AVSI at the Rimini Meeting 2024

The Rimini Meeting, now in its 45th edition, was held from August 20 to 25 at the Rimini Fair.

Under the theme “If we are not after the essence, than what are we after?,” the event featured round tables, exhibitions, performances, and cultural initiatives. It will also be broadcast live on multiple channels in many different languages.

The Rimini Meeting is always a chance for AVSI to meet friends, volunteers, and supporters in person. For this reason, some staff members from the Italian headquarters and from our branches around the world have organized events and talks with some of the 272 AVSI Points - support groups involving 1,823 volunteers - and some of the 222 schools with which AVSI works.

Last but not least, like every year AVSI has also brought testimonies from around the world to the Rimini Meeting and contributed to the debate on the impact of development and humanitarian aid projects with various events and a photo installation.

A journey in pictures, that portrays an idea of integral and sustainable development, focusing on care for the person and their community, refusing to use aid as a tool to influence or exploit others and their resources. A new relationship between Italy, Africa, and Europe, based on education and decent work, shown through snapshots of AVSI's development projects taken by photo-reporters and journalists.

From the European Union's Global Gateway to the Mattei Plan, the need to build new partnerships between African and European countries is increasingly evident on the national and international scene. In the light of this new trend, AVSI's first meeting at Rimini discussed "SAY Skilling in Agripreneurship for increased Youth employment," a project that supported 18,000 young people, aged 18 to 30, to find employment in the agricultural sector and 6,500 students aged 13 to 18 to receive specific courses on agriculture, the driving sector of the Ugandan economy.

The dialogue, moderated by Giampaolo Silvestri - Secretary General of AVSI, involved Robinah Nabbanja, Prime Minister of Uganda; Stefano Gatti, Italian General Director of Development Cooperation; Frederieke Quispel, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Uganda; John Makoha, AVSI Country Representative in Uganda; Stephen Tumukugize, a young agripreneur involved in the SAY project; and Renzo Piraccini, Macfrut President.

Italy's first international priority today is the development and economic and social growth of Africa. A dialogue with the Prime Minister of Uganda, Robinah Nabbanja, in the International Pavilion of the Rimini Meeting about the new strategy of Italian cooperation for Africa and the partnership with Uganda, a new priority country for Italy.

The panel - moderated by Bernhard Scholz, President of the "Fondazione Meeting" - also included the General Director of Italian Development Cooperation Stefano Gatti, AVSI Secretary General Giampaolo Silvestri and the Director of CUAMM Dante Carraro.

In the meeting organized by AVSI in collaboration with Tracce and moderated by journalist Maria Acqua Simi, we focused on real testimonies from those who devote their time to organizing meetings and events as part of the AVSI Tents Campaign, an annual awareness-raising and fundraising campaign to support our development and emergency projects worldwide. Speakers included Caterina Candolo, head of AVSI Point Palermo, Simona Sirena, head of AVSI Point Rimini, and Elena Ricci, head of Community Engagement at AVSI.

Giulia Bossi, AVSI Distance Support Coordinator, Mauro Giacomazzi, AVSI Focal Point on Education, and Rebecca Bonfanti, AVSI Head of Schools Relations, talked about the crucial role of education in development.
“Here at AVSI, we believe that the first driver of development is education and personal growth, in the countries where we work but also in Europe and Italy. Only becoming aware of one's value as a person - which does not depend on circumstances or achievements - makes real change possible for the individual, for their own community and therefore for the world.”

Myanmar is a country that has disappeared from media headlines, but continues to suffer due to the crisis that broke out in 2021. This talk, organized with the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and moderated by Maria Laura Conte, AVSI Director of Strategic Communication and Advocacy, started with the description of daily life in Myanmar by Nang Swesweaye, AVSI Country Representative. Her emotional testimony was followed by the contributions of Guido Calvi, AVSI Humanitarian Coordinator, and Ranieri Sabatucci, Ambassador of the European Union to Myanmar.

It has become clear, and recognized through new legislation, that promoting vocational training in the countries of origin of potential migrants encourages regular migration of foreign workers and helps meet the labor demand of Italian companies. But the practical application of this concept makes both opportunities and critical issues arise.

In this multistakeholder dialogue, organized by Compagnia delle Opere (Cdo) and moderated by Giannino Della Frattina - journalist at "Il Giornale", various actors will discuss how best to move forward to achieve sustainable development for all.

Giampaolo Silvestri, Secretary General, presented the agreement signed by AVSI with the Tunisian government to kickstart vocational training projects for Tunisian nationals to start working in Italian companies. Space was also given to the contributions of Rose Busingye, professional nurse and coordinator of the Meeting Point in Kampala; Massimo Dal Checco, President of Assafrica & Mediterraneo and Andrea Dellabianca, President of "Compagnia delle Opere". Final remarks will be made by the Italian Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Edmondo Cirielli.

The personal testimonies in this event, moderated by Elisabetta Soglio - Corriere della Sera journalist - highlighted and documented the successful outcomes of development cooperation interventions in the educational field, that are carried out by accompanying children and young people to the discovery of their own value.

The event began with the personal story of Terry Muchiri, director of three companies, who graduated from St. Kizito Vocational Training Center, an institute founded by AVSI in Nairobi with the support of the Italian Cooperation.
Two contributions from Latin America followed her speech: first Nelson Ramos de Jesus, who graduated in PE and is now a sports coach at the Centro Educativo João Paulo II, and second Julivam Estevam Souza Santos, a physicist and project manager of a robotics program for students at the same center.