AMARE ODV Onlus is a non-profit organization established in Brescia in 2006 by a group of families united by the experience of international adoption, mainly of Ethiopian children.

In Amharic, the official language of Ethiopia, Amare means "grow more and more beautiful": a wish that for the families of our Association becomes commitment to the boys and girls who live in countries of the Horn of Africa.

The Association’s key objective is international cooperation, promoting cultural, social and economic development in the areas where it implements its projects.

AMARE ODV Onlus operates in the Horn of Africa, principally in Ethiopia, but also in Djibouti and in Kenya, by means of projects focused on professional training, the establishment of income-generating activities (micro-enterprises run by women and youth), water wells, water pipelines, farming, cereal mills, school facilities, healthcare centres. 

The projects are implemented in collaboration with well-established local partners (the Apostolic Vicariates of Hosanna, Gambella, Harar, Djibouti; the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus Development and Social Services Commission; the Congregation of the Ursuline Sisters), international partners (the Evangelical Lutheran Congregation Bad Salzuflen in Germany, Netsanet eV, Berlin) and Italian partners (Italian Caritas, Caritas Diocesana Brescia, Fondazione Opera Caritas San Martino di Brescia, VIS and others). The organisation carries out regular field visits to the projects it supports, sharing the result of the monitoring visit to donors and members.

The fundraising takes place through the involvement of public and private entities. 

One of AMARE ODV Onlus key activities is organising photographic exhibitions and publishing precious books. These  are valuable practical way of supporting projects and disseminating knowledge about the Horn of Africa, an area rich in history and culture, and extraordinarily varied from environmental and ethnographic points of view. 

AMARE ODV Onlus does not want to work on its own but instead aims to become a meaningful part of a solidarity network promoting development, involving individuals, organizations, instituitions and other voluntary associations, in accordance with its own identity and objectives.

AMARE ODV Onlus adheres to ’Consulta per la Pace’ and has also been a partner in "Tenda dei Popoli" and the “Piove sull’asciutto” (“It rains on dry land”) project – an awareness-raising campaign to rationalise use of water resources and to fundraise established by Fondazione Sipec, Fondazione Tovini, Cuore amico, Medicus Mundi Italia, Scaip e Svied, in cooperation with a2a spa. In particular AMARE contributed to the elaboration of the teaching aid “L’acqua, il nostro oro blu” (“Water, our blue gold”) and plays an active role in dissemination activities in schools in Brescia on the right to water, under-development and international cooperation.

Membership of AMARE is open to all those who agree with its principles, and wish to support its objectives and programmes.