COOPI - Cooperazione Internazionale (Malawi)

COOPI was founded by Father Barbieri on 15 April 1965. This is when it all started - a journey spanning more than fifty years during which COOPI and Italian international cooperation have expanded and evolved in very different aspects. Yet COOPI story began before 1965. In fact, it dates back to 1961, when Vincenzo Barbieri, a young Jesuit priest, was sent to Lyon, in France, to study at the Faculty of Theology, in order to go on a missionary mission to Chad.

Barbieri found the cultural environment in France to be much more lively and open-minded than the one he experienced in Italy in the years before the Second Vatican Council. In Lyon, he came into contact with international secular movements engaged in voluntary work in developing countries for many years. In 1962, Barbieri turned down the opportunity to leave as a missionary himself and returned to Milan, to train volunteers who were eager to leave for developing countries. Father Barbieri has been the one to include secularity in missionary activities.

Since 1999, COOPI has been present in Malawi, specialising in disaster risk reduction, food security and energy.

Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, it has supported the response as the leader of a strong NGO consortium, implementing an integrated response through platforms for health service delivery and disaster risk management, supporting the roll-out of vaccines in four high-risk districts and in host communities surrounding the Dzaleka refugee camp, with the aim of leaving no one behind.

The efforts of these operations focused on helping national and district health authorities and communities to detect the problem quickly and respond effectively. The project improved Covid-19 prevention practices, such as social distancing, frequent hand washing and use of protective equipment, by training community and government frontline workers in 48 health centres, building community action plans and improving national and district level coordination in the health emergency response.

As a result, COOPI has countered misinformation about health care and increased demand for and uptake of life-saving vaccines. Activities implemented through this consortium will continue to strengthen community awareness and adherence to Covid-19 prevention practices, as well as national and local capacities to effectively resist and respond to the pandemic.

Since January 2022, COOPI has also started first aid operations and immediate response to the emergency caused by the passage of Cyclone Ana in the southern part of the State, particularly in the districts of Chikwawa and Nsanje, where it is present with its projects. An extraordinary appeal has been launched to help the most affected communities and support the delivery of medical and consumer goods.