The History of ANPAS

The Birth of the Public Assistance Groups in Italy

Ideals from the 19° Century Italian “Risorgimento”

Roots…Mutual Aid Societies

Small social groups in the Sabaudi area (Albertine Statute in 1848) spread

across the peninsula following the national unification

A form of mutual assistance between salaried workers and wage earners to help each other in times of sickness, injury, and death, these groups also worked to help their members when they were out of work.

Livorno, at the end of the 1800s. Volunteer wearing a protection device against Cholera.

The first “Pubbliche Assistenze” in Tuscany & Liguria

Why did the P.A.’s have different names?Why did the P.A.’s have different names?

Because, typically, their statutes were written separately and promoted different ideals according to their specific social,

economic, and political realities

La Croce VerdeLa Croce Verde

Would have surely been composed of an administration and volunteers that had

republican, socialist, and anarchist ideologies

La Croce BiancaLa Croce Bianca

Probably composed of conservatives and monarchists

La Croce D’OroLa Croce D’Oro

The emerging middle class

Characterized by new specialized professions (notaries, lawyers, and

doctors)

La Croce TurchinaLa Croce Turchina

No longer indicative of this today,

but was once linked to farmers.

Fratellanza PopolareFratellanza Popolare

Typically composed of artisans.

Fratellanza MilitareFratellanza Militare

Today these are only found in Florence,

but originally they would have been

war veterans from the “Risorgimento”

The “Pubbliche Assistenze” Into the 20° Century

The newly unified Italy

Called for providing coverage in health and welfare areas not yet covered by the State

The “Pubbliche Assistenze”…

• Democratic and secular from the start

• Shared ideals: solidarity e brotherhood

• Open to all for membership (including women, at a time when often women were excluded from social participation)

Fields of Action

• Emergency medical response

• Help for the disadvantaged

• Disaster relief

• Promoting civil society education as well as health education

Croce Verde APM di Milano: Hospital Wagon

The “Pubbliche Assistenze”

• Rapid growth with subsequent need for national coordination

• 1904: at Spoleto, The “Federazione Nazionale delle Società di Pubblica Assistenza e Pubblico Soccorso” was founded

The “Federazione Nazionale delle Società di Pubblica Assistenza e Pubblico Soccorso”

was recognized as an “Organization Devoted to Public Good”

by a King’s Decree in 1911

The history of the “Pubbliche Assistenze” is strongly connected

to political, social, and cultural changes in Italy and played a role

in promoting reforms

Beginnings of the 20° CenturyThe “Pubbliche Assistenze” face:• The fight against tuberculosis

• Maternal defense (birth of the first milk banks)

• “Night time nurseries”

• Hygiene schools

• Emergency medical response (including urban, rural and cyclist squads)

World War I

Growth of the “pubbliche assistenze” halts:

• Men are called to the front lines

• Thanks to their great esperience, P.A. volunteers become indispensable as military surgeons and care providers

• Their peacetime experiences carried over into their military calling

Early 1900s: Piombino (LI), group of “Pubblica Assistenza” volunteers

The Fascist 20s

The post-war withdrawl had not even finished when the fascist regime dealt a hard blow to the “pubblica assistenza” associations

In 1930 the regime dissolved nearly all the associations and transferred their assets and functions to the “Croce Rossa Italiana” (Italian Red Cross)

The 30s in Genova, motorcycle with sidecar, P.A. Croce Bianca Genovese

The Fascist 20s

Only about 30 associations that had obtained recognition by the IPAB (Public Institute for Assistance and Charity) remained and they were placed under the watch of their local prefects and gradually became militarized

After the II World War

While the country was recovering from the war, the “Pubbliche Assistenze” were also re-organizing. During this period they reconstituted the “Federazione Nazionale” and took to recovering the assets that had been re-appropriated by the fascists.In 1946, the Association’s 1st Congress after the Liberation was held in Milan and gave way to a new path for P.A.

The 50s: Piombino. A group of P.A. volunteers posed on their motorcycles.

The following years…

• The growth of the movement was slow but constant as society was starting over again.

• An internal debate formed inside the movement.

1961: Volonteers from the P.A. SVS di Livorno during a rally in Sarzana

Croce Verde in Lucca

Croce Gialla in Ancona

During these years the “Pubbliche Assistenze” were defining

themselves asauthorative actors confronting

political and social forces.

The culmination of the renewing process was in 1978 at the Congress of Sarzana

In 1987 at the Lerici Congress A.N.P.AS. Associazione Nazionale

Pubbliche Assistenzewas born

The name change was meant to convey an evolution towards the idea of a unitary movement of volunteers.

ANPAS TodayOne of the main actors of the Third Sector:

• 869 “Pubbliche assistenze” (member associations)

• 222 “Sections” • Present in 19 of the 20 Italian regions• 16 Regional Chapters• 100,000 volunteers• 400,000 members• 6,000 vehicles (ambulances, disaster relief vehicles,

special vehicles for the elderly and disabled)

2000: Firenze, First national solidarity meeting

ANPAS Today… in addition to the historic sectors of

emergency medical response, we work in these areas:

• Disaster relief• Social activities• International solidarity and development projects• Inter-country Adoptions (Armenia, Bulgaria, Costa Rica,

The Gambia, Kenya, Mauritius, Nepal, Dominican Republic, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Guatemala, Mali and Venezuela)

Croce Blu – Gromo (BG)

Croce Blu – Gromo (BG)

Since 1981 ANPAS has been a recognized organization for placement of conscientious objectors and community

volunteers (servizio civile nazionale)

• At first, with 3,000 conscientious objectors serving in the “Pubbliche Assistenze”

• Then as a 1st class accredited organization for “Servizio Civile Nazionale”

• In 2009 around 1,000 people participated in projects in more than 700 locations

1996: Rome, national ANPAS demonstration for conscientious objectors and “servizio civile”

The “Pubbliche Assistenze” movement strongly supports non-

violent and unarmed civil defense:

The “Pubbliche assistenze” provide experience in:

Active Citizenship

The “Pubbliche assistenze” provide experience in:

Constructive encounters with people from all walks of life (volunteers). People that

have different ages, social views, cultures, ethnic backgrounds, religions, and political

ideas.

The “Pubbliche assistenze” provide experience in:

Interaction and collaboration with various institutions (Health services, Townships,

“Comunità montana”, Provinces, etc.)

The “Pubbliche assistenze” provide experience in:

Networking with other organizations

The “Pubbliche assistenze” provide experience in:

Fundamental human rights advocacy

(especially health rights)

The “Pubbliche assistenze” provide experience in:

Daily experimentation in

the rules of democratic living

The “Pubbliche assistenze” provide experience in:

Environmental protection

and disaster relief

In 2004 ANPAS celebrated 100 years of solidarity

An important opportunity for reflection…

In 2007 ANPAS published its first “Bilancio Sociale” (qualitative social report)

It identifies our values and goals and relates our history.

Our “Bilancio Sociale” is the natural continuation of research developed during the 100 year anniversary.