Official meeting with the President of the Republic of Liberia, Ellen Johnson – Sirleaf

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The president of IsCaPI (Calabrian Institute of International Policies), Salvatore La Porta and sind.aco of Sant’Agata di Esaro, Luca Branda, met with the President of the Republic of Liberia, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, accompanied by an official delegation, with the intent of fostering, promoting and developing cultural relations between Liberia and Italy, signed through the Pythagoras Mundus Program.

The Project, carried out under the Patronage and in collaboration with the Department of Culture of the Region of Calabria and already promoted by the municipalities and schools of Sant’Agata di Esaro, Scigliano and Diamante, represents a moment of cultural and social growth of great relevance also for young Liberian and Italian students and creates the basis for future professional and occupational outlets.

The Protocol with Liberia provides for the arrival of 40 students over the next two years to take vocational courses in agriculture, tourism and woodworking.

The institutional meeting was held at the Rome Cavalieri Hilton, Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts in Rome. Ellen Johnson- Sirleaf, the first black woman in the world to be president of a state and also the first woman elected as head of state in Africa. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011, an activist for women’s civil rights.

A woman committed as much in political life as in social life to change the fortunes of her country, aiming for democracy and equality. The meeting, an ‘opportunity to foster intercultural exchanges and collaborative relationships, ended with the mutual satisfaction of the parties and the hope that this first visit could be the beginning of an Italy-Liberia training and integration project to promote the peculiarities and territorial excellence of the two countries through the Pythagoras Mundus Project.

Cultural exchange, school cooperation, relations of peace, friendship and equality, organization of interchange programs focusing on Italian and English language and culture courses.

The organization of a master’s degree program on international peace and cooperation, in cooperation with the International Secretariat of Nobel Peace Laureates and Nobel Peace Laureate Lech Walesa: these are the basic points of the educational program to be established between the two countries. An IsCaPi delegation will be hosted in August in Monrovia for a program presentation and the signing of further twinning agreements between public entities and cooperation in academia and business.

Finally, the President of the Rectors of Liberia will be visiting Calabria in the coming months and has shown his interest in woodworking-oriented training.