ROME -- As part of the Italian government’s new 5.5 billion euro Mattei Plan, stakeholders convened at the Unione Montana Valsesia (UMV) on Monday with the goal of integrating young Nigerian migrants into Italian society. 

  “This is an invite-only meeting organised by Mater Africa and sponsored by various organisations, from OPES Turismo Sociale and UMV, with the aim of supporting the legal and dignified integration of young migrants from Nigeria, a country from which increasingly large demographic flows are expected given the expected rise in population size,” Alberto Daffara, the Vice President of both the UMV and of Mater Africa Italy, said about the Mattei Passport: Nigeria-Italy Humanitarian Project. 

  Ambassador of the Desopades Group and representative of the Government of the Delta, an eastern region of Nigeria, John Odafo Asiemo, opened the event. 

  “With his speech, Odafo Asiemo will open the works and indicate the guidelines that will characterise the subsequent interventions,” continued Daffara, “The meeting is part of the Mattei Plan, a project worth over 5.5 billion euro designed by the Italian government in the context of the interconnection between continents and the need for cooperation on an equal footing with Africa, free of any predatory temptation or charitable approach".

  Representatives from PMI Italia (National Confederation of Small and Medium Enterprises), the Government of Nigeria and Resopades, OPES social tourism, Unione Montana Valsesia and Consorzio Monterosa Valsesia, also participated in Monday’s event.

  “The issues of solidarity between continents and legal immigration are of great importance for all of us: we cannot close our eyes to the demographic and labour emergencies of our time, the arrival of regularly registered people who can integrate into our socio-economic fabric is certainly a value,” Daffara added. 

  “We feel it is our duty, therefore, to promote awareness of these issues, through meetings like this one, which also allow us to listen to the point of view of the migrants' countries of origin, precisely with a view to the effective collaboration that lies at the basis of the Mattei.” 

  “The Mattei Planis a testimony to the great work of our government, our leader Giorgia Meloni and the Deputy Minister Edmondo Cirielli,” Member of the European Parliament, Alberico Gambino, wrote in a message to the workshop, “This project represents a crucial step towards an equal and sustainable cooperation between our continents, avoiding any predatory or charitable temptations.” 

lw