Administrative State Secretary Iván Bába opened the photo exhibit “International development cooperation – Fight against poverty” May 24, 2013. State Secretary Bába delivered the following remarks at the event organised in the main building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
„Not all of us are destined to achieve great things in life, but all of us are able to accomplish small things with love.”
With this significant and touching quotation from Mother Teresa of Calcutta I would like to greet warmly our guests, ambassadors and members of the Diplomatic Corps, the representatives of the Hungarian non-governmental organisations, and the representatives of the press at the opening of the exhibition: “International development cooperation – Fight against poverty”.
Exactly 50 years, half a century ago, in 1963, in Addis Ababa, at its founding conference, the Organization of African Unity decided that each year the 25th of May would be AFRICA DAY in the calendar of nations. On this day the world celebrates the African continent, and we would like to join and duly commemorate this noble initiative, by the means of the art of photography, and to stress the importance of the unity of and solidarity with the peoples and countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, and to contribute to the development of economic and political relations and numerous other dimensions of international cooperation. The purpose of this photo exhibition is to contribute to the Budapest Africa Forum that has been launched yesterday and includes several side events, and also to take the opportunity to call the attention of the public to the importance of the fight against extreme poverty still present in many places in the developing world. Thus, the significance of the Africa Day is also to call attention to the problems of those living in extreme poverty. Though as a result of international efforts, the proportion of those living on less than 1,25 USD a day has significantly decreased in the past 20 years, but there are still around 1,5 billion people living in extreme poverty in the world. The photos presented here today have been made by the volunteers of 18 Hungarian non-governmental organisations and the colleagues of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs during the implementation of their development or humanitarian aid projects in Africa. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomes and supports that more and more Hungarian organisations take part in this very important activity, and by that a significant amount of experience is also being accumulated. The 50 works selected for the occasion of this anniversary, which will be later presented in various Hungarian cities as well, will allow the Hungarian public to learn about the humanitarian aid and development cooperation activities of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Hungarian non-governmental organisations in Africa. Many of these works symbolise the most urgent development needs from an individual perspective. Among these needs food security and access to clean drinking water, the later one being still a problem for almost one billion people globally, are the most prevalent issues.
However, the list of problems to be solved does not end here: stability, migration, environmental pollution, epidemics – these words are familiar to our ears, as we hear them day by day in the news. It is our firm belief that, it is not enough to hear about these issues, which might also influence the everyday life of our countries, but it should also be understood and dealt with.
Hungary, a member of the donor community, also contributes, by its means, to the solution of these most urgent problems of the world in line with our foreign policy objectives. In 2012, the Hungarian government – similarly to other new EU member states – spent around 0.1% of its national income (GNI) as official development aid (ODA), which in our case is almost 120 million dollars, and we strive to further increase this share in the future. These funds are channelled primarily through international organisations, benefiting in many ways the African continent. But as the photos show, we also try to help the poorest countries with our bilateral projects. Our activities focus mainly on sustainable water management, access to clean drinking water and sanitation, healthcare and education. Though this exhibition, as part of the Budapest Africa Forum, is only a small effort of emphasising our commitment to Africa, nevertheless let us remember Mother Teresa’s words quoted before: all of us are able to accomplish small things with love.
(Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
