The Foundation of OASI

Organizzazione di Aiuto allo Sviluppo Internazionale, abbreviated as OASI and meaning "Organisation for International Development Aid", was formally established, by notarial deed, on 15 April 1997, by its nineteen (19) founding members. Its first aim was to raise public awareness regarding problems in the developing world, helping to clarify the real reasons for their marginalisation and promoting initiatives for training lay missionaries. Secondly, it sought to support and create initiatives and programmes for cooperation and international solidarity with the populations of developing countries in the fields of social and health services.

The work of the 19 founding members (Benito De Caro (priest and missionary), Leandro Monterisi (lawyer), Dr Dario Giannoccaro, Prof. Antonietta Sgobba, Prof. Rino Andriano, Dr Annamaria Digiovanni, Antonio Imperato (priest and missionary), Vincenzo Pilone (marshal),Giuseppe Colella (engineer), Raffaele Ficco (industrial expert), Prof. Elvira Romita, Gianluca Loconsole (lawyer), Bernardino Sgobba (entrepreneur),  Alessandro Santelia and Cristiana Negro (entrepreneurs), Dr Vincenzo Contursi (surgeon), Stefania Cuccovillo, Oronzo Monticchio,  Emanuele Gaudimonte (accountant),  Nicola Scalera (entrepreneur), Maria Leoci (nurse), Dr Annalisa De Lucia,  Giuseppe D’Angelico (Managing Director), Dr Anna Lucia Dell’Acqua, Antonello Damato (council member), Dr Ivana Sarpi), made legitimate through membership of the aforementioned association, did not however begin with the foundation of OASI, but began years earlier.

In fact, even in 1997, the majority of members already had considerable experience in organising missions, having worked in the true spirit of voluntary aid and not without risk to their own well-being and lives, with the people of Mozambique and Albania, dedicating months (if not years) to them. In cooperation with the Capuchin Monks Foreign Missions Secretariat and humanitarian organisations such as Médecins Sans Frontières, UNICEF, Emergency and Mani Tese, they spent all their energy on the most needy for the entire duration of the missions.

Among these, particularly in 1997, there were members (such as Father Benito De Caro) who already had decades of experience working both in Africa and in other developing countries in the field of health services for local communities.

Objectives of OASI

OASI, therefore, was not founded by these members as an entirely new project and task, but instead it satisfied their need, as well as the need of all the members who over the years gave their support, along with thousands of supporters and benefactors, to create an instrument capable of: 

• improving the visibility of the project in order to better promote profile-raising initiatives across the country for this sector;
  
• increasing humanitarian aid to developing countries, in particular to Mozambique, which is one of the poorest countries in the world, and Albania, which is close to Italy and suffering a humanitarian crisis since the fall of the last dictatorship, by creating a well organised association that can ensure that all its activities are as transparent as possible in the eyes of its supporters and in this way promoting cooperation with other national and international organisations and, lastly, using administrative and financial aid provided for by national and international legislation.

OASI becomes a Non-Profit Organisation

For this last reason, OASI, with the passing of Italian Legislative Decree No. 460/1997, acquired all the necessary requirements to be registered as a Non-Profit Organisation, initially proceeding by means of a notarial deed (minutes of the extraordinary general meeting of 30 June 1998), to amend its Articles of Association, making the changes required by law. Then on 4th August 1998, it proceeded to make submissions to the Italian Regional Revenues Office (protocol  45549), by means of the form prescribed under the Italian Ministerial Decree of  19th January 1998. This communication activated registration in the list of Non-Profit Organisations held by the Italian Ministry for Economy and Finance.

Supporters of OASI

OASI survives and operates thanks to the precious financial assistance of private individuals who, with liberal donations, sharing its objectives and its modus operandi, want to make a concrete contribution to the aid projects undertaken by the organisation. The vast majority of its benefactors specify in the reasons for their donation, whether made by post, bank transfer or through our website ("support us" section), which OASI project they would like to support and each of them is personally thanked and given an update from time to time, both via our website and via our quarterly magazine ,"Missionari Nostri" (Our Missionaries), on the progress of their chosen project and on all the other donations received by OASI in each quarter for the same project, with an indication of the subject and amount of the donation received. The magazine is available on request both online and in hard copy and has over 5,000 subscribers worldwide. In addition, donors also support the activities of OASI through their annual tax returns, selecting the option to donate half a percent of their IRPEF (Italian income tax for natural persons) for charitable causes, providing their signature and stating the Italian fiscal code of OASI.

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