(11 March 2016) Africa and Trentino are closer than one might expect them to be, also thanks to the mission on behalf of the Autonomous Province of Trento, led by the Councillor for Development Cooperation Sara Ferrari, that will arrive in Uganda on Sunday for a series of visits and institutional meetings. The mission – centered around the cooperation projects implemented by Acav and Euregio as well as potential investment prospects for Trentino companies – will touch upon two very different, yet neighboring, countries: Uganda and South Sudan. The two represent the two faces of Africa, a continent that is quickly developing in an increasingly globalized world, but that is also still healing the wounds of wars and conflicts. The first part of the mission will see the delegation in Kampala, where it will take part in institutional meetings with the Italian ambassador and the EU, some ministers of the local Government (domestic, foreign, agriculture and education), and members of the local business community. The delegation will also visit the projects of the diocesan missionary center (Peace School – Scuola di Pace) and the health care center Padre Angelo. Later the delegation will move in the West Nile, one of northern Uganda regions, among the least developed in the country. Here, the delegation will discuss with local governors development cooperation prospects involving the Province, Acav, the Ugandan Government, the Italian Government, and the European Union. The meetings will assess and set priorities on which to focus short term interventions (governance, agricultural production, vocational training…). Near Koboko, there will also be a visit to the vocational agricultural school in Jabar, opened in 2010, were the local managers will present the food security programs and the initiatives in favor of agricultural production development and income-generating agricultural activities. The Trento delegation will then travel by to South Sudan, in Morobo, a region that is now home to thousands of refugees from the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo. Here, the group will visit the agricultural school and meet with the authorities. The Trento Province development cooperation intervention began here three years ago, slowly becoming a best practice to be scaled up. Finally, after returning in the Ugandan capital, there will be one last visit in the south of the country, in Masaka, where Euregio is developing a series of different, but coordinated, interventions. The underlying philosophy of all Trentino-supported projects is to work in close collaboration with local government authorities: by providing technical support and proper training, the Province wants to encourage the growth of skills, expertise and resources that allow endogenous and independent social and economic development policies to truly impact the local social fabric. This is why the latest projects by Acav in Uganda are pilot initiatives followed closely by the various international agencies and the Ugandan government. Small organizations such as Acav, deeply rooted in the realities in which they operate, can develop effective plans, bringing on board entrepreneurs, United Nations agencies, the EU cooperation, national agencies and other NGOs. The main sectors of intervention in Uganda and South Sudan (as well as in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo) are focused on agriculture and livestock, vocational education, water (mainly wells), health (creating / supporting health districts), and support to good governance. (Red)
