The Human Safety Net launches its first project for families in Italy

TRIESTE – The Fondazione Generali The Human Safety Net Onlus, the global initiative for communities created by Generali Group, launches its activities in Italy today by presenting in Trieste, together with Centro per la Salute del Bambino (Child’s Health Centre), "A Village to grow up together", a space dedicated to families to promote equal life chances for children between 0 and 6 years of age.

The neuro-biological foundations of children’s cognitive, emotional and social skills are built in the first three years of life. The Village’s educational programme will support the development of children and the parenting skills of adults, based on rigorous scientific evidence demonstrating that quality time parents share with their children translates into better development and well-being, with favourable effects throughout life.

The Village’s facilities are made available by the Azienda Sanitaria Integrata Universitaria (Integrated University Health Authority) of Trieste to complement existing services in Valmaura, an area where there are many families with children and a crucial need to offer adequate educational opportunities.

At the village, parents and children can spend time together and share positive experiences through reading, music, games, and artistic expression. The activities will be conducted by specially trained educators and volunteers, working together with children and parents.

The project is inspired by the proverb “It takes a village to raise a child". The goal is also to involve the Village’s surrounding communities, to promote and reinforce the message that raising future generations is a shared responsibility that must be supported and guaranteed.

The project was proposed and coordinated by the Centro per la Salute del Bambino and promoted through the support of Fondazione Generali The Human Safety Net, the global initiative supporting Generali Group communities.

The Chairman of Generali, Gabriele Galateri di Genola, stated: "The Human Safety Net is Generali's initiative in favour of communities, a movement of people helping people. We are presenting in Trieste a project dedicated to supporting families in sustaining positive relationships and experiences with their children. Prevention is key and must be offered in the relevant neighbourhoods, and at an early stage, to offer children equal development opportunities".

The Chairman of Centro per la Salute del Bambino, Giorgio Tamburlini, emphasised: "Families and local communities cannot make better investments than in the minds and hearts of their children, because this investment, and the relationship that children develop with their parents in childhood, is critical not only to their future, but also that of their communities. The challenge for our ‘Villages’ is to contribute to this”.

At the national level, "A Village for Growth" is promoted and managed by the non-profit organisation, Centro per la Salute del Bambino, as part of the projects financed by the Fondo per il contrasto alla povertrà educative minorile (Fund for the fight against childhood poverty) in coordination with the social enterprise Con i Bambini (With the Children). Other villages will open in Cervinara (Benevento), Cosenza, Genova (Val Polcevera), Foligno, Naples (Pianura), Policoro (Matera), San Cipriano d'Aversa (Caserta), Syracuse and Turin (Barriera Milan).