LESS Impresa Sociale Onlus

LESS promotes and organises raising-awareness campaigns and activities for informing asylum applicants about their rights. In recent years the association has organised and coordinated several of actions in cooperation with immigrant communities located on Neapolitan territory, with local institutions and other private social associations providing additional services, creating a network to improve integration. From 2001 to 2009, LESS managed the activities of the Immigrants’ Front Office of Provincia di Napoli, a project of orientation, assistance and participation in services for non-EU immigrants and their employers. Since 2004 LESS manages the project I.A.R.A. (Integration and Accommodation for Refugees and Asylum seekers), part of the national network of Sistema di Protezione per Richiedenti Asilo e Rifugiati - SPRAR (Protection System for Asylum Seekers and Refugees). The project also gives assistance to asylum seekers and refugees who are not part of SPRAR structures. The association provides services for migrants, refugees, asylum seekers and persons granted the humanitarian protection, to victims of social exclusion and immigrant communities within the province of Naples. These services include: • Information and orientation regarding the Italian and European asylum law; • Legal assistance; • Information regarding social services such as healthcare, language courses, and professional training; • Assistance in the search on the labour market with individual interviews to verify their skills and competences. Furthermore, LESS does not only promote initiatives to guarantee equal opportunities and rights for migrants, but also tries to influence the Italian public opinion so that it is open to intercultural dialogue. To achieve these goals, the association: • Promotes a “refugee campaign” every year with the subject accepting migrants, which include photo exhibitions, seminars, theatre plays and the showing of documentaries about the right of asylum; • Organises intercultural activities in schools through debates and meetings with cultural mediators and students; • Arranges meetings between immigrant communities and Italian citizens (e.g. guided intercultural visits); • Publishes research, articles and other informative sources regarding the topic of immigration. The activities are accomplished in cooperation with other regional associations and organisations that are active in the field of human rights and, in particular, migrants rights. The activities of the association are carried out in accordance with the principles of democratic participation. LESS promotes the active participation of youth in activities that reflect about cultural diversity and encourage the fight against inequality and prejudices, understanding how to face the problems of integration that increasingly characterize the Neapolitan area and at the same time improving their experiences and their competences to act in a multicultural context.