Associazione di Promozione Sociale Per Esempio ONLUS

Per Esempio Onlus is a non profit organization set up in Palermo in 2011 by a small group of young workers aiming to develop actions promoting social inclusion and community empowerment. Since then Per Esempio Onlus has implemented about forty projects focusing on the fight against educational deprivation, active participation, gender empowerment and on children, youth and adult education. Our overall objective is to support people with fewer opportunities to undertake a path of educational, cultural and economic development, in a context respectful of rights and diversities. We implement our activities involving people from disadvantaged areas of the city of Palermo, such as the neighbourhood of Ballarò – where our premises are located -, Borgo Vecchio and ZEN. These are the places where we also implement international mobility projects for young people coming to Palermo from all over the world. Our mission is to increase the level of social inclusion promoting local development actions. We aim to foster the empowerment of individuals at risk of exclusion, supporting them in the improvement of their skills and knowledge, in order to reduce social disadvantage levels. We put the human being at the centre of every action of ours, focusing on its full cultural, social and economic development. We believe in the values of: - Education: we work to make it accessible to people of any age, ethnic background and socio-economic condition in order to stimulate self-awareness and acquisition of new skills. - Respect and promotion of diversity: we consider diversity as a source of richness and we constantly encourage exchanges of experiences. We believe that such practices are powerful instruments to raise people’s awareness against racism, discrimination and hate speech. - Active citizenship: our belief is that a society where people actively participate in social, civil and political life is a place where critical sense, empathy and solidarity can prevail over hate. Per Esempio Onlus is located in Palermo, Sicily (Italy). In spite of it being the fifth biggest Italian city, it presents many social problems mainly linked to the lack of a vital economy and productive activities able to guarantee a certain level of employment. In such a context, and especially in suburban areas, people can be more easily involved in illegal activities. Often, criminal networks owe their diffusion to the lack of cultural opportunities and human relations: that’s the reason why we are engaged in implementing actions aiming to involve people with fewer opportunities, who represent the most vulnerable social group. Through a non-formal education approach, we target children, youth, women and migrants and encourage them to acknowledge the importance of school attendance, critical thinking, dialogue, lifelong learning and legal behavior. Our organization’s main goals are: - to fight early school leaving among students aged between 6-16 years old, connecting school, family and students to face the problem; - to fight the phenomenon of domestic violence by increasing young women’s knowledge and social skills; - to fight educational poverty among 0-6 years old children and to their families, both immigrants and Italians, especially for those who live in difficult social, cultural and economical situations; - to increase learning opportunities for young people supporting the acquisition of skills through nonformal educational activities; - to promote young students mobility with the aim to create a more integrated European labor market; - to promote the voluntary values on a local, national and European level as a powerful tool to increase youth active citizenship and participation.