The Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Vincent Biruta, arrived Tuesday in the southern Italian town of Matera for the G20 ministerial meeting. According to Rwanda’s Foreign affairs ministry, Dr Biruta was received by his counterpart Luigi Di Maio. The ongoing G20 Foreign Affairs Ministers’ Meeting in Matera, the first face-to-face meeting of the ministers in two years thank to the Covid-19 pandemic, is one of the gatherings organised as part of G20 Leaders Summit 2021, due to take place in Italy in October. Rwanda was invited to the G20 ministerial meeting as the current chair of the NEPAD Heads of State and Government Orientation Committee. The creation of African Union Development Agency-NEPAD (AUDA-NEPAD), formerly known as NEPAD Planning and Coordination Agency, was one of the key issues at the heart of the structural reform of the African Union, led by President Paul Kagame. The objective is to improve the Union’s impact and operational efficiency. The ongoing G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting features two sessions. One is focused on global governance and multilateralism as a key tool to address major global challenges and promote a sustainable and resilient recovery, while the other is devoted to the relations with the African continent, with a specific focus on sustainable development. About G20 Leaders Summit The Group of Twenty (G20) Leaders Summit brings together the world’s largest economies, with this year’s edition slated for October in Rome, Italy. It will be the sixteenth meeting of its kind. For this year, the G20, under the Italian Presidency, will focus on three broad pillars of action: People, Planet, and Prosperity. Within the three pillars, the forum aims to take the lead in ensuring a swift international response to the COVID-19 pandemic; ability to provide equitable, worldwide access to diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines while building up resilience to future health-related shocks, according to organisers. The G20 is made up of 19 countries and the European Union. The 19 countries include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, France, India, Indonesia and Italy. Others are Japan, Mexico, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the UK, and the US.
