Minister of Foreign Affairs, Migration and Tunisians Abroad, Nabil Ammar and President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Mirjana Spoljaric, agreed during a meeting in Geneva on Monday to organise training courses for young Tunisian diplomats in international humanitarian law, cybersecurity and new communication technologies.
During the meeting, which took place during his working visit to Geneva, the Minister praised the exemplary cooperation between Tunisia and the ICRC, which dates back to 1987, the year the ICRC opened its regional office in Tunisia. He highlighted the fruitful cooperation with this organisation in a number of areas, including the management of irregular migration and the promotion of the culture of international humanitarian law.
After expressing his hope that the ICRC will strengthen its commitment and presence in Tunisia, the Minister invited the ICRC President to visit Tunisia in 2024, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
For her
part, Spoljaric praised the “excellent” cooperation between the ICRC and Tunisia, a “traditional partner” of the organisation. She welcomed the invitation to visit Tunisia and expressed the ICRC’s readiness to further develop cooperation with the Tunisian authorities in support of international humanitarian law and in addressing new humanitarian challenges in the region.
Discussing the dire humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, the Minister thanked the ICRC President for her recent visit to the Occupied Palestinian Territories, which helped to highlight the suffering of the Palestinian people. He underlined the importance of the ICRC team’s work in Gaza.
Nabil Ammar reiterated Tunisia’s full support for the Palestinian people’s right to life and self-determination. He called on the international community to assume all its responsibilities in order to put an end to the aggression. It has caused an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe and undermined the credibility of the international human rights sys
tem and all the legal texts that the international community has worked for decades to adopt in order to protect the right to life and self-determination, he said.
For her part, the ICRC President said that the purpose of her visit to Gaza was to step up efforts to alleviate the terrible suffering of the Palestinian civilian population and to provide them with the necessary humanitarian assistance.
She expressed its deep concern at the unacceptable suffering of the population, in particular the children who have been killed or seriously injured and who have lost their parents. It reiterated its call for the protection of civilians in Gaza and respect for the laws of war and international humanitarian law, and stressed the need for regular and unhindered humanitarian access to Gaza.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse