Reports from our programmes and regions

H.OPES Foundation has been formally registered in the list of non-profit organisations maintained by AICS — the Italian Development Cooperation Agency — under Article 26 of Law 125/2014. The decree of registration, number 0000008, was issued on 15 May 2026, following an application submitted in December 2025. The accreditation qualifies H.OPES Foundation to access AICS funding instruments for international development cooperation, in line with Italy’s official development assistance framework.

The eight partner organisations of the TRAFFICKING project met in Rome on 12 and 13 March 2026 for the project kick-off meeting, hosted by lead partner FILEF BASILICATA. The two-day session established the steering committee, agreed the workplan timeline, and opened the comparative survey of human trafficking contexts across six EU partner countries — Italy, Norway, Belgium, Serbia, Turkey and Greece. Each partner presented the national context, providing the baseline for the Exploratory Dossier that will inform the curriculum design. Sessions also addressed the competence dictionary for the Expert in Prevention, Protection, Support and Research for victims of trafficking, and the digital training platform to be built on Skillbanks and Canvas. H.OPES Foundation presented the communication and dissemination plan for the project’s EU-level advocacy component. The first Joint Staff Training is scheduled in Athens, coordinated by To Hamogelo tou Paidiou.

A delegation of six senior officials from the Assembly of Kosovo, in Rome for a study visit organised by H.OPES Foundation, met with the leadership of CNEL — Italy’s National Council for Economics and Labour — on 24 October 2025. The meeting was facilitated by Counselor Francesco Riva, Vice-president Claudio Risso (CISL) and Nicola Tavoletta, President of ACLI Terra.

The visit took place weeks after Kosovo’s formal accession to the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), opening a direct institutional connection: CNEL offered to support Kosovo’s nascent advisory body CES as it develops its working methods and its relationship with both the EESC in Brussels and its Italian counterpart in Rome. The delegation also visited the Italian Chamber of Deputies, welcomed by MP Roberto Morassut, and the Permanent Representation of the European Parliament in Rome.

The EU-funded project “Improving Parliamentary Governance in Kosovo” concluded with a formal conference at the Assembly of Kosovo in Pristina on 22 October 2025. Opening remarks were delivered by Huber Perr, Head of the Cooperation Section at the EU Office in Kosovo, Arben Loshi, Secretary General of the Assembly, and Stefania Valentini, President of H.OPES Foundation. Federico Gallas, Director General of H.OPES Foundation, presented the project’s main outcomes. Blerinda Idrizi, Gender Equality Expert, presented the Gender Equality Manual developed in cooperation with the Assembly — one of the project’s principal institutional deliverables.

Maurizio Montagnese has been appointed President of the Consulta per le Persone in Difficoltà (CPD), the principal coordinating body for disability and social inclusion policies in Turin. H.OPES Italia ETS, a member of the CPD network, notes the appointment and looks forward to continuing its collaboration with the Consulta.

A delegation of six senior officials from the Assembly of Kosovo, led by Secretary General Arben Loshi, conducted a two-day study visit to the European Parliament in Brussels on 3 and 4 February 2025. Organised by H.OPES Foundation in the framework of the EU-funded project “Improving Parliamentary Governance in Kosovo”, the visit addressed parliamentary administration, inter-departmental cooperation, staff recruitment and training, and the role of research in legislative processes. H.OPES Foundation President Stefania Valentini participated in the session on democracy support and capacity building.

H.OPES Foundation has opened a new office in Mogadishu, authorised by Somalia’s Ministry of Interior, Federal Affairs and Reconciliation. The office will support the Foundation’s work on parliamentary governance, institutional development, and blue economy in Somalia. A regional office for Puntland is operational in Garowe.

H.OPES Italia ETS and Regione Piemonte have launched @insideeurope, an Instagram channel dedicated to news and analysis on the European Union and its member states. The channel is part of the Inside Europe programme, which targets young people in Turin and its metropolitan area through civic education activities, workshops and multimedia content production.

A session at the Assembly of Kosovo on 28 May 2024 examined the implications of the 2023 Ljubljana–The Hague Convention on international cooperation in the prosecution of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Expert presentations were delivered by representatives of the Ministry of Justice of Slovenia. The session was facilitated by H.OPES Foundation in the framework of the EU-funded project “Improving Parliamentary Governance in Kosovo”.

At the request of the Parliamentary Committee on Health and Social Welfare, H.OPES Foundation organised a two-day working session in Durrës, Albania, on the legislative implications of Kosovo’s application for Council of Europe membership. Sessions focused on the European Social Charter — its monitoring framework, reporting obligations, and relevance to Kosovo’s legislative agenda. The session was chaired by MP Fatmire Kollçaku and facilitated by Admir Duraj, H.OPES Foundation’s chief technical adviser, and gender equality expert Blerinda Idrizi.

H.OPES Foundation met with Glauk Konjufca, President of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, in Pristina to review progress on the EU-funded project “Improving Parliamentary Governance in Kosovo”. Discussions addressed the Assembly’s institutional performance, its public visibility, and the role of inter-parliamentary cooperation in Kosovo’s path toward Council of Europe membership and EU integration.

The six-month course in Melkite icon painting, funded by Regione Piemonte and implemented by H.OPES Foundation in Damascus, concluded with two public exhibitions. Forty-five participants produced 116 icons over the course of the programme. The first exhibition was held at the Faculty of Theology of Damascus; the second at the Zawaya Art Gallery. Each attracted over 2,000 visitors. The project contributes to the preservation of the Melkite iconographic tradition and to the professional development of craftspeople in the Damascus area.

His Beatitude Yousef Absi, Patriarch of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, led a delegation to the Damascus Faculty of Theology to review the progress of the icon painting course funded by Regione Piemonte and implemented by H.OPES Foundation. The delegation included Syria’s Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, the President of the Virtual University of Syria, and the President of the Faculty of Theology. Students presented their work under the supervision of Father Theophilus Leos, responsible for the practical sessions in traditional iconography with natural pigments.