APCOM

Altogether 37 projects presented by non governmental organizations, associations and university were delivered in relation to Milan Municipality's bid on Food Health for which the local administration has financed 500,000 euros. The projects - part of the efforts set for the goal accomplishment of the United Nations Millennium Campaign - must prioritize the following areas: the right to access safe food, the distribution of water, enviromental safety, the fight against desertification, promotion of sustainable agriculture and biodiversity conservation. 

As Milan Municipality has commented it is a great honour to finance such projects that aim at preparing the grounds for a long lasting change in a field where intervention is urgently needed. This is in line with the Italian Foreign Office which has allocated 700,000 euros for international solidarity projects. The 7 projects which won the grant focus on those countries that, according to the latest review of the United Nation Devlopment Programme, occupy the lowest ranking in terms of human Development. This is a notion that encompasses the promotion of human rights, the environment protection, the development of social and health assistance and the improvement of population's education. 

Following is a more detailed overview of each of the projects which were awarded the grants by the Milan Council. 

-Coopi, focuses on the refugees in the Southern region of Ciad, 170th country out of 177 in terms of the UNDP Human Development scale. The main topic of the project is water management and environment reclamation scheme. 
-Oikos (a lay and independent association founded in Milan in 1996) is aimed at supporting local micro-entrepreneurs in the developing world with a particular focus on Tanzania. 
-Avsi project is co-financed by Interamerican Development Bank and is aimed at implementing a rural development model which allows the exploitation of local resources of Argentina's countryside. 
-Amref project sets the specific goal of halfing by 2015 the number of people who do not have adequate access to drinking water and to adequate sanitary conditions in North Uganda. 
-Cosv is aimed at improving the management of the Dry Wood territory in Northern Peru and is financed also by the European Union. 
-the Agriculture faculty of the Università degli Studi di Milano project aims at improving rural and urban agriculture in the Dakar region. Intervention will focus on the cultivation of two local plants. 
-Africa 70 project focuses on Niger in Africa, which is ranked 158th in the UNDP Human Development scale. The intervention area in particular extends over the borders of Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger.