Associazione "Comunità Papa Giovanni XXIII"

The Association "Comunità Papa Giovanni XXIII" has been working directly and continuously from 1973 in the field of social exclusion and poverty, both in Italy and abroad. The intervention of the Association is characterized by the choice of the Association members to share their lives it people who are socially excluded in order to solve the causes that bring injustices.
The Association received on the 21st of July 2006 the Special Consultative Status in the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC) and has permanent representatives in Geneva.
Over the years, the Association has been collaborating with international and national organizations as UNICEF, PAM, UNHCR, DCI, Irish Aid, the European Union and the Italian Internal Affairs Ministry, the External Affairs Ministry, the Social Affairs Ministry. Today the Association is spread over 25 countries in the world and is present on all continents. Besides Italy, the Association exists in Albania, Australia, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, China, Croatia, Georgia, Kenya, Kosovo, India, Israel/the Palestine, Moldova, the Netherlands, Republic of San Marino, Romania, Russia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, North Uganda, Venezuela, Zambia.
Every day the Association supports 42.000 people with difficulties. There are 1.850 current members and about 1.400 young people under 30. The Association is accredited to the Italian National Office for Civic Service and runs different projects. The projects foresee every year the involvement of around 200 young volunteers in the structures of the Association in Italy and abroad.
In order to achieve the Association’s statutory goals 26 juridical entities spread all over the world have been created, promoted and supported under a single coordination. Currently, the Association “Comunità Papa Giovanni XXIII” manages 600 projects through “family houses”, cooperatives and development projects, in Italy and abroad.
In accordance with article 4 of statute the APG23 carries out following projects/activities in youth field:

1. Assistance, protection and reintegration of disadvantaged people. People in need are offered temporary and/or permanent accommodation and through this are ensured: individual and relational skills development, assistance and care, psychological and spiritual support and reintegration and socialisation programmes. The main methodology of intervention of the Association consists in the setting of “case famiglia” (family houses, a multi-user centres) where members choose to welcome people with different needs and emergencies. These structures are managed by members of the Association. The beneficiaries are: abandoned children, children with disabilities or victims of domestic violence, people with disabilities, homeless people, Roma people, women who are victims of trafficking.
Through a structured way of learning, but mostly thanks to sharing their lives with these families, the disadvantaged persons manage to follow a path of personal development passing from being marginalized to being completely reintegrated in society.

2. Drug Prevention and rehabilitation.
The Association manages different structures for the drug addicts’ recovery. The method used by the team of operators was enriched with continuous innovations that make possible the creation of innovative therapies and of experimental ways of treatment, giving also the possibility of personalized answers calibrated on the individual problems and thus more efficient. The Association also puts in place, in collaboration with different educational institutions, drug prevention campaigns, projects of education and awareness raising regarding drug addiction.

3. HIV and malnutrition prevention and treatment in developing countries and areas with a high rate of HIV/AIDS infection and malnutrition (e.g. Sub-Saharan Africa). The beneficiaries are mostly children under 5 years old who are severely malnourished and underweight, and children and adults infected and/or affected by HIV/AIDS. This action also includes the prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) and the prevention of child malnutrition through workshops addressed to mothers in the villages.

4. Interventions against women trafficking
The Association is involved, together with the State Police and the Italian Government, in projects aimed at counteracting the emergence of slavery of women forced to prostitution. The form of intervention uses two main actions:
The creation of different “street teams” spread over the country and composed of member of the Association who operate directly on the streets in order to meet the young slaves with the aim of getting to know them and establish a personal relation based on trust
Their reception by specialized structures of the Association
Actions aimed at offering psychological support and a concrete opportunity of reintegration into the society and on the labor market for the victims of women trafficking. Often the Association members supervises and accompanies the victims of women trafficking in the bureaucratic process meant at obtaining the residence permit.

5. Peace and sustainable development education,
The Association manages to involve many young people (either volunteers or members) in its activities and more specifically in projects oriented towards education and training. During the year the members of the Association organize training sessions and events under the name of “Sharing Camps” in Italy and abroad, where young people can benefit either non-formal education experiences, either animation activities, either intercultural and volunteering experiences. Moreover, in order to ensure an adequate training for the animators who work with the young people, the Association organizes regularly “Training courses for camps animators” consisting of two or more days of “Laboratories” aimed at deepening the knowledge of the participants on animation techniques, non-formal education and intercultural education for young people and for teenagers.

6. Promotion of conscientious objection to military service and promotion of national and international civilian service for young people (a nonviolent alternative to the army).The Association, through its nonviolent peace corps ‘Operation Dove’, works non-violently, placing itself between parties at war or in conflict, mediating and protecting civilians, minority groups and refugees. Operation Dove has worked in Israel and Palestine, Colombia, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, Chiapas (Mexico), the Balkans, Chechnya, Georgia and East Timor. Operation Dove currently runs a project funded by the EU Commission in Palestine (Occupied Territories, South Hebron Hills). With Amicus preparatory action call for proposals EAC/40/2008 we have carried out a study to compare the civil service system of 4 European countries. We also have carried out an exchange of best practises among young people and youth workers from France, Italy, Greece and Romania.