Libera. Association, Names, Numbers Against the Mafia was founded in 1995 as the first civil society organisation to combat the Mafia. Born from one million signatures demanding mafia wealth be returned to communities, Libera transformed Italy. From the outset, it has challenged organised crime and corruption through social justice, seeking truth for innocent victims and fighting for the rule of law.
However, Libera’s reach extends beyond Italy’s borders. Recognising that criminal networks operate transnationally, Libera has founded three international networks: PLACE in Africa, ALAS in Latin America and CHANCE in Europe, uniting over 150 organisations in 35 countries. Libera’s guiding principle is that the fight is not just ‘against’ criminality, but ‘for’ justice, truth, rights, transparency and equality.
Building Global Networks
PLACE (Peace and Liberation in Africa through Change and Engagement) is a network of over 30 organisations spanning 13 sub-Saharan countries that work on issues such as corruption, human rights and environmental protection.
ALAS (América Latina Alternativa Social) unites over 60 organisations in 13 Latin American countries to confront endemic violence.
CHANCE (Civil Hub Against orgaNised Crime in Europe) connects European organisations demanding action against organised crime.
By founding PLACE, ALAS and CHANCE, Libera has shown that civil society can establish global movements. These networks are fundamental because, to fight organised crime, we need to work together and share effective methods. The struggle is global: over 150 organisations, 35 countries. Local action combined with global solidarity.
Three Pillars
Continuity. Thirty years of relentless pressure, refusing to fade when the headlines move on.
Proposal. Over 1,200 confiscated Mafia properties now serve communities. Criminal wealth becomes community wealth.
Collective action. Organised crime is social and cultural. United forces – judges, farmers, teachers and trade unionists – can defeat it.
Memory as Resistance
Every 21 March, Libera reads the names of all innocent victims of organised crime aloud, transforming memory into action. In Africa, where journalists are silenced, activists are disappeared, and communities are devastated, their names deserve to be remembered. Their struggles demand action.
Education as Liberation
Libera engages with over 5,000 schools. Every summer, 4,000 young people undergo training on confiscated properties, learning that another world is possible by building it.
Libera has shown that civil society can challenge criminal powers. That stolen wealth can be reclaimed. That organised youth can become unstoppable.
The struggle against organised crime in Africa requires the same approach that proved successful in Italy: uniting civil society, using memory as a form of resistance and transforming criminal wealth into community wealth.
Founding PLACE was an act of recognition for Libera: journalists murdered in Nairobi for exposing corruption face the same enemy as those killed in Palermo. Activists defending land in Tanzania are fighting the same battle as those in Calabria. Young people across Africa who are seeking futures not defined by criminality share dreams with young people in Naples. By establishing networks rather than managing projects, Libera has ensured local ownership and genuine solidarity – African solutions to African problems, grounded in a shared human struggle against organised crime. From Sicily to Nairobi to Buenos Aires, the struggle continues. From memory to action. From criminal wealth to community wealth. What began as a movement in Italy thirty years ago has grown into three continental networks, proving that when civil society is united across borders, it can defeat even the most entrenched criminal powers.