The Swiss Project Management Journal
The People Project
Save the Children
Interview with Italian volunteer Federica Testorio. By Natalia Santisi
Federica Testorio works at Save the Children Italia as
Volunteer Manager. Born in Rome, Federica moved
to Milano in 2006 to work for Save the Children. She
is currently responsible for the volunteering team,
she travels a lot across the country to meet the
network of volunteers, which is spread over all the
Italian regions. She organizes campaigns and activi-
ties as well as searches for new volunteers to sustain
the organization mission and values.
I have met her to understand better which kind of
projects are managed in a non-governmental or-
ganization (NGO) like Save the Children and how it is
possible to obtain results in this kind of organization
simply working with the volunteers.
N
atalia Santisi: Federica, can you tell
us something about Save the
Children? What is the mission of this
organization?
Federica Testorio: Save the Children is an
NGO founded in London in 1919. The
organization strives every day to protect
children’s rights, saving their lives and
providing hope for brighter futures. We
aim to give children a healthy start and the
opportunity to learn while providing
better protection from harm. In Italy, we
are an independent organization and,
together with other Save the Children
organizations worldwide, we help
children in 120 countries, providing
support for health, education, protection,
disaster relief, hunger.
We develop projects, for example, to
provide medicine to children and their
families and make all the interventions
necessary to prevent malnutrition and
reduce the risk of death. We work to
educate children and the communities
they live in, and avoid marginalization
especially in poor countries where
education is not easily accessible. We
strive to protect children and teenagers
from any harmful exploitation, offering
instead opportunities for education,
security and protection. Last but certainly
not least, we intervene in war situations
or in case of natural disasters, when
hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, wildfires
and tornadoes strike wherever they may
occur in the world. Basically, there are two big groups of
projects: cooperation projects and emer-
gency projects.
A cooperation project, can be defined as a
project managed in a developing country,
which can last from to 2 up to 5 years, with
the purpose of improv ing the life con -
ditions of children and their families in
that country. This is achieved by actively
involving the local institutions and popu -
Project Management Institute
SWITZERLAND Chapter 12
Federica Testorio
You mentioned developing projects …
which kind of projects are currently lead
in Save the Children Italia?
lation to improve health, education and
build infrastructures.
An emergency project is a project that
starts as soon as an emergency in a coun-
try arises.
Save the Children responds really quickly
to the emergencies due to wars or natural
disasters, providing relief and help to
children and their families. In Italy, for
example, there is a group of coordinators
and volunteering leaders who keep
themselves constantly informed (with
every available means ... Also through a
WhatsApp chat!) when natural disasters
2017 Edition