Migrantesliberi Cooperativa Sociale e di Solidarietà Social Enterprise of Andria (BA) receives the certification for Gender Equality in compliance with the UNI PdR 125 Practice.
The certificate was delivered to the President of the Cooperative Don Geremia Acri by Massimiliano Oro - Personnel Services Business Unit Manager of CSQA , the Certification Body with which Migrantesliberi undertook the certification process which ended positively.
The organization has already been certified for the UNI EN ISO 9001 Quality Management System, issued by CSQA, for some years.
“Delivering this second certificate to the Cooperativa Migrantesliberi – says Massimiliano Oro of CSQA – is a great satisfaction. A point of reference in the Adult Disadvantage Area, Migration Area and Social Emergency Response not only for the north of Bari, with Andria its headquarters. A model of integration where migrants have the right to joy."
The Migrantesliberi Community was born from the strong experience of young people dedicated to volunteering based on Christian values, at the "Santa Maria Goretti" Reception House of the Diocese of Andria, in fact more than a Cooperative it is a Community of men and women dedicated to the service of humanity excluded, marginal and discarded.
The activities began in 2008 with the Migrants Social Promotion Association and over the years they have evolved to accommodate the requests for help that were gradually emerging in the area.
The Cooperativa Sociale di Solidarietà Liberi was born in 2009 with the aim of developing a social enterprise in the logic of the common and non-particularistic good, with the awareness of having an active and proactive role in the participatory construction of a shared and responsible well-being.
On 12 September 2016, the Social Promotion Association "Migrantes" and the Social and Solidarity Cooperative "Liberi" united , giving shape to a single body: Social and Solidarity Cooperative - Social Enterprise "Migrantesliberi" ONLUS.
The Migrantesliberi Community operates in a context in which social hardship is a reality for which one can no longer linger or be indifferent, it is a splendid example of human solidarity towards marginalized people.
"Obtaining certification on gender equality – says Don Geremia Acri – has further made us reflect on the inequalities, discrimination, injustices and disparities still present in society.
I hope that as individuals, businesses, cooperatives, societies, political, social, financial, religious institutions... everyone will bear the responsibility of doing their part to change the crazy direction that is affecting our societies.
Certification represents only the beginning of a broader path towards equality.
Our society is characterized by exclusion and insincerity, and often does not encourage acts of true emancipation. However, blaming society serves no purpose. We must avoid finding alibis for our ability to act and activate our possibilities. Alibis make us sterile, dry, pessimistic and self-centered, preventing us from acting to rediscover the beauty and beating heart of the human being."
The Migrantesliberi Community has defined the detailed objectives in the Strategic Plan through Performance Indicators based on the 6 thematic areas indicated in UNI/PdR 125:2022:
Culture and strategy,
Governance,
HR processes,
Opportunities for growth and inclusion of women in the company,
Remuneration equity by gender,
Protection of parenthood and work-life balance.
All Indicators are supported by Procedures , appropriate to the context, typical of a Management System. The staff - which in these nine years has gone from three young volunteers to thirty hires - is now managed in compliance with UNI PdR 125 Practice.