The Nando and Elsa Peretti Foundation Special Meritorius Patron of “Sempre Insieme Per La Pace” Solidarity Network

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Project location: Italy
Project start date: February 2004 - Project end date: This project covers various years
Project number: 2004-01
Beneficiary: SEMPRE INSIEME PER LA PACE

Timeline: January 2012- December 2012

January-June 2012

Always in the front line in its humanitarian activities in favour of the poor in Italy, the Sempre Insieme per la Pace Association relies first of all on the aid provided for this purpose by the European Union which, as a result of the crisis that is increasingly affecting the Euro-zone, is being relentlessly curtailed.

This most unfavourable circumstance was offset by the fact that last summer Sempre Insieme per la Pace took on the task of accepting a large amount of extra donations by AGEA. In the early months of the year these additional amounts of aid had posed considerable financial difficulty for our organization but, very soon, they proved to be heaven-sent and helped us cope with one of the most difficult periods in our history and a hard time for many people in our Country who were faced with great uncertainty and found themselves in conditions of poverty.  

This was our main priority: giving continuity to our service of delivering food aid at a time of economic downturn that we are still struggling with. This entailed even greater difficulties for the Association in controlling its administrative management that, however, succeeded in optimizing its finances by choosing another warehouse with ABITRANS (in Via Tiburtina 33 in Rome), to the detriment of the secondary warehouse. Thanks to this choice the storage area has doubled (with consequent savings on extra rent, transportation and handling of the pallets) at a lower cost compared to the previous arrangement.

In this way the Association can accept also all the products that are no longer marketable donated to it by private companies and that in some cases are to be distributed immediately in order to be able to make the best use of them. Among the companies that are helping us operate even more effectively we would like to mention La Doria that in the first six months of 2012 gave donations that made up for the decrease in AGEA aid: starting from this year, our Association has made the commitment to distribute, on each delivery, three canned products (of which at least one tomato by-product and two types of legumes). With the same aim (help as many people in need as possible and among these always try to reach those in direst straits) special attention was attached to all the charity organizations that offer their services to the homeless; for the latter we continue to distribute tinned pasta with sauce and legumes (they too preferably seasoned) in ring-pull cans. Indeed, our concern is to succeed in facilitating the activities promoted in favour of those who have nothing and who are now receiving substantially reduced support compared to the past.

In addition, Sempre Insieme per la Pace is looking into the possibility of helping the charity facilities that distribute food boxes directly to families and persons who are exclusively linked to the charity facility, and whose state of need has been checked and whose relevant papers are held at the charity facility (for privacy reasons they cannot be disclosed to our organization), and whose most urgent needs are met by means of additional services and other types of support.

Moreover, in the next few months, Sempre Insieme per la Pace will further make sure that its aid continues to reach people in need, seeking to attach priority to those who are compelled to deal with the harshest of conditions.

Unfortunately, the figures on the state of poverty in Italy are really impressive: in Italy one family out of ten lives in conditions of relative poverty (that is to say they live on an income below € 950 per month for two people), while one family out of twenty lives in conditions of absolute poverty. Overall, the people in conditions of relative poverty are more than 8 million (11% of families) while those in absolute poverty are more than 3 million.

Values of the distribution of food aid made by the Sempre Insieme per la Pace Association from 1st January to 30th June 2012.

Number of deliveries made to charity facilities: about 1000

July- December 2012

In spite of constantly increasing difficulties the “Sempre Insieme per la Pace”  Association has actively worked to achieve results that are at least as good as those obtained last year. It made more than 1900 deliveries to about 190 charity facilities (broken down by type of activity: food distribution points, shelters and soup kitchens) offering for each delivery an average of over 12 products.

The slight drop in activity is however smaller than warranted by the drop in donations, comprising both financial help and products, thanks to the stocks of products stored in its warehouse in 2011. Its priority indeed has been to make the most of the available resources and as regards the aid distributed, as many donations as possible were accepted (subject to the availability of room in the main storehouse).

“Sempre Insieme per la Pace” has been very active in raising awareness of the role played by AGEA in ensuring practical support for a rising number of people who in our Country are living in conditions that are becoming increasingly precarious.  Having acknowledged the fundamental importance of this Agency of the Ministry for Agricultural Policies (with which our Association is accredited together with only 6 other Charitable Institutions), “Sempre Insieme per la Pace” is member of a working group which sees the participation of 4 Ministries that are directly competent for the management of a fund – set up last August – thanks to which Italy will be delivering aid directly to the most needy people of our Country.

At the same time, having acknowledged the fact that the economic crisis is deeply affecting and weighing heavily on many people, the European Union has decided to extend the activities in favour of the needy up until 2020 with the involvement of all the Member Countries of the Union: in the next few months the decision will be taken as to whether food aid will be continued or whether the aid to the needy will be provided in new forms that are different from the past. This very important result achieved at the European level was made possible thanks to the actions undertaken by AGEA and the Italian Ministry of Agricultural Policies that submitted a report on the conditions of the poor in our Country. This report was drawn up by AGEA on the basis of the data gathered by each Charitable Institution (therefore also with the contribution of the “Sempre Insieme per la Pace” Association) at the charitable facilities that were directly supported in the course of 2012.

The number of people in need who turned to the Charitable facilities that distribute food within the AGEA circuit during 2012 amounted to 3,685,942 with an average of 6,081 poor individuals every 100 thousand residents. The number of people who were in need of receiving food aid during the last two years has increased by 33% which in numbers corresponds to 923,563 people (from 2,763,379 poor in 2010 to 3,685,942 in 2012). 

A large proportion of these numbers is made up of

•          children below the age of 5  (379,799 children or 10% of the needy) living mainly in Campania (almost 22% of all the children), in Sicily (almost 19%), in Lazio (almost 9%) and in Lombardy (over 8%).

•          senior citizens aged over 65 (508,451 elderly accounting for 14% of all the needy)

The geographic distribution of people who need food aid by macro area is as follows:

•          in Southern Italy the poor are 1,347,706 accounting for 37% of the national total with an increase of about 45% compared to 2010, namely 416,135 people

•          on the islands the poor amount to 682,562 which is almost 19% of the national total with an increase of about 40% compared to 2010, namely 187,771 people

•          in Northern Italy the poor amount to 987,042 which is almost 27% of the total national with a 24% increase compared to 2010, namely 189,103 people

•          in Central Italy the poor amount to 669,632 equal to almost 18% of the national total with an increase of roughly 25% compared to 2010 corresponding to 132,564 people

The “Sempre Insieme per la Pace” Association contributes to the execution of this very important programme by supporting over 21,000 needy every year through the aid provided by AGEA. Its philanthropic role extends also to a further considerable number of needy individuals who are given food aid exclusively outside of the AGEA circuit.

In the light of the results of AGEA and of the Ministry for Agricultural Policies, and thanks to the many contacts that it keeps up on a daily basis with its charitable facilities, the Association has paid special attention to all the bodies that are taking care of the “new poor”, namely people who have unexpectedly found themselves in conditions of dire poverty. Owing to the worsening of the crisis there is a strong increase in the number of new poor who also lose their homes. The lack of jobs, precarious incomes and incomes that are extremely low, the absence of a family or relatives the poor can turn to for help, are the main causes that unfortunately compel many people to live in the streets. The volunteer associations (when they are active) are in many cases the sole life-line for these people. In the last two years ISTAT has recorded a heavy increase in the number of homeless people who in the course of the year have had their meals at soup kitchens.

Even more worrying is the situation of many families with children that experience this extreme level of poverty: in such situations an important role is played by the parishes, religious institutes, help lines and by various charitable associations that distribute food boxes to people in difficulty. The uncertainty of the donation of aid has also led to the fact that charitable facilities carry out their activity with greater care so as to make sure that the aid goes to individuals who are in conditions of greater need. 

Values of the distribution of food aid made by the Sempre Insieme per la Pace Association from 1st January to 31^st December 2012.