Rome (Fides Service) - To mark 30 years of the AVSI Italian Association of Volunteers for International Service, a Convention "Christians and Development" was held in Rome on 30 January. AVSI promotes development programmes in different countries. At present it is backing 70 projects for health-care, sanitation, children care, family, professional training, environment protection, farming, food security, emergency aid, in various countries in Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. AVSI also follows about 20,000 distance adoptions in 31 countries. Among the speakers at the Convention, Archbishop Jean Louis Tauran, Vatican Secretary for Relations with States, Italian foreign minister, Massimo D'Alema president of the ItalianiEuropei Foundation and Prof. Giorgio Vittadini, president of the Compagnia delle Opere of which AVSI is a member. AP (Fides Service 31/1/2003)