Giorgio Ceragioli, Giovanni Giovannini (a journalist who was later president of
La Stampa and
ANSA) and the other founders of
Movimento sviluppo e pace aimed to promote cooperation among people for a sustainable self-development in the poorest countries of the world, focused on the real needs of the concerned populations. Giovannini was the first president of the NGO and Ceragioli its first director. The new NGO was different from similar associations of the time because it was independent from religious beliefs and political memberships, and in spite of the
Cold War climate was able to brig together
Catholic and
Marxist volunteers. In 1982 Sviluppo e ace was recognised as partner NGO from the
Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 1998 it also had recognised a status of Nonprofit organization and, on 19 March 1999, was named
Ente morale. MSP nowadays supports projects mainly based on local human resources at any hierarchy level, and only in a few cases employs abroad Italian staff on long-duration basis. The members of the NGO mainly visit the partner organizations in order to offer them advice and counsel about new projects and monitoring the ongoing ones. MSP also sustains creation and growth of local NGOs. One of the most important actions of this kind has been, in cooperation with
ASSEFA Italia, the support given in
India to the
Association for Sarva Seva Farms, connected to the
Gandhian movement of
Sarvodaya. ==Geographic focus==