Luanda — The Vice-President of Angola, Esperança da Costa, and the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin on Wednesday in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, discussed issues related to the role, history and performance of the Catholic Church in Angola and the desire for Pope Francis to visit the African nation.

Without giving any dates, Cardinal Pietro Parolin said that the request from the Angolan government and population would be passed on to Pope Francis.

Esperança da Costa is in Tajikistan to attend the 3rd International High Level Conference on the International Decade of Action "Water for Sustainable Development" 2018-2028.

Invitation to COP 15 in Zimbabwe

As part of her working agenda, the Vice-President met with the Secretary General of the Convention on Wetlands, Musonda Mumba, who expressed desire to support Angola in acquiring funds to deal with issues related to the integrated management of wetlands in the country.

Musonda Mumba, who invited Vice-President to take part in COP 15 on Wetland Conservation Areas to be held in Zimbabwe in July 2025, said work will continue to help the Southern African nation seek funding from other sources.

The conference, which enters its third and final day today, is set to address issues such as "Water for climate, resilience and the environment: source to the sea, biodiversity, climate, resilience and disaster risk reduction (DRR)" and "Water for cooperation: transboundary and international water cooperation, intersectoral cooperation, including scientific and water cooperation, across the 2030 Agenda".

The theme on "Decade of action on water: accelerating the implementation of the decade's goals, through the UN Secretary-General's Plan of Action " closes the plenary, attended by heads of state and government, civil society and the private sector.