It took place on October 8th, at the Cu.Bo Auditorium of theUniversità Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, the conference "Health Knows No Borders. The Challenge of Global Inequalities", co-organized by UCBM and World Friends ETS on the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the organization's foundation in 2001 to promote the right to health and support the most vulnerable communities.
The initiative brought together representatives from academia, international cooperation, and the third sector to explore inequalities in access to care and the role of prevention, training, and collaboration between institutions.
The Vice-Rector for Research opened the proceedings, together with the other institutional representatives. UCBM, Leandro Pecchia, who underlined the value of international cooperation in the University's mission:"The commitment of theUniversità Campus Bio-Medico di Roma Reducing global inequalities, especially in health, is in our DNA, a commitment that has grown exponentially over the years. We have a longstanding tradition of cooperation, which is now a consolidated reality in our research and teaching. And our collaboration with World Friends, which began several years ago, is the most authentic testimony to this. The support of UCBM Our outreach to low-income countries has multiplied, thanks in part to the projects we coordinate or partner with, and to institutional collaborations with the World Health Organization, other United Nations agencies, and bilateral agreements with universities in over 20 African and Latin American countries. We are a small university, but this has never limited our global commitment, with the spirit of service that has always characterized and distinguished us.
The conference retraced World Friends' 25 years of activity, from its founding in Kenya to the development of the Ruaraka Uhai Neema Hospital in Nairobi, now a hub for healthcare, prevention, and training for local workers. A journey that, as World Friends President ETS recalled, Silvana Merico, is based on a concrete presence alongside the communities: World Friends was founded in Nairobi, in the slums, even before Italy, with a choice we have never betrayed in twenty-five years: to be truly present wherever we operate. We were guided by a vision that identified health and education as the cornerstones of real and effective cooperation, and that had the courage to dream of a hospital, the Ruaraka Uhai Neema Hospital, when it seemed beyond our means. At the heart of everything is knowledge and respect for the people and communities we work with, along with gratitude for those who have made this journey possible: staff, members, partners, and donors, many of whom have been with us since day one. We are proud of this achievement, but the responsibility today is even greater, because what has been created is precious and must continue to grow. In a world where it is increasingly difficult to talk about rights, equality, and solidarity, we cannot stop doing what we do: it is part of our humanity.
The day also gave space to direct testimonies from Kenya, to the preview screening of the documentary film To Be Human, directed by Tommaso Pini, and a photography exhibition by Giacomo Gandossi. The final roundtable discussion explored the challenges of global health, from relations between Africa and the West to neglected diseases, the effects of climate change on health and maternal and child protection.
Among the interventions, that of Marco Riccardo Rusconi, director of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation, who highlighted the value of partnerships rooted in the territories: Reducing health inequalities means strengthening health systems and local capacities, investing in prevention, and ensuring that services truly reach the most vulnerable, starting with women. The Italian Cooperation's collaboration with World Friends in Kenya demonstrates the value of community-based partnerships, capable of translating these principles into concrete and lasting results.
The meeting reaffirmed the importance of collaboration between universities, institutions, and third sector organizations, capable of transforming research, training, and cooperation into concrete tools to guarantee the universal right to health.
