Un Ponte per ETS

Un Ponte Per (UPP) is an international solidarity association and a non-governmental organization founded in 1991, immediately after the end of the bombings in Iraq, under the name "Un Ponte per Baghdad," with the aim of promoting solidarity initiatives for the Iraqi population affected by the war. Subsequently, the organization's involvement expanded to other countries in the Middle East, North Africa, the Balkans, Italy, and Eastern Europe. UPP's purpose is the prevention of armed and violent conflicts through information campaigns, cultural exchanges, cooperation projects, peacebuilding programs, and the construction of networks for social justice. UPP rejects war ... read more Un Ponte Per (UPP) is an international solidarity association and a non-governmental organization founded in 1991, immediately after the end of the bombings in Iraq, under the name "Un Ponte per Baghdad," with the aim of promoting solidarity initiatives for the Iraqi population affected by the war. Subsequently, the organization's involvement expanded to other countries in the Middle East, North Africa, the Balkans, Italy, and Eastern Europe. UPP's purpose is the prevention of armed and violent conflicts through information campaigns, cultural exchanges, cooperation projects, peacebuilding programs, and the construction of networks for social justice. UPP rejects war as a means of resolving national and international disputes and aims to build peaceful and equitable coexistence among peoples, promoting the meeting of diverse cultures, languages, religions, and traditions to foster social cohesion. To address the root causes of conflicts, UPP considers the protection of human rights and concrete support for those who promote and defend fundamental rights and freedoms, whether individuals, movements, organizations, or informal groups, as central. This commitment is realized through advocacy campaigns, cultural exchanges, good practice initiatives, collaborative projects, the formation of coalitions, and actions to strengthen the organizational, structural, and participatory capacities of civil societies with which it engages. In 31 years of activity, Un Ponte Per's intervention has evolved, adapting to the changing contexts in which it operates, but it has always maintained the same goal: promoting peace and human rights and preventing new conflicts. Equally unchanged is the organization's commitment to ensuring the quality of its projects, with particular attention to supporting the self-determination of the affected populations and communities, valuing partnerships, and respecting the subjectivity and, above all, the political and social demands of the individuals and organizations it collaborates with. Un Ponte per's foundational values include: 1. Democracy: The organization adopts a democratic organizational system in which all individuals have equal rights and responsibilities, ensuring effective participation and access to information. 2. Participation: UPP is a democratic and people-oriented association. The adopted governance model requires social partners of the organization, each according to their responsibilities, to participate in the decisions made by the organization at both strategic and operational levels and to assume the related responsibilities. 3. Valuing the quality and aspirations of individuals: The association is based on volunteerism, understood as voluntary and unpaid activities for solidarity purposes, as well as professional work by paid staff who share the goals and philosophy of the association. 4. Decentralization and territoriality: The organization considers it essential to be rooted in the territory and connected to movements and expressions of civil society, as well as with institutions in the region. 5. Effectiveness and efficiency: Considering its responsibility, especially towards populations affected by wars, conflicts, and various forms of exclusion and injustice, the organization is aware of the need to ensure that programs, projects, and initiatives achieve levels of effectiveness and efficiency through clear decision-making processes, financial resource identification, and the involvement of volunteers and paid staff with a balance between motivations of solidarity and professional competence. 6. Transparency: The organization recognizes that trust among individuals is vital for an association built on ethical principles. It commits to mutual trust based on the transparency of information, meaning that information should be accessible and verifiable, with the limitation of information privacy being for the safety of individuals and respect for their private sphere. 7. Responsibility: Both voluntary and paid work is carried out based on the principle of individual responsibility, depending on each person's decision-making capacity towards the organization and the populations they work with. 8. Respect: The necessary attitude of respect in approaching the diverse cultures of the peoples with whom they interact is a fundamental part of their political vision