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

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 of the present activity report: From 1 January 2013 to 30 June 2013


With the further tightening of the economic crunch and its inevitable impact on the social situation in our Country, the "Sempre Insieme per la Pace" Association is experiencing increasing difficulties in performing its most needed work of providing food aid to elderly people, children in conditions of grave need, the sick, the marginalized, the homeless and above all the "new poor" in our Country.
The data that reflect the conditions of poverty of our Country are cause for alarm and concern because the available resources (aid provided by the European Union through AGEA - Agency of the Ministry for Agricultural Policies) are not enough to cover the food needs of all the people who in Italy live below the poverty line.
The recently published ISTAT data show that in 2012, 12.7% of families are relatively poor (a total of 3 million 232 thousand) while 6.8% are absolutely poor (1 million 725 thousand). People in relative poverty account for 15.8% of the population (9 million 563 thousand) and those in conditions of absolute poverty are 8% (4 million 814 thousand). The current food aid program that the EU is implementing in our country was initially targeted at a population of 4 million poor.
From the practical standpoint our Association continues to receive signs of extreme urgency from the charitable facilities that are seeing an increase in the numbers of people and whole families in condition of great need who ask for help. Faced with this severe situation, unfortunately many of the charitable institutions select the people they help in order to make sure they reach out mostly to those in greatest need.
As pointed out by the National Bodies that deal with productivity, consumption and hence poverty in our Country, also "Sempre Insieme per la Pace" is noticing that the numbers of people who have lost their homes are on the rise (indeed there has been an increase in the demand for food that does not need to be cooked) and there is a steady increase in aggregate families (namely families that give shelter to offspring, grandchildren and relatives who have lost their income and are unable to provide for themselves; and, in turn, the families that provide such shelter have very few means themselves).
Likewise also our Association points out that there has been a drop in non-tradable excess foodstuffs (destined for charitable purposes). Moreover, in 2014 the food aid program for the poor in Italy will come under the jurisdiction of the Government of our Country.
In order to facilitate the transition of powers as smoothly and efficiently as possible, "Sempre Insieme per la Pace" has established a form of cooperation with other 6 charitable institutions credited with AGEA / Ministry for Agricultural Policies and it has already been convened by the Municipality of Rome in order for it to be included in the initiatives that will be implemented to make sure that people in conditions of dire poverty are not left without support.
Various approaches have been suggested to alleviate the difficulties of needy individuals and families: the AGEA Charitable Bodies have already given their full availability both to the Institutions and to the local authorities to make available their experience, their networks of volunteers and to provide further suggestions in order to continue to intervene in this situation that is above all a situation of grave social emergency.
From an operational standpoint, the "Sempre Insieme per la Pace" Association has continued to distribute foodstuffs following the same pattern as the previous year: namely at the end of June it had completed a total of 1000 deliveries to over 160 charitable facilities whose work in the community is undoubtedly indispensable. Indeed, we found that there was an increase in the amount of aid collected (because of the increase in the people receiving help) that occurred more steadily over time.
In order to respond in a more incisive manner to the needs of its end users, "Sempre Insieme per la Pace" continues to cooperate with the La Doria company which offers large donations of tomato pulp and peeled tomatoes that are of fundamental importance and greatly appreciated in the Italian diet. Starting from September the Association will be engaged in seeking new sources of foodstuffs in order to succeed in maintaining the same level of donations to the charitable facilities in its circuit.