for the first meeting of the Bilateral Commission for Cooperation between the two countries, which she co-chaired with Mr Mohamed Salem Ould Merzoug, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Mauritanians Abroad. The official visit was also an opportunity to visit projects in Mauritania that receive support from Monaco’s Department of International Cooperation. A primary focus was the long-standing partnership between the two countries in the field of civil security and protection.

At the first session of the Bilateral Cooperation Commission, held in the capital, Nouakchott, on 26 February, the two countries highlighted their shared determination to pursue and develop their discussions on development strategies and joint areas of cooperation, following the signature of a framework cooperation agreement in 2016. Health, food security, education, access to decent work, civil security and the environment were highlighted as cooperation priorities.  A memorandum of understanding was signed to renew support for the National Institute of Hepato-Virology in Nouakchott in its mission to care for people with viral hepatitis.

Ms Isabelle Berro-Amadeï pointed out that “initial cooperation efforts in civil protection have continued and expanded. A sectoral framework agreement signed in 2016 established this sector as a key area of cooperation between the two countries. The presence in our delegation of Colonel Tony Varo, Supreme Commander of the Military Force in Monaco, illustrates the importance and dynamic nature of this cooperation.”

The visit helped strengthen ties with the country’s authorities. Monaco’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation met with the Prime Minister of Mauritania, Mr Mohamed Ould Bilal Messoud, the Minister of the Environment, and the Minister of National Defense.

Audience avec le Premier Ministre mauritanien, M. Mohamed Ould Bilal MESSOUD ©DR

Ms Berro-Amadeï, accompanied by Colonel Tony Varo, visited barracks built with support from the Prince’s Government as part of the civil protection programme launched in 1996 and led by the Department of International Cooperation with technical support from the Monaco Fire and Emergency Service.

The Monegasque delegation visited several partners and beneficiaries in the capital and in Boghé and Kaédi in the south-east region of the country. These local, multilateral and international partners work in the four focus areas of the Department of International Cooperation: access to decent work for women and young people (APIF and Ecodev, two Mauritanian NGOs); education (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees); food and nutrition security (United Nations World Food Programme), and health (Gret, an international NGO and Santé Globale, a Mauritanian NGO).

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1ère session de la Commission bilatérale de Coopération Mauritanie-Monaco ©DR

* The Monegasque delegation comprised: Ms Isabelle Berro-Amadeï, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation (Head of the Delegation), Mr Aly Gueladio Kamara, Monaco’s Consul in Mauritania, Ms Emilie Silvestre, Coordinator for the Department of International Cooperation (DCI), Mr Bastien Nicaise, Programme Manager for the DCI, and Ms Hawa Diop, Country Coordinator for the DCI in Mauritania. Colonel Tony Varo, Supreme Commander of the Military Force, accompanied the delegation during his stay in Nouakchott.

Visite de la caserne de Tevragh Zeïna, construite avec le soutien de Monaco ©DR