Day: 7 June 2025

Monaco’s Directorate of International Cooperation has reported that 3.5 million people directly benefited from the Principality’s development aid efforts during the 2022–2024 strategic plan. The results, presented on Friday 6th June to senior officials within the Monegasque administration, underline the country’s outsized impact in global humanitarian support.

During the three-year period, the Monegasque government committed €74.1 million in Official Development Assistance (ODA), much of it targeted at some of the world’s most vulnerable communities. With €637 spent annually per resident, Monaco remains among the most generous donors per capita. Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon once described the Principality as a “small country with a big heart” — a reputation that continues to be backed by figures such as these.

Monaco focused its support on 12 countries across three global regions, with over 75% of aid directed to eight of the world’s Least Developed Countries (LDCs), in line with United Nations objectives. This strategic targeting is designed to maximise the impact of limited resources while reinforcing Monaco’s international role in poverty alleviation.

Health remains top priority

Healthcare received the largest share of aid, with one-third of resources allocated to medical and maternal health programmes, directly benefiting 2.4 million people. These included projects aimed at reducing mortality among women, children, and adolescents, as well as capacity-building for local healthcare workers.

Food security and nutrition initiatives reached an estimated 500,000 people, focusing on sustainable agriculture and school meal programmes that aim to provide long-term solutions for vulnerable populations. Education and child protection projects also supported half a million beneficiaries, with particular attention given to girls’ access to schooling.

Jobs, equality, and emergency response

Efforts to promote decent work helped nearly 100,000 individuals, mainly women and young people, through vocational training, job-readiness support, and entrepreneurship schemes. Across all sectors, the most marginalised groups — including people with disabilities, displaced persons, and refugees — were placed at the centre of Monaco’s aid efforts.

The strategy also integrated environmental sustainability into project design, with a preference for initiatives that protect natural resources. Meanwhile, Monaco responded to 53 emergency appeals from the United Nations and international NGOs during the period, providing support in the face of climate disasters, armed conflicts, and other humanitarian crises.

Monaco Life is produced by a team of real multi-media journalists writing original content. See more in our free newsletter, follow our Podcasts on Spotify, and check us out on  Facebook,  Instagram,  LinkedIn and Tik Tok.

Photo source: Government Communications Department

Let’s be honest. Most of us eat like your big brother is reaching in to steal your food, ravenous, distracted, and hurried. We scroll, chew, scroll some more, then wonder why we feel bloated, anxious, and oddly invested in someone else’s yacht on Instagram.

Enter: Mindful Eating. Not to be confused with “rabbit food” or “that thing Gwyneth does before chanting into a Himalayan salt lamp”.

Mindful eating is about paying attention and actually noticing what you put into your body and why.

Step 1: Stop Shovelling, Start Sensing

Mindful eating isn’t a diet. It’s not about kale guilt or counting chickpeas. It’s about being present with your plate. Ask yourself: am I eating this because I’m hungry, or because I saw a sad documentary and now I need three croissants and a cuddle?

Before the fork hits your mouth, pause. Take a breath. Look at your food. Smell it. Thank it, if you must. Then chew like someone who’s not being chased by deadlines, toddlers, or their own internal monologue.

Step 2: Don’t Let Your Phone Join You for Dinner

Phones are needy dinner guests. They don’t shut up. They’re always showing you something you don’t need — another diet ad, another billionaire doing lunges on a private jet.

Try this: a meal with no screen. No scrolling. Just you, your food, and the silence of a world not trying to sell you something. Spoiler: your brain will thank you.

Step 3: Eat Foods That Love You Back

I once ate an entire bag of wasabi peas while watching a documentary on toxic masculinity. The irony wasn’t lost on me.

If you want to eat mindfully, think like a high-performance machine — would you fuel a Formula 1 car with leftover pizza and energy drinks? (If you’re Max Verstappen, maybe. But for the rest of us — no.)

You Are What You Consume

Mindful eating is really just mindful living. Your body and brain are listening to everything you put in — food, words, images, energy. So treat them like royalty.

Next time you’re halfway through a bag of crisps while watching TikToks about productivity hacks, stop. Breathe. Ask: Is this feeding me? Or just filling me?

The goal isn’t perfection. It’s awareness. Progress. And maybe chewing each bite twenty times like your jaw is on a yoga retreat.

Nathan’s Mindful Menu of the Week (High-Performance, Low-Stress)

Monday – Reset Mode
Breakfast: Greek yogurt with chia seeds, blueberries, and walnuts
Lunch: Grilled chicken, tabbouleh, and roasted beetroot
Dinner: Baked cod with lentils and steamed broccoli
Snack: Handful of almonds + green tea

Tuesday – Plant-Powered
Breakfast: Overnight oats with banana and cinnamon
Lunch: Chickpea salad with tahini, parsley, lemon
Dinner: Sweet potato and black bean curry
Snack: Carrot sticks and hummus (and yes, a square of dark chocolate)

Wednesday – Mediterranean Vibes
Breakfast: Poached eggs on sourdough with avocado and tomato
Lunch: Tuna niçoise salad (bonus points for anchovies)
Dinner: Lemon chicken with quinoa and green beans
Snack: Sliced apple with peanut butter

Thursday – Zen Day
Breakfast: Green smoothie (spinach, pineapple, cucumber, ginger, lime)
Lunch: Brown rice, tofu, stir-fried veg with sesame oil
Dinner: Miso soup with seaweed, mushrooms, soba noodles
Snack: Rice cakes with almond butter

Friday – Fancy But Functional
Breakfast: Scrambled eggs with spinach and smoked salmon
Lunch: Baked falafel wrap with tzatziki and salad
Dinner: Grilled prawns with herbed couscous and a tomato-cucumber salad
Snack: Mixed berries + coconut yogurt

Saturday – Cheat a Bit, Still Win
Breakfast: Almond croissant + flat white (mindfully, of course)
Lunch: Burrata with grilled veg and olive tapenade
Dinner: Grass-fed steak with sweet potato wedges and rocket salad
Snack: Air-popped popcorn with olive oil and sea salt

Sunday – Slow Down & Recharge
Brunch: Shakshuka with feta and herbs
Dinner: Roasted veggie traybake with tahini drizzle
Evening Treat: A glass of red (mindfully sipped) and a magnesium-rich dark chocolate square

 

Eat well, move your body, surround yourself with great people, face your fears, smile.

Monaco Life is produced by a team of real multi-media journalists writing original content. See more in our free newsletter, follow our Podcasts on Spotify, and check us out on  Facebook,  Instagram,  LinkedIn and Tik Tok.

Photo credit: Pablo Merchán Montes, Unsplash