Federsolidarietà, which is the sectoral Federation of Confcooperative, was founded in March 1988 after a group of social co-operatives organised and co-ordinated on a national basis had been working for a number of years.
The experience of these non-profit co-operatives, engaged in the management of social services and working for the insertion of handicapped people into the work force, was fully recognised in Italy by the enactment of Law 381/91.
Mission
The Federation:
(a) participates in the preparation and definition of Confcooperative policy-planning lines;
(b) prepares and defines development strategies and programmes for its members in the various sectors;
(c) encourages the promotion of co-operatives, consortia and other types of co-operative bodies;
(d) organises its members in the territory and promotes the constitution of their association structures at the territorial level;
(e) assists and represents members, in agreement with Confcooperative, vis-à-vis the political bodies and provides them with services, particularly with regard to legal, technical, organisational and financial-credit matters;
(f) promotes initiatives for co-operative and mutual-assistance education and professional training of the members, staff, executives and managers of member co-operatives.
In agreement with Confcooperative, the Federation promotes civilian service in all its forms and works specifically for the inclusion of conscientious objectors in co-operative societies and the structures of the organisation.
Membership
Federsolidarietà membership is made up of type A and type B co-operatives.
On the basis of art. 1 of Law 381/91, the purpose of social co-operatives is to pursue the general interests of the community in the human promotion and social integration of citizens through:
- managing social-health-education services in favour of: handicapped persons, aged people, minors, the mentally ill, maladjusted adults, Convicts and ex-convicts, Drug addicts, AIDS sufferers, people from non-EU countries (according to the Law, the so-called type A social co-operatives);
- the implementation of various agricultural, industrial, commercial and services activities aimed at the integration in the work force of those categories of people listed above except for aged people and AIDS sufferes (type B social co-operatives)
Consortium "Gino Mattarelli" - CGM, is a national member of Federsolidarietà.
National and international framework
At national level Federsolidarietà participates in Third Sector Forum.
At international level the Federation is member of both CECOP and CICOPA.
President: Giuseppe Guerini
e-mail: federsolidarieta@confcooperative.it