50 years of AVSI: what is the most effective approach to doing International Cooperation today?

MILAN – Development Cooperation is always tested by reality, by the complex and extremely difficult contexts in which it operates. And it always comes up against a fundamental question: which is the approach to choose? Which is the most effective, that is, the one that allows you to bring about a change for the better in people’s lives? In fifty years of presence in the most challenging terrains, AVSI has developed the conviction that the answer is a participatory working method, adhering to the needs of people, based on multi-level partnerships and open to innovation.

The ability to question oneself. And it did not come to this consideration on the basis of theoretical work, but which was born from experience: even in contexts of serious emergency AVSI looks ahead, with its programs it aims to lay the foundations for long-lasting development. It tries to respond to concrete needs, which from time to time are encountered in the countries, involving all the actors present: from the village chief, to the supporter, up to the representative of the international institutions. This requires an ability to question oneself by introducing unconventional solutions, without being discouraged by often very difficult situations, where it continually happens that what has been built over years is destroyed in a single night. With this approach, in an international context marked by the chronicization of many emergency situations, of global economic crisis, development cooperation organizations can make the difference. They are equipped to respond to needs looking to the “after” and to act in a concrete and lasting way in the lives of the people and communities they help.

Pressed by the facts of contemporaneity. There are many life stories that document it, many protagonists of our projects. Like Patricia Silva Lopez, a Mexican lady who, thanks to a multisectoral program, was able to revolutionize her life for the better: Patricia is the founder of a women’s association that has been committed to women’s emancipation in Mexico for years. AVSI works with her for the future of local communities, with a sustainable approach over time. A mini documentary by the author Matteo Bastianelli also told about it. AVSI she always feels pressed by the facts of current history: she wants to look ahead to grasp the new challenges facing her countries and be ready. Haiti, Syria, South Sudan, Lebanon, Brazil, Peru, Iraq, Mozambique… never cease to urge cooperation operators to search for new solutions that enhance the dignity of the most vulnerable people and accompany them to equitable development. What it has learned in its half-century of history is precisely this: we are a community, we can only grow together. All or none.

The history of the NGO. Founded in 1972 with a first project in the former Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of Congo, it currently operates in 39 countries around the world and manages about 300 projects with a staff of 2,150 people. In 2021, AVSI managed 91.4 million euros, 82% of which came from institutional donors and 18% from private donors and helped more than 10 million direct beneficiaries living in vulnerable situations. There Foundation can count on a network that deals with organizing fundraising events at the local level, made up of 273 AVSI POINT with more than 1,700 people. It is supported by 34 founding bodies around the world and 11 founding individuals.

* Patrizia Savi, president of AVSI