Ljubljana - Pedro Opeka, the Slovenian missionary in Madagascar, has received EUR 120,000 in humanitarian aid for the country's poorest people under a strategic partnership signed between the Foreign Ministry and the Slovenian chapter the Catholic charity Caritas.

In a press release, Caritas Slovenia said it had signed a strategic partnership in international humanitarian aid until October 2023 with the Foreign Ministry in June.

In the first emergency response under that partnership, which Caritas launched in Madagascar this month in cooperation with Opeka, the ministry allocated EUR 120,000 for humanitarian aid for the poorest, reads the release.

"I would like to thank the Slovenian government for this humanitarian aid offered to the poor families in Madagascar, who have been further marginalised and impoverished by the Covid-19 pandemic. I would also like to thank all the Slovenians who have been helping us," Opeka was quoted as saying.

Under the project supported by the Foreign Ministry, the charity will provide for three months for basic healthcare, including for those sick with Covid-19, improving sanitary conditions and securing food safety for children and other vulnerable residents in areas with a combined population of 100,000.

Another project under way under the strategic partnership between Caritas Slovenia and the Foreign Ministry is seeking to boost the efficiency of NGOs' response in cooperation with the private sector in the field of international humanitarian aid where Caritas will work together with the SLOGA platform for development, global education and humanitarian aid.

During Slovenia's presidency of the Council of the EU, the focus will be on preparing advocacy contributions and events dealing with international humanitarian aid in cooperation with European NGO networks, reads the release from Caritas.

Missionary Pedro Opeka and his humanitarian organisation Akamasoa has been nominated for this year's Nobel Peace Prize by Prime Minister Janez Janša in what in the third such nomination for Opeka.

Janša first nominated him in 2013, and a number of people from the academia, politics and civil society backed the nomination. Prime Minister Miro Cerar nominated him in 2015.