Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, Minister of State attached to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, will visit Vienna on December 18 to take part in the Africa-Europe High-Level Forum; the forum's theme this year is "Taking cooperation to the digital age."

The goal of this forum, which is being co-chaired by Austria and Rwanda, which hold the presidency of the Council of the European Union and the chairmanship of the African Union, respectively, is to provide European and African leaders, as well as private sector actors, with a platform for debate in order to strengthen EU-African relations and promote innovation and digitalization as important enablers of development. Several French firms will take part in this forum.

The minister of state will call for the strengthening of cooperation between Africa and Europe in the areas of innovation and digitalization, within the context of the Africa-Europe Alliance for Sustainable Investment and Jobs proposed by President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker during his State of the Union Address in September.

Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne will showcase French measures to support the development of networks and infrastructure aimed at making broadband accessible to all. He will also present France's "Digital Africa" initiative announced by President Macron in his speech in Ouagadougou in November 2017. This initiative should make it possible to identify the most promising African start-ups and to support their growth. The minister of state will underscore that France champions digitalization that benefits citizens and respects their rights.

United Nations / Iraq – Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert takes office as the new special representative for Iraq and head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) (December 17, 2018)

France is delighted that Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert has taken office today as the new special representative for Iraq and head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI). The goal of UNAMI, which was created in 2003 by UNSCR 1500, is to support the national reconciliation and reconstruction process in Iraq; it is active in most Iraqi provinces where it:

• provides political support, notably with respect to electoral assistance, as during the parliamentary elections in May 2018;
• coordinates humanitarian assistance;
• helps develop health and social services.

France stood alongside Iraq in the fight against Daesh and will continue to do so within the framework of the inclusive process to promote stabilization, reconciliation and reconstruction that is getting underway. UNAMI's work in this regard is essential. We have every confidence in Ms. Hennis-Plasschaert's ability to assume this new role for which her political career and personal qualities have prepared her.

We also extend our heartfelt thanks to Jan Kubis, Ms. Hennis-Plasschaert's predecessor, for the remarkable work that he carried out during a critical period of Iraq's history, notably marked by the violence and atrocities committed by Daesh.

Iran – Death in detention of Vahid Sayadi Nasiri (December 17, 2018)

France was dismayed to learn of the death in detention, announced by the Iranian authorities yesterday, of blogger and activist Vahid Sayadi Nasiri.

Imprisoned for his political activity since July 31, Vahid Sayadi Nasiri had been on a hunger strike since October 13 to protest the conditions of his detention and the failure to respect his rights. His death comes in the context of Iran's increasing harassment of human rights activists.

France calls on the Iranian authorities to shed all light on the circumstances of Vahid Sayadi Nasiri's death. It reiterates its commitment to the freedom of opinion and expression and to the universal right to a fair trial, and urges Iran to abide by its political commitments, especially the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.