The Community of Sant’Egidio was founded in Rome in 1968, in the aftermath of the Second Vatican Council. Today, it is a movement with over 80,000 members engaged in activities in Rome, Italy, and across 79 countries on different continents. The Community of Sant’Egidio comprises a network of small and large entities rooted in more than 687 cities and villages across four continents: primarily in Europe, the Americas, Asia, and notably in Africa.

Solidarity towards disadvantaged individuals, vulnerable social groups, and those with very low incomes is practiced as voluntary and free service. This approach applies to various programs with different goals and methodologies, taking into account the number of members and resources available to each group belonging Sant’Egidio in different countries.

Ecumenism and interreligious dialogue are primarily approached as a quest for unity among believers, path toward peace and collaboration between religions, but are also considered as a way of life and a method for reconciling conflicts.

The Association “Community of S.Egidio-ACAP” was established in 1973 to support the social and humanitarian commitment of the Community of Sant’Egidio. This goal is achieved by “ensuring dignity and equality, safeguarding people’s rights, developing all forms of social solidarity among individuals, combating all forms of poverty, promoting cultural, educational, social, and healthcare initiatives.”

The Association achieves its goals (Article 3 of the current Statute) by:

– Promoting forms of active participation by the entire population.

– Organizing and promoting training courses, updates, conferences, congresses, debates, exhibitions, screenings, and other forms of dissemination, which may be aimed at both the general population and restricted to members.

– Organizing and managing specific services, such as: reception centers, study and work orientation centers, listening centers for the needs of the population; social and healthcare residential facilities; rehabilitation centers; accommodation communities; foster homes; and whatever is necessary to meet the needs of the most disadvantaged segments of the population, especially minors, people with disabilities, the elderly, homeless and impoverished individuals, refugees, immigrants.

– Creating and disseminating publications, periodicals, and audiovisual materials, and utilizing other forms of social communication to promote information and debate on topics related to social activities and the Association’s initiatives, and to foster the cultural and human growth of the population.

– Managing archives, libraries, newspaper libraries, and collecting and cataloguing printed materials, manuscripts, books, treaties, monographs, periodicals that have cultural and educational value, and making them available to scholars and anyone interested in consulting them.

– Providing sporadic or continuous collaboration to entities and organizations that promote initiatives in the same areas of interest as the Association.

– Promoting health education and preventive activities for the protection of health, organizing services to combat drug addiction, alcoholism, and drug proliferation.

– Promoting vocational training, providing educational services for the instruction and training of young people up to the age of eighteen, as well as those who have reached legal adulthood, facilitating the entry into the workforce of young people seeking their first job, immigrants, refugees, Romani people, Sinti, and Caminanti communities, individuals with sensory, physical, mental, and psychological disabilities, and individuals in special conditions of need. Also, promoting the development of suitable working conditions that safeguard the human and social dignity of workers and respect for their rights.

– Promoting the social, cultural, educational, and occupational integration of foreign immigrant citizens, refugees, and victims of trafficking, violence, or exploitation. This includes providing social and healthcare assistance, residential accommodation, linguistic, cultural, and vocational training, offering aid and advice for the necessary departure procedures, promoting integration in the host countries, and supporting their living conditions in transit countries.

– Promoting, managing, and organizing social, cultural, educational, school, and healthcare services for Romani communities, Sinti, and Caminanti, and advocating for their rights.

– Ensuring the protection of the rights of the elderly, promoting home care services and listening centers against all forms of institutionalization, violence, and abuse.

– Promoting, managing, and organizing prevention activities, as well as social, healthcare, cultural, educational, school, and recreational services for children and adolescents in need or in status of abandonment. This includes managing social and healthcare residential facilities and centers for the protection of their rights.

– Promoting, managing, and organizing social and healthcare services, day centers, residential communities for the elderly, individuals with disabilities, the sick, and those in need.

– Initiating forms of international cooperation with governments and non-governmental organizations, especially from developing countries, to promote international exchange, particularly in areas of significant interest to the Association. This includes establishing stable forms of social, healthcare, educational, and cultural cooperation, as well as promoting emergency projects. These goals may also be achieved through sending personnel to the field to implement development plans, provide information, education, and training for local operators.

– Supporting the condition of childhood, particularly in countries where it is threatened by poverty, exploitation, or conflicts, by promoting all forms of support, including long-distance assistance, for the full development of children’s personalities and by facilitating the full implementation of children’s right to have a family through international adoption.

– Preventing youth distress in all its forms and engaging in the fight against the use of all narcotic substances, both preventively and in rehabilitation. This involves promoting forms and places of social cohesion and solidarity, fostering a culture of legality and environmental protection, as well as activities aimed at developing the creativity, autonomy, cultural, artistic, entrepreneurial, and cooperative capacities of young people. This can also be done in partnership with other organizations and social actors.

– Promoting actions for gender equality and countering all forms of discrimination.

– Promoting any other activity or initiative useful for achieving the social purpose.