As part of its relationship with the United Nations refugee branch UNHCR, Monaco is now the agency’s main contributor per capita, supporting projects for displaced people across the globe – an achievement that was commended on World Refugee Day.
World Refugee Day is celebrated yearly on 20th June and honours the courage and determination of those who have been forced to abandon their homes and flee persecution and conflict.
According to UNHCR, nearly 80 million people are currently displaced. They are a mix of asylum seekers, refugees from their countries or those who have been uprooted from their homes and are living as displaced people within their own borders. That number of people represents 1% of the world population.
Monaco has been a major contributor to the UN Refugee Agency this year and has donated generously. The help is always much-needed, but with the pandemic, the plight of refugees and displaced people is more precarious than ever.
When Monaco’s aid contribution is broken down to a per capita amount, it would be as if every man, woman and child in the Principality offered the organisation €25. The agency supports projects in Lebanon, Morocco, Mauritania, Tunisia, and Niger who are offering help such as education for young people and children, access to employment and social services to help those who are emotionally struggling to find their way again.
Month: June 2020
Luxembourg receives new Monegasque Ambassador
Photo: Isabelle BERRO-AMADEÏ et son époux Bernard AMADEÏ, avec Son Altesse Royale le Grand-Duc de Luxembourg ©DR
Palace guards return for daily ceremony
The Prince’s riflemen have taken up their carbines and resumed the ceremonial changing of the guard in front of the Palace, an important tradition witnessed by many tourists each day in Monaco.
During the Covid-19 health crisis, the daily changing of the guard took place inside the Palace, without ceremony or traditional attire.
It is the first time in its history that the Compagnie des Carabiniers du Prince had not guarded the Palace in full uniform.
On Friday, the masked riflemen resumed their positions in the Palace Square as Prince Albert watched on from the Palace window.
The public are once again welcome to enjoy this ceremony every day at 11.55am. As a precaution, they must wear a mask and respect physical distancing rules.
During the First World War, the riflemen were, for the most part, mobilsed in the French army, so the Palace was guarded by Monegasques and retired riflemen, in civilian clothes.
© Photos: Gaetan Luci, Eric Mathon and Axel Bastello / Prince’s Palace – Manuel Vitali / Direction of Communication – © DR. Coll. Archives of the Palace of Monaco.
Gottlieb's anti-drink driving association adds new car to shuttle fleet
Be Safe, the drink-driving awareness association initiated by Princess Stephanie’s daughter Camille Gottlieb, has been gifted with a shuttle car by the National Council.
Mayor Georges Marsan welcomed Camille Gottlieb, President of Be Safe, and other members of the Monaco association to the Town Hall on Thursday 18th June to receive the generous donation.
The association was created by the young member of the Princely in 2017 to combat drink driving in Monaco, primarily setting up a system of free shuttle vehicles at the exits of nightclubs to deliver people who had been drink safely to their homes.
In an effort to support the association, the Monaco City Council donated an eight-seater Toyota Hiace, which recently belonged to the City Council fleet.
“Your message is primarily intended for young people to warn them and raise their awareness of the dangers of drinking and driving, and I am sure you are excellent messengers by using the right words and targeting the right actions,” said Mayor Georges Marsan in his speech. “I am sure that this vehicle will be used wisely and I sincerely hope that it will help you to enhance the shuttle system and allow young and old alike to return home safely for after a night out.”
Photo courtesy Mairie de Monaco
International flight schedule set to take off
Monaco puts sport on the international agenda
Monaco has initiated a Joint Declaration highlighting the important role that sport and physical activity played during the coronavirus crisis and calling on all countries to include these in their Covid-19 recovery plans.
The 19-point declaration released on Friday supports the World Health Organisation’s recommendation that all healthy adults do at least 150 minutes of moderate physical activity, or 75 minutes of vigorous activity, per week and that children do at least 60 minutes per day.
It highlights the role that sport and physical activity play in both the physical and mental health of people during lockdown, and suggests that the digital tools used for physical activity during this time be developed in the future.
It also recommends that sporting organisations be supported in their return to normalcy, declaring: “We are convinced that the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games and all postponed events will, when invited, have a special place in the history of sport. They will be a symbol of unity and solidarity following the pandemic. We commend the tireless efforts made by the stakeholders involved in this report.”
118 member states supported the joint declaration drawn up by the co-Chairs of the Group of Friends of Sport for Sustainable Development, the Ambassador of Monaco to the UN Isabelle Picco, and her counterpart from Qatar, Alya Ahmed bin Saif Al-Thani.
In accordance with the biennial resolution of the UN General Assembly on sport, also negotiated by the delegation of Monaco, the declaration also stresses the importance of sport for sustainable development , the building of peaceful societies and socio-economic development.
“For these reasons,” concludes the declaration, “we call on all States to include sport and physical activity in their recovery plans for after Covid-19 and to integrate sport and physical activity into their national sustainable development strategies.”