The Catholic University's plan for Africa
International cooperation is facing unprecedented scenarios determined by a drastic contraction in funding. In addition to the downsizing of funds by the United States Agency for International Development, significant cuts are also being made by other global players with direct repercussions on humanitarian, health and educational programmes in the most vulnerable contexts of the planet. An overall rethinking of the architecture of development cooperation is therefore required, aimed at defining a 'theoretical and value paradigm that can inspire operational projects capable of facing the growing complexity and challenges of global society'. This is also what the Appeal promoted by the Sfera Foundation and the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, published by Monsignor Vincenzo Zani on these pages on 24 October 2025, urges.
The paradigm shift proposed by the Appeal is echoed in the words spoken by Pope Leo XIV during his visit to the FAO when he urged UN members to "boldly rethink the modalities of international cooperation" because "what the poorest countries are waiting for with hope is for their voices to be heard" in order to solve "their real problems, without imposing fabricated solutions on them in distant offices, in meetings dominated by ideologies that often ignore ancestral cultures" (16 October 2025).
It is no longer possible to approach international cooperation according to emergency, welfarist or paternalistic logics. What is needed is a renewed vision founded not only on responding to material needs but on the full recognition of the 'rights of persons and peoples'. In this perspective, universities are called upon to assume an active and direct responsibility on two complementary levels: enhancing the transformative power of education (education power) and creating strategic alliances with institutions operating at different levels, national and international.
A concrete translation of this perspective is the Africa Plan of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart. Moving along a trajectory that follows the Appeal's guiding criteria - partnership, democratic governance, south-south and triangular cooperation, university cooperation -, the Plan promotes collaborations with local universities and institutions with a view to mutual enrichment, with the intention of fostering respect for the dignity of the person, integral and sustainable development and peaceful social coexistence.
There are many reasons why Africa must be looked at with a renewed perspective. Multilateralism is regressing, inequalities and polarisations are intensifying despite scientific and technological progress, conflicts are multiplying to such an extent that the continent is now the most affected in the world, with 28 out of 61 wars recorded in 2024 (Oslo Peace Research Institute). A continent that is nevertheless acquiring a growing global relevance, sustained by its significant demographic dividend. In addition, due to its geographical proximity, it is of particular strategic importance for Italy, as highlighted by the Mattei Plan.
