IPSIA is the ACLI’s (Christian Association of Italian Workers) NGO for international co-operation. It was established in 1985 to voice both the people’s supporting aim and the ACLI christian workers’ will to develop a peace awareness grounded on people commitment to promote justice among human beings and countries. IPSIA promotes co-operation projects, initiates people into the concept of developm
ent to raise peace operators, and gets in touch with popular organizations promoting the growth of eastern and southern countries. IPSIA – whose name stands for “Institute for Peace, Development and Innovation” – is a non-government organisation promoted by the ACLI to transform the experiences and values of peoples’ Christian associations into initiatives of international cooperation. IPSIA promotes projects that combine the spirit of association efforts, training – both professional and otherwise – and social development in order to build bonds of solidarity between different peoples. Our activities are aimed at young people and at their search for direction and future, with a commitment to sustainable development, civil coexistence and peace. IPSIA promotes partnership relations with organisations active in civil society in the support of initiatives favouring victims of war and poverty in the less developed countries. The direct involvement of young people in programs of development, in initiatives of professional training, in the processes leading to entry on the job market or to self-starting entrepreneurship also serve as a way to create new opportunities for participation by the people, for social development and, therefore, for a new outlook on the part of local institutions. Through IPSIA, the ACLI intend to activate their international partnerships, developing a policy of trans-national solidarity that involves interwoven networks of associations and civil societies in decentralised initiatives in supports of populations that are the victims of conflicts or social exclusion due to poverty in the less developed countries. This model of peoples institutional and civil participation is also proposed in the fields of economic democracy, training and the sharing of experiences, as well as on the networks of the Third Sector. IPSIA is structured around a national headquarters and sixteen local offices which, either together or separately, promoter programs of solidarity and international cooperation. IPSIA collaborates with national and international institutions and organisations, working through its local offices to promote initiatives of decentralised cooperation with local government bodies and institutions. IPSIA has its headquarters in Rome at the national headquarters of the ACLI and extends its presence throughout Italy through local IPSIA offices. These local offices are promoted by the IPSIA General Council, have their own organs, operational and administrative autonomy, and operate according to the local charter of incorporation, which supplements the present charter, and approved by the local assembly and according to the associative covenant proposed jointly by IPSIA and by the national ACLI office. They operate according to the principle of subsidiarity at their respective levels, in some cases supplemented by specific local purposes. They participate in promoting and implementing IPSIA’s national programs. IPSIA uses the tools below in order to raise the funds needed to put projects into practice:
- Financial support campaigns through its branches network on the field.
- Production of informative material.
- Co-financing with decentralized cooperation projects.
- Sponsorship from private institutions and associations. IPSIA works in partnership or in affiliation with:
- FOCSIV
- ETIMOS Consortium
- Local Institutions Coordination for peace
- Italian NGOs’ Association
- Peace Table (Tavola della pace)
- Italian Campaign for Peace and the Respect of Human Rights in Sudan
Activities in the Balkans
During the last decade, IPSIA has focussed the priority for its operations in the Balkans, where it is active in Bosnia, in Kosovo and in Serbia. Since 1992, the activities undertaken – from the project A Smile for Bosnia, involving Bosnian refugees in Slovenian refugee camps, to the program for the support and reconstruction of the Kosovar population entitled Time for the Future, which came to a conclusion in 2000 – have accompanied every phase of the recent war in the former Yugoslavia. The IPSIA projects, whether self-financed or sustained by Italian or international bodies or institutions, have always addressed well-defined contexts, ranging from material and psychological assistance with a special focus on the weaker segments of society (children, women and the elderly) to the restructuring of homes, schools and infrastructures, not to mention organised summer recreational activities for children and adolescents and training experiences meant to lead young people towards processes and experiences involving social fellowship and the creation of a new culture of business entrepreneurship. Present efforts regard the implementation of projects and activities in various zones of Bosnia, Albania and Kosovo. Activities in Latin America
In Latin America, IPSIA has operated primarily in collaboration with Latin American organisations belonging to the World Labour Confederation, of the ACLI are members. In the 1980’s, based on the objectives inherent in activities aimed at the training of workers, a specific working relationship was established in Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Venezuela and Salvador, especially as regarded the preparatory phase of projects. Under a training program co-financed by the European Union, two sessions of on-the-job instruction were held: one in 1993 in Bolivia and the other in 1995 in Recife (Brazil). Starting in the mid-90’s, project planning activities were given new impetus by the initiatives of the local offices and by the groups that carry them forward. New projects will be initiated in coming months in Brazil, in the zones of Recife and Salvador, and in Argentina. Activities in Africa
Working alongside the ACLI and the ENAIP (the ACLI’s National Institute for Professional Instruction), IPSIA is carrying out a project in Mozambique designed to support economic, social and cultural development in the Inhassoro zone by upgrading human resources through the holding of professional training courses geared towards the utilisation and reinforcement of self-entrepreneurial capabilities.
