On May 23, 2024, at the head of a large delegation, Acting Military Advisor Major General Cheryl Pearce visited MINUSCA troops stationed in Bouar. During this visit, Major General Pearce met with the Bangladeshi medical contingent, the Senegalese rapid reaction force, and the Bangladeshi aviation unit.

These meetings enabled Major General Pearce to immerse herself in the working conditions of troops engaged in peacekeeping. She was able to discuss the challenges facing the troops and took note of the recommendations made by soldiers in the field.

At the end of her visit, Major General Cheryl Pearce praised the dedication and commitment of MINUSCA troops in the service of peace in the Central African Republic. She stressed the importance of their work and expressed her gratitude for their ongoing efforts to promote stability and security in the region.

Major General Cheryl Pearce arrived in the Central African Republic on May 22, 2024, for a three-day visit.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA).

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri who is in Tehran to convey condolences over president Raisi and Goreign Minister Amirabdollahian’s martyrdom in a helicopter crash, was greeted by Iran’s Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri at the Tehran summit hall.

In the meeting, the Egyptian foreign minister expressed his condolences to the Iranian government and people on behalf of the president, government and people of Egypt.

Pointing to his very good and sincere relations with the late foreign minister of Iran, Sameh Shukri stressed that he wished he had traveled to Iran at a better opportunity, but it was necessary to be in Iran to convey condolences to the Iranian government and people.

Referring to his intensive and continuous talks with Amirabdollahian regarding regional issues, the Egyptian foreign minister underlined the need to continue these negotiations in order to promote and expand bilateral ties based on stable foundations and principles.

Iran’s Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri also appreciated the visit of Sameh Shokri to Tehran as the representative of the government and civilized people of Egypt and thanked him for extending condolences on behalf of himself as well as the Egyptian president and the sheikh of al-Azhar.

Bagheri then spoke about the existence of cultural, historical and religious commonalities between the two great countries with an ancient history and civilization.

He underlined the need to push ahead with the approach and policy of President Raisi and Foreign Minister Amirabdollhian in pursuing the expansion of relations with major Muslim countries, especially Egypt.

Bagheri expressed hope that the negotiations started by the foreign ministers of the two countries with an emphasis on the interests of the two countries will be followed up seriously in order to produce positive results sought by the leaders of Iran and Egypt.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Islamic Republic of Iran.

Cooperation between Finland and Mozambique has yielded good results, according to a recent evaluation. Finland’s support has had an impact especially on teacher education, which is crucial for children’s learning.

Qualified teachers and education for girls have been a focus of Finland’s support for Mozambique’s education sector in recent years. Finland, along with other donors, has channelled most of its support to the Education Sector Support Fund (FASE) to support the development of Mozambique’s education sector.

According to a recent evaluation focusing on the period 2014–2022, cooperation has achieved good results. The number of teachers has increased in both primary schools and secondary schools: in 2010–2022, the number of secondary school teachers doubled and the share of female teachers rose to one quarter of all teachers. Mozambique has made considerable progress in improving access to basic education over the longer term: in 1992, only 41 per cent of Mozambican children aged 6 to 12 attended school, but the number had risen to over 90 per cent before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Finland has also managed to improve aspects that are critical to learning outcomes, such as teacher training and mother-tongue education, and to support Mozambique in significant education sector reforms. These reforms include diversifying teacher education and extending free compulsory education from seven to nine years.

Specialists at the mission play a key role

The evaluation report praises Finland for consistent and substantial support. Finland has supported the development of Mozambique’s education sector since the 1990s and has been one of the biggest bilateral donors for FASE. In terms of Finland’s overall development cooperation, the support provided through FASE has been the single most important aid for education on a country level.

All the stakeholders interviewed for the evaluation highly value Finland’s support and role as a FASE partner,” says Evaluation Team Leader Frans van Gerwen:

“Finland’s position as one of the key partners in the education sector is based on long-term participation and a highly professional way of engaging in political dialogue on the education strategy and policy with Mozambique’s Ministry of Education. The specialists at the mission play an important role in this.”

The programmes implemented alongside FASE have added to Finland’s effectiveness. In recent years, Finland has also supported the education of teachers through a joint pilot project of the World Bank and Mozambique’s Ministry of Education. The pilot COACH/Aprender Mais provides continuing professional education for teachers. Finnish higher education institutions and civil society have also supported the education sector.

“This has increased Finland’s visibility and relevance in the Mozambican education sector,” says van Gerwen.

Sharing the lessons learnt

Although significant progress has been made, challenges remain especially in the quality of education. Moreover, the need for education will increase further as the population doubles over the next 25 years. The evaluation report encourages FASE partners and the Government of Mozambique to pay more attention to the various skills and support needs at the Ministry of Education and to the quality of education, learning outcomes and statistical shortcomings related to them.

The evaluation report recommends that Finland continue to focus on girls’ schooling, improving teachers’ performance and strengthening school governance in basic education in 2024. The report also encourages Finland to identify the lessons learnt from cooperation and share them with other donors. The report includes many other recommendations concerning both Finland and other actors in Mozambique’s education sector.  

The evaluation was carried out between August 2023 and February 2024. As part of fiscal adjustment measures, Finland will reduce its development cooperation funding in the coming years. The changes will also affect cooperation between Finland and Mozambique. Finland will end its bilateral support, including to FASE, and the focus of cooperation will shift to political, economic and commercial relations. Cooperation between civil society organisations and higher education institutions will continue to be possible. The changed situation has been taken account of in the evaluation report’s recommendations.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland.

The first review was of the Framework Agreement on Economic, Commercial, Cultural, Scientific and Technical Cooperation between Equatorial Guinea and Belarus, through which the two countries agree to promote and foster cooperation through the formulation and implementation of strategies, programmes and projects in areas of common interest, whose objectives are the promotion and organisation of seminars, conferences, the exchange of information and documentation, the granting of study scholarships in accordance with the legislation of both States, and promoting exchanges of experts and researchers, including teachers and students.

The Agreement on the Visa Waiver for Holders of Diplomatic and Service Passports aims at exempting them from applying for visas when travelling from one country to another and allowing them to transit through and stay in the territory of the other party for a period not exceeding ninety days from the date of first entry, provided that the citizen is not engaged in a gainful activity.

The Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Culture signed between Equatorial Guinea and Belarus, through their respective Ministries for Culture, establishes that the parties will collaborate and maintain direct contacts between public institutions in the fields of music, dance and theatre, encourage mutual participation in international festivals and events taking place in the two States, and foster mutual cooperation for the protection of cultural heritage through exchanges of experts and information.

With the Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Health and Medical Science, the Government of Equatorial Guinea and the Government of Belarus wish to establish and develop mutual cooperation in order to improve medical care for the population of both States.

Through the Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Education between the Government of Equatorial Guinea and the Government of Belarus, the two States agree to promote the exchange of information and consultations on the recognition of education certificates, as well as to enable the citizens of both States to get to know each other’s language, culture, history, literature, customs and traditions. 

The five agreements presented were the subject of intense and fruitful debates that served not only to enrich the content of the documents, but also for the senators to give their recommendations in the sense of strengthening Equatorial Guinea’s presence and taking advantage of the benefits of the programmes included in these agreements, and to that end they retained some points that will be raised with the delegation from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Diaspora in its next appearance before the Senate Plenary.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Equatorial Guinea: Official Web Page of the Government.