L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2021 www.italoamericano.org 4 BARBARA MINAFRA NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS T he inauguration, on the 28th of September, of the Academy of Motion Pictures Museum, designed by Renzo Piano, was the occasion chosen by Ambassador of Italy to the United States Mariangela Zappia for her first visit to LA. Ambassador Zappia, who is the first Italian woman appointed Ambassador in Washington, she met the local scientific and business communities, as well as Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti and city council member Joe Buscaino. During an all-female luncheon organized by Consul General Silvia Chiave, Ambassador Zappia met with women entrepreneurs, academics, scientists, and Italian representatives of culture and cinema. She visited UCLA (Royce Hall), where she met lecturers and students from the Italian department, and NASA's JPL, currently led by ISSNAF President Cinzia Zuffada. While in LA, Ambassador Zappia also sat down with L'Italo- Americano for an all-around interview. Italy and the US have just celebrated 160 years of diplomatic relations. This is an important anniversary for two countries, whose bond has been defined by President Mattarella as a commitment "to suppo- rting and promoting civil liberties and democratic principles." On this important anniversary, President Mattarella's words capture the essence of the bond between Italy and the United States: an extraordinary friendship, between two wonderful democracies that share the same values and, therefore, are natural allies in promoting peace, security, universal rights, and in tackling the world's greatest challenges. A bond also nurtured by the many Italians who have been contributing to the growth of the United States and who, every day, promote exchange and connections in all fields, from science to culture, to technological innovation, always with an eye to the future and protecting the planet. You held important positions before, but it is particularly significant to have a woman in this specific institutional role for the first time. My appointment as Ambassador to the US is, without a doubt, a sign of Italy's renewed commitment to gender equality. The current Italian Government stressed the importance of this theme in its Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza (PNRR- national plan for recovery and resilience) and promoted it also at an international level, hosting the first G20 Conference on Women Empowerment. But we need to do even more after the pandemic, which weighed heavily on women, deepening gender inequality. What image of Italy do you represent in Washington and here, on the West Coast? That of a solid, reliable country, led by a prominent government supported by wide parliamentary and popular approval. Italy's answer to the pandemic has been an example for the US, too, as recognized by Dr. Anthony Fauci himself. Almost 80% of Italians over the age of 12 are fully vaccinated. Italian economy will register a 6% growth in 2021, more than the rest of our EU partners. Italy is the first beneficiary of the EU recovery package, which involves investments and reforms bound to change the country in key sectors like public administration, justice, and green transition. Italy has been active also in fighting the pandemic and climate change, especially during its G20 presidency and COP26 co- presidency. In July, Naples hosted the first G20 Climate and Energy Ministerial Meeting and, in these very days, 400 young people from all over the world have attended Milan's Youth for Climate, taking part actively in multilateral negotiations on climate. At the end of October, we will host the G20 Heads of State and Government Summit. We are meeting a few days after the 20th anniversary of 9/11 and the military withdrawal from Afghanistan. Your message mirrored that of President Mattarella: words of mourning for the victims and support for their families, some of Italian descent. But you also stressed the importance of the bond between our countries. On the 11th of September 2001, I was actually in New York, working for our Representative at the United Nations. It's a day that changed our lives forever. That tragedy, as President Mattarella stressed, brought us together in sorrow and, I'd add, also in the way we reacted to it. We were the first allies to answer to the appeal the US launched after 9/11. In Afghanistan, Italy's largest military campaign after the Second World War, we lost 54 soldiers. The US appreciates Italy's commitment wherever we are active, from the Sahel to Iraq, from Lebanon to Lybia, and the "greater Mediterranean." We are "exporters of security," as Secretary of Defense Austin said to our Minister of Defense, Lorenzo Guerini. Afghanistan remains an essential theme. Economic development and human rights are a national priority, also considering Italy will lead the next G20. It is certainly so. We were not in Afghanistan in vain. The country progressed immensely when it comes to human rights, especially for women, and thanks to the infrastructures we built, it is also more modern. Today, we remain on the front line, along Continued to page 6 Ambassador Zappia (center) with Noble Prize for medicine Lou Ignarro (right) and Mrs. Ignarro (left). (Photo: Willy Sanjuan) LA welcomes Mariangela Zappia, the new Ambassador of Italy to the US

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