IAHM is an NGO, i.e. a nongovernmental organization: a term referring to any organization or local, national, or international association of citizens that has not been created by the government and is not part of any government structure, and is committed to the sector of social solidarity and of cooperation for development. Italian Law no. 49/87, regarding Cooperation, recognizes as capable those Organizations that after a strict selection process obtain from the Ministry a declaration of their capacity to manage cooperation projects.
IAHM achieved this recognition on 25 May 2005 in accordance with Law no. 49 of 26 February 1987, registration number 2005/337/2580/4, as per provision no. 337/VII/0246697 of the Italian Foreign Ministry.
NGO projects in general and those of IAHM in particular are based on respect of justice and equity. The fields of action are wide, covering at various levels foreign policy, economics, the protection of human rights, globalization, the question of foreign debt, relationships between the north and the south of the world, and peace.
They are essentially voluntary associations, i.e. they make use of “volunteers” who possess specific skills and are active in the developing countries, NGOs constitute a reality that is very different from voluntary activity as this is normally understood. This is because their operative structure is professionally geared to the performance of activities of cooperation and is made up of cooperators who are professionally integrated in the organization to which they belong.
The activities of cooperation are part of each local reality. Depending on the characteristics of the various countries, this reality consists of political, social, economic and institutional relationships in which it is possible to participate only through the complete involvement, mediation, and support of the local communities and of their organizations, which are an integral part of that reality and whose problems and needs they therefore know better than anyone else. For this reason the work of IAHM is one of establishing relationships. The human resources are the operators in Italy and the rest of the world, wherever it is decided to intervene in order to try to understand and remove the causes that prevent or hinder development, with the object of promoting a climate of peace and social cohabitation that is a sine qua non of development.

The general objectives of Italian cooperation for development and the guiding principles which inspire this cooperation and which IAHM by statute pursues are those established also within the framework of agreements and decisions formalized at international or European Union (EU) level.

Two documents in particular are recognized by the international community which guide NGOs in their choice of sectors of intervention and the specific fields:

- The Millennium Declaration:

this Declaration, approved in 2000 by 186 Heads of State and Government during a Special Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations, declares the prime objective of halving absolute poverty by the year 2015.
This objective is in eight parts (Millennium Goals), which are the guiding principles for the action of cooperation at international level:

1. the fight against poverty and hunger;
2. basic education for all;
3. elimination of disparities between the sexes;
4. reduction of child mortality;
5. improvement of maternal health;
6. the fight against AIDS and other infectious illnesses;
7. protection of the environment;
8. the creation of a global partnership for development.

- The Cotonou Agreement on partnership with the developing countries:

this agreement, signed between the EU and ACP (Africa, Caribbean, Pacific) in 2000, defines the guiding principles that Member countries of the EU have to observe in the realization of cooperation initiatives:

1. strengthening of the “ownership” of help by the developing countries;
2. promotion of the participation of non-state agencies (NGOs, private companies);
3. coordination and complementariness of the activities of the Commission and Member states;
4. improvement in the consistency of policies (in the sectors of development, agriculture, commerce, and immigration);
5. improvement in the quality of aid (decentralization, concentration by all donors of their aid in a limited number per country, simplification of procedures, use of indicators that permit better assessment of results).

In order to fulfil these commitments, the programme followed by IAHM, in line with the programmes of Italian Cooperation for Development and the World Health Organization (WHO), is articulated as follows:

1. Action Plan for Africa;
2. Fight against the chief infectious diseases such as AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis;
3. Education for all;
4. E-government for development;
5. Action in favour of the developing countries;
6. Rights of children, adolescents, and young people.