Support a female economic enterprise in Tunisia, guarantee access to healthcare in Congo and Togo, offer welcome, hospitality and education to children in a fragile and abandoned condition in Sierra Leone and Madagascar. These are the objectives of the five international cooperation projects presented by associations and non-profit organizations in the Modena area, admitted to funding as part of the 2023 edition of the call for interventions in developing countries promoted by the Municipality and the Modena Foundation.
Proposed by Arci Modena, with Overseas, Officina project Windsor and Lega Ambiente, the project in Tunisia supports women’s initiatives for experiential tourism in the village of Ksar Ouled Soltane, where the monument used as a location for the Star Wars saga has been restored: some some “cells” of the monument will be assigned to the group of women to display products and organize activities to involve visitors.
There are two projects financed in the healthcare sector: the one proposed in Congo by the voluntary organization Moninga, with Children in the Desert and Things of the Other World, consists of the installation of a photovoltaic system in the hospital of Masina, the district with the highest population density of Kinshasa, to ensure access to high quality facilities especially for children. The project in Togo is proposed by I had thirst, with Missionary Solidarity and Team Enjoy, Events & Fun, and supports the expansion of the Filles de Saint Camille medical center in Sanguerà through the supply of radiological equipment and the training of technical staff for the their use and maintenance.
And there are two projects financed in the fields of education and childcare: proposed by the Alfeo Corassori-La vita per te association, with the Foreste per semper and Croce Blu association of Modena, the project in Madagascar aims to strengthen the educational and training activities for children hosted at the Miaraka reception centre. Proposed by Overseas, with Africsid and the Open House Project Association, the project in Sierra Leone is entitled “A house to heal and grow” and is aimed at boys and girls who have lost their parents or who come from families in difficulty in the neighborhood suburb of Grafton in Freetown by hosting them in a shelter.
The tender, opened in December 2023 and closed in mid-March, made available a fund of 100 thousand euros in total for projects in line with one or more of the objectives of the UN Agenda 2030 and with the Italian Strategy for Education for global citizenship. In particular, the projects had to concern the areas of sustainable development and the environment, health and public health, education and training, human rights and local economic development. To be admitted to the tender, the projects had to be presented by a partnership made up of at least three entities with a consolidated international cooperation project that could request a contribution from a minimum of 10 thousand to a maximum of 25 thousand euros, with a minimum overall co-financing 30 percent of the total cost of the project to be paid by the proposing parties.
The list of projects eligible for funding is published on the Modena Foundation website (https://www.fondazionedimodena.it/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/BANDO-COOPERAZIONE-INTERNAZIONALE-2023-GRADUATORIA-FINALE.pdf ). The projects will start from July 2024, must be completed in a maximum of 12 months and will be carried out involving at least one partner representing the local community of the country of intervention.
The selection was carried out in two phases: in the first, the experience already gained by the proposing association in international cooperation programs and its roots in the territory were taken into account. Furthermore, it was verified that international cooperation was the prevailing mission, the partnerships, the degree of coherence of the project with the objectives of the tender and the degree of project innovation (also compared to initiatives already supported in previous editions).
In the second, the contents of the project were also evaluated with respect to the involvement and strengthening of the operational capabilities of local counterparts, the quality of the objectives, the definition and concreteness of the expected quantitative and qualitative results, sustainability in the medium and long term and the budget adequacy. Furthermore, co-financing by other financiers, the accompanying documentation presented and the reports from previous projects were also considered. Award criteria were the implementation of projects in the countries from which the largest migratory flows towards the Modena area come, the involvement of immigrant associations present in the Modena area, the implementation of awareness-raising initiatives in the Modena area.
