Brussels, 23/06/2010 (Agence Europe) - European Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs welcomed the decision of the international community to resume full political cooperation with Mauritania. At a two-day (22-23 June) Round Table discussion in Brussels organised by the European Commission and the government of Mauritania, donations of more than €2.5 billion ($3.2 billion) over three years have been pledged - exceeding all hopes, according to Prime Minister Ould Mohamed Laghdaf. The European Union, the World Bank, the United Nations (UNDP) and other international donors (with Libya, Morocco and Qatar represented at ministerial level) and representatives of civil society took part in the Round Table.
In a press release published on Wednesday 23 June, Piebalgs says: “Full resumption of cooperation with Mauritania is a success achieved through intense political dialogue”. He stresses, too, the importance of maintaining the strategy to improve governance and tackle poverty on which the Mauritanian government has embarked.
International cooperation with Mauritania was suspended following the military coup in August 2008. The renewed commitment of the Mauritanian authorities to good governance convinced international donors to take a step which the EU had already taken on 25 January of this year and resuming full political cooperation with Mauritania. Under the 10th European Development Fund (EDF), a sum of €156 million is available until end 2013. (A.N./transl.rt)