| Affiliation with other organizations: |
Centro Pio La Torre is a member of the ASVIS (Italian Alliance for Sustainable Development), an association founded with the aim of making the awareness of the importance of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development in Italian society, economic subjects and institutions to mobilize them in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. |
| Publications: |
Since September 2007, the Centro Pio La Torre has published a magazine, ASud’Europa. The magazine is broadcast telematically to a qualified area of executives, politicians, intellectuals, students and all those who request it throughout the national territory and also abroad. The Centro also plays an editorial role. In recent years, in addition to the magazine, numerous volumes have been published, including: “Pio La Torre. Ricordi di una vita pubblica e privata”. ". Photographic book printed on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the murder of Pio La Torre and Rosario Di Salvo, with an introductory historical essay by prof. Francesco Renda; “Il caso Battaglia”. Pascoli e mafia sui Nebrodi; “Pio La Torre. Palermo, la Sicilia, il PCI, la mafia”. Saggio di storia orale by Giovanni Burgio; “Mai più soli. Libro bianco sulle vittime del racket e l’usura” by Gilda Sciortino; “Le carte in regola. Piersanti Mattarella, un democristiano diverso” by Pierluigi Basile; "Discorsi sulla mafia" by Attilio Scaglione e Giovanni Frazzica; "La mafia in cantiere" by Salvatore Sacco; “Palermo: il recupero alla legalità dei beni confiscati tra coscienza e azione" by Maria Eliana Madonia e Gennaro Favilla; “La mafia, il fascismo, la polizia” by Vittorio Coco; "La percezione sociale della mafia" by Giovanni Frazzica; “Memoria Nostra” published by the Centro in collaboration with the student association “Nuovo Ateneo ", with the stories of some Mafia victims. In April 2009, following a long work of recovery of photographic material, the Centro Pio La Torre collected an important amount of images between private archives and photographic studios and prepared an exhibition that told, through the twenty-eight best photographs, the salient actions of the political work of Pio La Torre and the context in which he operated. |
| Purpose of the organization: |
The main themes of intervention of the Association are: the study, analysis and knowledge of the phenomenon of mafia and national and international organized crime, extortion, usury, as well as the creation and promotion of activities and initiatives for the assistance, solidarity, protection and information in favor of the victims of these phenomena, for the prevention of the same, for the spread of an anti-mafia conscience; the themes of the revival and development of Sicily and the South, with particular regard to the problems and the needs of the victims of mafia and organized crime and the related phenomena of extortion and usury; peace initiatives with particular regard to cooperation in the Mediterranean; the study of the territory as a historical-social and human space and as an economic and environmental resource. The Association carries out its activity by promoting confrontation with scholars, operators, research institutes, schools, national and international associations and foundations, youth associations, expression of different ideals, political and cultural orientations. |
| Confirmation of the activities of the organization at the regional, national or international level: |
The Centro Pio La Torre has proposed an educational project for the Sicilian and national high schools since the 2006-07 school year. The project promotes the study of the complexity of the mafia phenomenon in its historical evolution and in its contemporaneity with a particular attention to the birth, growth and development of a conscience and an anti-mafia commitment. The project intends to provide students with the tools and methods of study that see them not only participate in lectures, but also an active part in the in-depth study, in view of the increasingly global evolution of criminal organizations. An integral part of the project is the survey on the perception of the Mafia phenomenon among young people, conducted through an online questionnaire administered to the students participating in the project, whose results are reworked by a special scientific committee and published annually. Since September 2007, the anti-mafia legal assistance service has been active at the headquarters of the Center to protect the victims of mafia, usury and racket. Among the victims must also be considered the public administrations, public law bodies, economic bodies or bodies that suffer mafia-type infiltration and conditioning. To all these subjects, public and private, the legal assistance service of the Pio La Torre Center makes available for free the specific expertise in anti-mafia, anti-usury and anti-racket matters of a large pool of lawyers made up of criminal lawyers, civilians, workers and administrative administrators to whom those who in the public administration, the economy and society intend to defend themselves against Mafia pressure can apply and ask for assistance. On 30 November 2017 the conference "Information and mafia in the Euro-Mediterranean area: the truth at the cost of life, the case of Daphne Caruana Galicia" was held at the Aula Magna of the Faculty of Jurisprudence of Palermo. The meeting was organized by the Centro Studi Pio La Torre in collaboration with the Times of Malta, a newspaper from Malta. The initiative was an opportunity to discuss investigative journalism on the Mafia in the Mediterranean countries after the killing of journalist Caruana Galicia, who was killed for investigating the connections between the Mafia and politics in Malta. On 6 June 2018 in the Aula Magna of the Faculty of Jurisprudence of Palermo, the Centro Pio La Torre, in collaboration with the Italian Alliance for Sustainable Development (Asvis), held a National Assembly on “Sustainable, anti-mafia and anti-corruption development: good practices of the territory". A meeting to dwell on the Goal 16 on the importance of legality and responsibility for a sustainable development of the country and on the ways and means of civil society useful for dealing with obstacles to a just, inclusive society and overcoming barriers to productive activities. Since December 2018, the Centro Pio La Torre has promoted a European project "Europe 4 all" involving six organizations from five countries (Albania, Germany, Italy, Macedonia, Malta). The project aims to give European citizens the opportunity to deepen some knowledge for the development of a greater awareness of Europe, through the work and meeting of different people, of different cultures and social contexts, on issues concerning society civil society, the EU and its institutions. |
| A list of members of the governing body of the organization, and their countries of nationality: |
President: Vito Lucio Lo Monaco - IT Steering Committee: Vito Lo Monaco - IT, Angelo Meli - IT, Franco Garufi - IT, Agostino D’Amato - IT, Antonina Caradonna - IT |
| Description of the membership of the organization, indicating the total number of members: |
The Centro Pio La Torre is formed by 21 members, individuals, all with voting rights. The organs of the Association are: the President, the Assembly of members, the Steering Committee, the Board of Auditors, the Board of Arbitrators, the Scientific Committee. The Assembly is made up of all the members who can be individuals or organizations. All members have the right to vote. The Assembly discusses the general lines of the Association's activities, deliberates on the program of activities and on the initiatives submitted to it by the President, the Steering Committee and individual members; approves the financial statements, the financial statements and the reports of the Management Committee and the Board of Auditors; elects the Management Committee. The Steering Committee is invested with the widest powers for the ordinary and extraordinary management of the Association, except for those of competence of the Assembly. It defines the priority lines of the activities and elaborates the research and initiative programs of the Center. It is composed of no more than fifteen members elected by the Assembly. In the event of a tie in votes, the vote of the President is valid for two votes. Its members hold office for two years and can be re-elected. The Steering Committee elects the President, the Vice-president, the Secretary from within and fixes the duties and responsibilities of other possible members of the Committee in relation to the planned activity. The Steering Committee authorizes the stipulation of all the deeds and contracts of any kind inherent to the activity of the Association, decides on relations with external bodies and institutions and on any agreements with collaborators and researchers. The Steering Committee sets up work and research sections and appoints those responsible; prepares the budget and the annual report to be submitted to the Assembly for approval. The President is elected by the Steering Committee from among its members, remains in office for two years and can be re-elected. Has the legal representation of the Association and the signature before third parties and in court. The President convenes and presides over the Assembly and the Steering Committee, supervises the activities of the Association and the execution of the resolutions of the corporate bodies. The Board of Auditors is composed of three members appointed by the Assembly and chosen from the members of the Association. They provide for the verification of the management deeds, ascertain the regular keeping of the accounting records and the merits of the asset valuations, express their opinion on the financial statements and on the annual report communicating it to the Assembly and carry out cash checks. The Board of Arbitrators is composed of three official members and two substitutes. They are elected by the shareholders' meeting and remain in office for two years. It has the task of instructing and deciding, without formalities, disputes and / or disputes between the members or between them and the Association or its organs. The Scientific Committee is made up of representatives of the various economic, social, legal, scientific, literary and artistic disciplines designated by the Steering Committee. The Committee participates in the preparation of the program of activities and collaborates with the Steering Committee to promote individual initiatives and to implement them. |
Public Administration and Development Management
| Involvement in Public Administration: |
In July 2015, the Centro Pio La Torre promoted, together with trade union workers (Cgil, Cisl, Uil); to the Association of Italian Municipalities (Anci Sicilia), to the Confederation of Entrepreneurs (Confindustria Sicily); to the associations of voluntary service Libera, Caritas, Comunità di S. Egidio, Erripa, Committee for the fight for the home "12 July", Forum of the Third Sector of Sicily, established a "No Poverty Committee" which presented a bill of popular initiative for support to families in economic hardship. The bill that collected over fifteen thousand signatures was filed with the Sicilian Regional Assembly and provides, after the signing of a social inclusion project, for an economic integration intended for each family unit, commensurate with the difference between the available income (Isee ) and the absolute poverty threshold calculated by Istat. In 2015 a Memorandum of Understanding was also signed between the Pio La Torre Center and Anci Sicilia (National Association of Italian Municipalities) aimed at promoting a multi-year training and information program aimed at local administrators, managers and municipal officials so that they can in their territories to initiate activities to sensitize citizens to respect the rules, the legality and the participation of all citizens in civil, social, political and economic life. In particular, the protocol provides, among other things, anti-racket, anti-mafia and anti-wear assistance activities; a legal and free legal aid service for the civil constitution in court for possible legal proceedings involving the territory; educational and cultural activity with students; study and research activities; activation of a specific application on the Municipality's website to inform, receive feedback on the satisfaction of the initiatives, allow the participation of citizens through specific sections of "proposals" on topics and further initiatives to be implemented and / or enhanced; training seminars on transparency and combating corruption in PA; use of property confiscated from the mafia; contractor selection and procurement procedures supplies and services; legality in the municipal area, authorizations, licenses, contrast to urban decay; obligations regarding transparency and combating corruption. On 6 February 2017, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the Municipality of Palermo and the Centro Pio La Torre, which aims to support and encourage activities to promote legality and combat corruption within the public administration and in the its relationship with citizens. Among the activities to be carried out also an analysis that highlights on the one hand the most recent configuration of the types of crime connected to the role of the public official or of the public functions operator, on the other a statistical elaboration, at national and regional level , of the diffusion of the denunciations from the police and of the sentences pronounced by the magistracy in recent years. The object of the analysis is also the European trends in the fight against poverty, the national legislation and the role that the Municipality is called upon to carry out for the implementation of the measures in force for the benefit of the subjects who are in conditions of poverty. |
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