The States General of cooperation to strengthen the Osc

04/04/2022

by Roberto Ridolfi , LINK2007 President

The challenges we find ourselves facing today are many and vast, from the pandemic to conflicts inside and outside Europe, together with persistent famines, hunger, educational and health poverty, environmental degradation, injustices and inequalities, violation of human rights, ethnic conflicts and religious, forced migrations… They are showing how important and often irreplaceable the role and contribution of civil society organizations (CSOs) are alongside the weakest, the marginalized, human beings who remain ‘invisible’ to the world.

It is a question of a role of protagonists of change , of active and proactive subjects, at a local and global level, who base their work on principles and values ​​with the dignity of every human being at the center, respect for their rights, justice, solidarity, democratic participation, dialogue in coexistence, cooperation as a basis for human development and sustainability. A job done in everyday life with thousands of projects and initiatives involving millions of people and entire communities, creating lasting ties and partnerships, with independent choices from governments and political decision-makers.

It is quite clear that such an important and impactful role requires the ability to know how to read reality and act accordingly, with decision, timeliness and maximum impact. One of the challenges must therefore be that of tending, based on shared values, towards a common vision of cooperation and a unity of purpose and action that must penetrate and involve the entire world of CSOs of international cooperation and solidarity. In everyone’s interest, because the foresight of joint action can only give further weight to our work and better results, both in projects and vis-à-vis the institutions.

We have often been described for our divisions which in the public imagination have therefore prevailed over our diversities which instead represent a richness and a strength of the world of international cooperation if valued in a unified vision and a process of mutual comparison and enrichment. Faced with the challenges to be faced, this process must be implemented, with conviction and decision, by the will of the leadership of the networks of the CSOs themselves to rethink the aggregation methods of the past to aim at building a future together.

Faced with emergencies, most recently Afghanistan and now Ukraine, the CSOs of international cooperation and solidarity know how to demonstrate all their operational, analytical and propositional capabilities in the action of presence and humanitarian aid, even immediate. The implementation of cooperation policies for human and sustainable development sees the CSOs united to qualify the interventions and to push, also with a specific public campaign, the Government and Parliament to the legislative definition of the times and appropriations to comply with the commitment repeatedly assumed by the UN, the OECD and the EU to guarantee 0.70% of GNI for public development assistance . Which is also an investment for peace.

As civil society organisations, we have all the skills to contribute to an Italian cooperation and solidarity presence in the world, which favors partnerships and collaborations, in mutual interest, against inequalities, poverty, wars. The more we act together, without dispersing forces, the more effective and credible we will be.

Read also:
THE CHALLENGE OF UNITY IN COMPLEXITY – by Nino Sergi on Vita.it