FENACERCI is the National Federation of Cooperatives and Social Solidarity is 52 associated members located throughout the country, providing support and services to about 25.000 people with intellectual disabilities and their families, with close to 6000 professionals.

While institutional interlocutor for Cooperatives of Social Solidarity, FENACERCI promotes an intense activity with various structures such as the INR, IP – National Institute for Rehabilitation, IEFP – Institute of Employment and Vocational Training, ISS – Institute of Social Security and DGIDC Directorate – General for Innovation and Curriculum Development, integrating various working groups.

The mission and vision of FENACERCI, as set out in its Strategic Plan Guidance are:

  • Mission: To promote quality and sustainability of the services provided by our members, promoting the rights of service users.
  • Vision: We advocate a society characterized by equal opportunities for all citizens, built with the support of organizations that are ethically responsible, sustainable and certified by the quality of services provided, identified by the active participation of the persons supported and by the defense and monitoring of social, political and citizenship rights they are entitled to.

Since 1996 FENACERCI actively promotes transnational cooperation, especially with European countries, which is reflected in the membership of umbrella organizations (ARFIE, Inclusion Europe, OCPLP) and the development and implementation of European projects in areas as diverse as self-advocacy, rights and citizenship, equal opportunities, inclusion through sport and leisure, violence and abuse, accessible information, digital literacy, curricula for inclusion, and others deemed relevant to our organizations on a total of 40 projects, with 26 European countries (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Denmark, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, UK, Romania, Sweden, Czech Republic).

FENACERCI develops and implements through its Departments/Units, various activities and projects with direct and indirect impact on its members, in people with intellectual disabilities and their families and society in general. This impact is embodied in an improvement of the lives of these people, the quality of the services provided, and the recognition of the rights of citizens with intellectual disabilities by society in general and policymakers in particular.

FENACERCI is structured in 5 Departments/Units:

  • NICOM – ORGANIZATIONAL IDENTITY, COMMUNICATION AND SOCIAL MARKETING – whose primary mission is to promote and foster FENACERCI image and role to our members, similar organizations, sponsors and the general public. The basic idea is to strengthen the identity of the organization. Works on the issues of organizational identity, including image in multiple dimensions;
  • NIID – RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND INNOVATION – oversees the dimensions of research, innovation and development in the context of action developed by FENACERCI. In this line, it ensures all project activity, since the bid phase to the evaluation phase. It is also responsible to research, analyze and propose new areas of intervention, regardless of whether or not to match new lines of financing;
  • NCES – COOPERATIVES AND SOCIAL ECONOMY – aims to consolidate and deepening the cooperative dimension in the broader context of the social economy. It is for this unit, individually or in conjunction with other units, to supervise and /or streamline all the action of the Federation in the field of promotion and qualification of cooperative action, the dynamics of interaction and intercooperation and technical representation in the spheres of debate and decision on matters associated with these areas, both nationally and internationally;
  • NFQ – TRAINING AND QUALIFICATION – whose fundamental mission is to organise, promote and evaluate all training activity, internal or external, promoted by FENACERCI. Also integrates a dedicated dimension to organizational skills, including audit and quality assurance;
  • NRM – CR – RESOURCES AND MEANS, which is sub-divided into Resource Center, which organizes and manages all resources like books, videos, sound recordings and other technica , pedagogical and didactic documents, as well as products resulting from projects, and Technical Support, which streamlines and supervises the technical support. It is also responsible for supervision and management of Adventure Unit (directly connected to all sports and leisure activities implemented or with FENACERCI’s participation.

In recent years, FENACERCI implemented either as a promoter or as a partner, 39 European projects, with 26 countries, in areas such as violence and abuse of persons with disabilities, the accessibility of written information, rights and citizenship, the use of ICT to promote social inclusion and assistive devices, alternative curricula, sport as tool for inclusion, Web2.0 and inclusion, poverty and social inclusion and others.

With regard to social marketing and fundraising area, FENACERCI implements the oldest national fundraising campaign, the Magic Firefly Campaign.

Despite having a vast experience from it’s activity in the last 25 years, there is always room for improvement and enhancement, and FENACERCI knows – by means of their transnational work – several organizations which can bring knowledge and successful practices that help improve the organization and provide their professionals with skills to enable their growth and improve their performance, namely by the transfer of knowledge to professionals from our associated members, particularly through the implementation of training activities to be undertaken by NFQ.

FENACERCI has 5 professionals, 5 administrative and 5 board members (volunteers). Professionals have different profiles, namely: 1 social service – responsible for NICOM , 2 sociologists – responsible for art and Culture, NCES and by NFQ, 1 special education and rehabilitation – responsible for NIID and 1 Physical Education teacher – responsible for NRM. All professionals are certified trainers.