CIES promotes active participation in civil society within the broader perspective of global citizenship. Our goal is to foster sustainable development processes, based on peace, protection of human rights, democracy, and a dialogue between different cultures and religions. CIES fights every form of racism, discrimination, xenophobia, and social exclusion.

In Italy:

Migration, intercultural mediation, global citizenship education, training, communication, awareness raising, promotion of intercultural dialogue. Our activities are aimed at disseminating knowledge of the migrants’ countries of origin and helping their integration. They include: workshops in schools, exhibitions, debates, and festivals; training courses for young people and adults; recreational learning; vocational, professional, and psychological counselling for Italian and foreign young people. We work on several fronts to raise the general public’s awareness of the importance of peaceful coexistence and global citizenship.

Abroad:

We are involved in international cooperation projects aimed at ensuring equal opportunities, enhancing social and economic inclusion, and protecting human rights. We work with local partners to improve the capacity-building of institutions, civil society and communities with regard to governance, services, environmental protection, education, gender, fair trade, vocational training and employment, culture, co-development. We work in: Southern Africa (Mozambique, Angola), Northern Africa (Tunisia), Latin America (Uruguay, Argentina), the Balkan area (Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia).

The activities of our association are based on some key principles, such as:

• the need to find new ways to address the severe imbalance in wealth and resources which create a deep gap between the rich parts of the world and the poor ones
• the right of every citizen to take active part in sustainable social, economic, and cultural development processes
• the belief that development is only real if it is based on peace, protection of human rights, and democracy, the rejection of any form of discrimination based on race, gender, or religion
• fighting any form of racism, discrimination, xenophobia, and promoting dialogue between people of different cultures and religions
• focus on the role of women as key actors in any development strategies and active citizenship initiatives
• the importance of participation by all citizens, (especially young ones), political and social stakeholders, public and private institutions, and the general public in activities based on the principles of solidarity, cooperation, sustainable development, environmental protection, and active citizenship
• the need to foster critical thinking and engage contemporary society in a debate revolving around development, interculturalism, the global nature of today’s society, active citizenship, ethical finance, fair trade and other related topics, involving as many people as possible