Ancient links for development

The co-operation between Italy and Pakistan, heading back to a technology sharing of thousands of years ago that brought Roman hydraulic works to the Indus Valley, evolved through centuries, symbolised by the Italian mountaineers in Karakorum and archaeologists in Swat, respectively in the 19th and 20th centuries. Contemporary development co-operation between the two countries will celebrate its 30th anniversary next year.
The Italian co-operation portfolio in Pakistan amounts presently to over 226 million euro, allocated to projects implemented across the country in all main sectors, mainly through or in close co-operation with the federal and provincial Governments, in the name of local ownership and respect of local priorities. Our focus is both on traditional development sectors, such as education, health care and rural development, as well as on innovative projects aiming at creating opportunities for disadvantaged youth in conflict affected areas, in order to assist the Pakistani Government in the stabilisation of those regions.
Such is our 40 million euro rural development programme soon to be launched with the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund, aiming at creating opportunities for young people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and FATA, with the idea that opportunities are the best antidote to militancy. In the same framework, we were the first donors to implement a rural rehabilitation project in Swat after the Taleban occupation. Also in Swat, our Archaeological project aims at providing vocational training in the sectors of tourism and archaeology, while preserving important Islamic and Buddhist sites. The project has discovered and restored the ancient Udegram Mosque, the most ancient in Northern Pakistan, as well as famous Gandhara and Buddhist sites.
Both the rural rehabilitation and the archaeological project in Swat have been funded in the framework of the Pakistani Italian Debt Swap Agreement (PIDSA), with a total budget equivalent, at the time of the signature, to around 80 million euro. The PIDSA includes projects in the sectors of Health care, Education, Agriculture and Infrastructure. To date, 37 projects have been approved in all provinces of Pakistan. Among the main ones, in the health sector we can mention the Kidney Centre in Karachi that provides free of charge Haemodialysis services to needy patients, the Ophthalmic clinics and services established in Punjab and KP, the Centre for treatment of acid burn victims in Multan, the Bone marrow transplant unit in Islamabad for treating children suffering from Thalassemia major, the Maternal health and child care unit in Chitral and the contribution for construction of the Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital in Peshawar. For the agricultural and rural sectors, besides the mentioned rural rehabilitation project in Swat, the Area Development Project for Frontier Regions in FATA implemented in an area still suffering by extremist threats. We are also funding smaller projects targeting the rural populations in KP, AJK, Sindh. In the cultural and education sector, besides the archaeological project in Swat, we can quote the studies carried out by the renowned Politecnico di Milano University as a model for the preservation and the economic valuation of the historic core of Multan. Among the smaller interventions, education projects implemented in Punjab, AJK, Balochistan and the support to Karakoram International University (KIU) in Gilgit Baltistan. A small yet very significant success-story is the Village Incubator as Key Factor of Rural Development in Mansehra where 350 women were trained to design and make marble mosaics, starting then their own business. Finally, a project for Social, Economic and Environmental Development (SEED), with the main objective of poverty alleviation, social and economic development, environmental research conservation and protected area management. SEED's main partners are Aga Khan Rural Support Program (AKRSP), the Central Karakorum National Park Directorate (CKNP), Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP), WWF-Pakistan, Mountain Glacier and Protection Organisation (MGPO), Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), the Politecnico di Milano and a large network of other Italian universities. The output results of scientific and applied research are likely to support studies to better assess climate change in Pakistan, and the threats to its ecosystems.
Italy is also supporting a project for the promotion of Olive cultivation for economic development and poverty alleviation, implemented with deprived communities of Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkwa, Punjab and FATA under the co-ordination of the Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC) including the parallel scientific support from the Agricultural Overseas Institute of Florence (IAO), a technical branch of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. IAO also carries out an important Fruit Diversification project in the Swat Valley aiming at enhancing livelihoods and farmers capacities, with a gender focused strategy to favour women inclusion in the local economy.
Of course, humanitarian assistance is always a priority for the Italian co-operation. We were among the first to provide emergency assistance to the victims of the catastrophic floods of the recent years, contributing later on 57.75 million euro to the Citizens Damage Compensation Programme as well as to other multilateral and bilateral efforts.