Development aid funding to increase

Slovakia will increase expenditures on direct bilateral development aid by 10 percent each year following an agreement with the Finance Ministry to this effect, Foreign and European Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajčák said after the Government session on Wednesday. According to the 2017 plan for bilateral development assistance approved by the Cabinet, Slovakia will keep its primary focus on ten countries. Extra attention will be paid to South Sudan, which is grappling with specific humanitarian and social concerns. "The sustainability of our projects in South Sudan is very low, because we have no diplomatic presence there," noted Lajčák. Afghanistan, Kenya and Moldova are priorities among countries on which the Slovak development aid strategy will focus.