CISV – Community Engagement Voluntary Service

CISV – Comunità Impegno Servizio Volontariato (rendered in English as Community Engagement Voluntary Service) is an Italian lay, independent and non-profit voluntary association founded in Turin in 1961. It is registered as an ente del terzo settore (third-sector body) and historically operated as an ONLUS, and it is recognised by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs as an organisation qualified to carry out international cooperation. Its identity is that of a community rather than a simple NGO: members, donors, volunteers, employees, partners and supporters share values, projects and lifestyles, and the organisation describes itself as a community of people united by the desire to change the world. From its base in Turin, CISV works in Italy and in eleven countries worldwide. In Africa it is present in Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal; in Latin America and the Caribbean it works in Brazil, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras and Venezuela. Its international cooperation interventions aim at human and sustainable development of local communities, working with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to remove the causes of poverty and injustice. Its thematic areas include rural and urban economic development, defence of rights and the fight against violence – particularly against women and indigenous minorities – promotion of community resilience, and action on climate change through the fight against desertification, promotion of green and circular economy and agro-ecology. In Italy, CISV is active in schools and peripheral neighbourhoods, dealing with global citizenship education together with the cooperative CISV Solidarietà. It brings complex topics such as migration and environmental sustainability into schools, offering training paths for teachers and students, intercultural animation and dialogue, and activities to counter educational poverty in dedicated spaces and activities for young people. In Piedmont, and particularly in Turin, it also runs local projects and campaigns. The organisation is funded through private donations, the Italian 5x1000 mechanism, legacies and institutional partnerships. It states that it is part of Open-Cooperazione and that in 2017 it was awarded among the best NGOs for transparency. It publishes social reports (bilanci sociali) – for example for 2021 and 2022 – detailing how funds are used and which projects have been realised. Its guiding values are self-development, inclusion, dialogue, sustainability and culture, and its areas of intervention combine education, microcredit, political engagement and practical field projects. CISV also organises volunteering summer camps, active since the early 2000s, currently in Senegal and Venezuela, with the aim of experimenting with solidarity tourism that allows participants closer contact with poor realities. It has taken part in the Mostra del Turismo sostenibile organised by Informagiovani of the City of Turin to promote responsible tourism rules. In Italy it carries out awareness and education work on global South issues, with one central theme being that Africa can feed itself, and it participates in musical and sporting events for fundraising and public awareness. RAI has on occasion produced documentaries and broadcasts in collaboration with CISV.

CISV – Comunità Impegno Servizio Volontariato was founded in Turin in 1961. In its early years it carried out voluntary work addressing problems linked to the immigration of southern Italians to the industrial north, which often produced conditions of deep marginalisation. As national social conditions changed, CISV shifted its activity towards the situations of the Global South, particularly in Africa and Latin America. Its work today focuses on supporting initiatives especially in agriculture, food security, animal husbandry and the application of renewable energies in the difficult contexts of developing countries, particularly in the Sahel. In the 2000s and 2010s CISV expanded its international cooperation portfolio. Together with a small group of cooperating Italian NGOs, it obtained the support of four major Italian banking foundations – Compagnia di San Paolo, Fondazione Cariparma, Fondazione Cariplo and Fondazione Monte Paschi di Siena – for a series of concrete development cooperation projects in Africa grouped under the label Fondazioni4Africa. The initiative in Senegal specifically involved CISV. Funding came from the banking foundations, support was provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the direct field work in Senegal was carried out by Italian NGOs including CISV. The project also involved associations of Senegalese migrants in Italy, with particular reference to training and assistance activities. In collaboration with other bodies, CISV continued a programme on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in favour of Burkina Faso, a country threatened, like the rest of the Sahel, by desertification. It also carried out a project in favour of Burundi, a programme to improve agro-zootechnical production and consolidate peasant associationism. CISV's general interventions for the Global South have covered, in Africa, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Guinea, Mali, Niger and Senegal, and in Latin America, Brazil, Colombia and Guatemala. The thematic areas of its activity include rural microfinance, management of natural resources, agro-zootechnics and human rights. From the early 2000s it began organising volunteering summer camps; currently these take place in Senegal and Venezuela with the aim of experimenting with solidarity tourism that allows participants better contact with the poor realities of the world. CISV participated in the Mostra del Turismo sostenibile organised by Informagiovani of the City of Turin to propose the rules of responsible tourism, combining awareness of ecological problems with attention to the needs of local populations and their development, especially agricultural development. In Italy, CISV carries out education and awareness-raising on Global South issues. Based on the concrete character of its proposals, one of its central themes is 'Africa can feed itself'. It also participates in various musical and sporting events with the dual purpose of fundraising and raising public awareness of Global South problems. RAI has on some occasions produced documentaries and broadcasts in collaboration with CISV, including through its Segretariato Sociale. Today CISV describes itself as an ente del terzo settore based in Turin with offices in 12 countries, a community of people united by the desire to change the world. It states that it is part of Open-Cooperazione and that in 2017 it was awarded among the best NGOs for transparency. It publishes social reports, including for 2021 and 2022, detailing how funds are used and which projects have been realised. Its values are self-development, inclusion, dialogue, sustainability and culture. In Italy it works in schools and peripheral neighbourhoods on global citizenship education together with the cooperative CISV Solidarietà, offering training paths for teachers and students, intercultural animation and dialogue, and activities against educational poverty for young people. In Piedmont, and particularly in Turin, it continues local engagement.

• 2022

  CISV publishes its social report for 2022.

• 2021

  CISV publishes its social report for 2021.

• 2017

  CISV is awarded among the best NGOs for transparency.

• 2000

  CISV begins organising volunteering summer camps, currently in Senegal and Venezuela.

• 1961

  CISV is founded in Turin as a voluntary association.

A lay, independent Italian third-sector organisation and community, recognised by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, focused on international cooperation, global citizenship education and volunteering, with a strong emphasis on transparency and grassroots participation.

• International cooperation projects

  Interventions in Africa and Latin America in agriculture, food security, animal husbandry, renewable energies, rural microfinance, natural resource management and human rights.

• Global citizenship education

  Training paths for teachers and students, intercultural animation and dialogue, and activities against educational poverty in Italian schools and peripheral neighbourhoods.

• Volunteering summer camps

  Camps in Senegal and Venezuela aimed at solidarity tourism and closer contact with poor realities.

• Awareness and fundraising campaigns

  Participation in musical and sporting events, 5x1000 campaign, and education on Global South issues such as 'Africa can feed itself'.

1. 1Home - CISV Torinocisvto.org
2. 2Chi siamo - CISV Torinocisvto.org
3. 3Community Engagement Voluntary Service - Wikidatawikidata.org
4. 4Comunità impegno servizio volontariato - Wikipediait.wikipedia.org