Cieli Azzurri Associazione Amici Della Chirurgia Pediatrica Odv is a no profit organization based in Milan, Italy. Our activities mainly focus on the world of pediatric and neonatal surgery. Our main objective is to support the work of professionals operating in this field, as well as to offer relief to the little patients themselves and to their families. The vast complexity of fields such as neonatal and pediatric surgery pushes our initiatives to be multi-faceted and diverse, in an effort to have the best possible impact on the community.

Cieli Azzurri was born in 1992. It was founded by a few doctors of the Pediatric Surgery Division of the “Vittore Buzzi” Children’s Hospital. Their aim, initially, was to raise funds for the purchase of highly specialized pieces of machinery to be used for pediatric surgery. Over time, the activities of this initial group expanded, until in 1998 our Statute was modified to become a “Oganizzazione Non Lucrativa di Utilità Sociale (ONLUS)”, a “No Profit Organization with Social Objectives”.

Until 2008, our organization mainly worked with the Vittore Buzzi Hospital. In 2008, the scope of our activities expanded considerably, with the launch of the project “Children Without Borders”. An example of this amplified scope was given by our participation in an international collaborative effort between the Policlinic Hospital of Milan and the Red Cross Children’s Hospital of Cape Town, South Africa.

“Children Without Borders” was followed by several other projects, most of which were created with more specific objectives and a more local scope. Each project represented, for us, a different way of pursuing our main objectives. Ever since 2011, many of these projects have been realized in collaboration with the Policlinic Hospital of Milan, as our relationship with this facility has grown.

Nowadays, all of our resources are invested in the completion of various specific projects, together with our ongoing effort in “Children Without Borders”. For a more complete and detailed outlook of our activities, please visit the “Our Mission ” section of our website.

Cieli Azzurri is made up of an unlimited number of members, both of the physical and the juridical kind. All of these members contribute a yearly membership fee, set by the executive board, thus accepting all of the aims and goals set in the statute.

All of the members have the same rights and duties; members above the age of 18 have a right to vote in every assembly. The subject of the votes ranges from the nomination of the governing body to any issues that may be submitted for the revision and voting of the board. Any role undertaken in the association, be it in the governing body or elsewhere, is to be fulfilled without any pay.

The different parts of the association can be distinguished in:

• The Members’ Assembly, which has three key roles; first, it chooses among its constituent members the Executive Board and the Auditor. Secondly, it votes yearly to approve the final balance, and thirdly, it votes to approve any changes made to the statute.
• The Executive Board, which is re-elected every three years, and has the main task of managing the association. Also, it elects, among its constituent members, the President, the Vice President and the Treasurer.
• The President, who takes care of the initiatives approved by the Executive Board; he has to make sure that these initiatives are within the aims of the organization, and that they fulfill the goals which we strive to reach with all of our initiatives and projects. He can, to his discretion, seek the counsel of external committees, for opinions on scientific, technical or ethical subjects.
• The Scientific Board, which is comprised of members chosen amongst the leading experts and personalities operating in the same field as our Organization, and elected by the Assembly. The Board will formulate detailed proposals of new initiatives, will also give opinions and advice as it pertains to the subsidies, prizes and scholarships to be awarded by our Organization.
• The Auditor, who has the key role of controlling the administration of the Association, and ascertaining that all of the appropriate rules have been followed in all accounting operations.