AVSI Foundation at the rimini Meeting 2021

During the last week of August, the Italian seaside of Rimini becomes the international capital of culture. The Italian city gets stormed by “the people of the Meeting,” as the media describes it. They are a group of curious and open people who, since 1980, have been coming from all around the world to the Rimini Meeting to discover the beauty of reality. This year, between August 20-25, the Meeting will present a series of lectures, shows, panels, webinars, and exhibits around the theme The Courage to Say “I. 

AVSI Foundation will be present at the Rimini Meeting with a dedicated stand and will participate in a few panel discussions. The event will be in person but also streamed online, so you can attend even from the United States:

August 21 at 7:00 am (ET): The Roots of a New Leadership, curated by AVSI. With Giovanna Bottani, Operation Senior Consultant, STMicroelectronics Foundation; Erneste Nzeyimana, Director of Telecom Services Provider Ltd, Rwanda, child of the Distance Support Program by AVSI; Yasmine Sherif, Director, Education Cannot Wait; and Giampaolo Silvestri, AVSI Secretary General. The event will be moderated by Paolo Lembo, a Former UN Official.

The dialogue plans to investigate the role of Education in shaping leaders capable of thinking and acting for the common good, particularly in developing countries in the post-pandemic era. Various perspectives will be analyzed on the topic from the head of an international agency, a company, an NGO, to the individual once beneficiary of the education program.

August 25, at 10:15 am (ET): Don’t Waste the Pandemic: Sustainable Development, Health, Work, curated by AVSI. With Laura Frigenti, Global Head International Development Practice at KPMG LLP, former Director of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation; Grammenos Mastrojeni, Deputy Secretary General of the Union for the Mediterranean; Giampaolo Silvestri, AVSI Secretary General. The event will be moderated by Francesco De Leo, Director of Affarinternazionali.it, the IAI magazine.

Let’s not waste the pandemic! Starting from a provocation expressed months ago by Pope Francis, a dialogue among the panelists around how to change the pace and our lifestyles, will open up a wide-ranging reflection on the development model pursued up to now and which has not proven to be sustainable. Questions around green development translating into personal, community, and country choices, the basis for collaboration between the private sector and the non-profit sector, how to move from rhetorical auspices to a practice of development programs protecting the dignity and combining the need for work, protection of health and the environment will be discussed and reflected on, offering new provocations.

This year, AVSI’s stand is called The Time and Places of Courage, and the following events will be streamed on the AVSI Foundation Facebook page:

• August 22 at 10 am (ET): Next to Those in Need. With Guido Calvi, Regional Emergency Coordinator AVSI Middle East
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• August 23 at 10 am (ET): AVSI and Meeting Point International, a Surprising Friendship. With Giovanna Micheloni, entrepreneur and owner of the clothing company GIO.tta and Bartolomeo Cevoli, Apparel Designer & Product Developer
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• August 24 at 10 am (ET): Courage in Kenya and Sierra Leone. With Antonino Masuri, AVSI Kenya Project Manager, and Gianni Bagaglia, AVSI Sierra Leone Country Representative.
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• Also, on Saturday, August 21, from 9:15 am to 10:15 am (ET), AVSI will promote an encounter between Yasmine Sherif, Director, Education Cannot Wait, and representatives from various NGOs, Italian cooperation, and foundations.