Promoted by World Friends ETS and theUniversità Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, the day brought together testimonies from the field, scientific analyses, a live link from Kenya, the premiere of the documentary film «To Be Human» and a photographic exhibition
ROME, October 8, 2026 – The conference and debate forum entitled "The European Conference on the Future of the Internet" took place this morning with a large audience participation. "HEALTH HAS NO BORDERS. The challenge of global inequalities.", at the Cu.Bo Auditorium of theUniversità Campus Bio-Medico di Roma.
Co-organized by World Friends ETS and by 'Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, the initiative was promoted on the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of World Friends (2001–2026)Rejecting any purely nostalgic or self-referential approach, the two institutions have chosen to transform this important milestone into a platform for ethical, scientific, and operational reflection on the ongoing challenges of global health, multidimensional poverty, and persistent inequalities in access to essential health services.
The proceedings opened with institutional greetings entrusted to Leandro Pecchia (Pro-Rector for Research of theUniversità Campus Bio-Medico di Roma), Sandro de Luca (President of the Link Network 2007) and Silvana Merico (President of World Friends ETS). The speakers reiterated the strategic importance of synergy between academia, state cooperation agencies, and third sector organizations in promoting a culture of solidarity based on rigorous expertise and the protection of the right to health.
World Friends' 25th Anniversary
The first session of the morning, entitled "25 Years of WF: A Story Still to Be Written", featured the doctors and managers of World Friends in a choral story that combined the historical roots of the association with its future prospects. The doctor and founding member Gianfranco Morino He retraced the organization's founding in 2001 in Kenya to address the real needs of local communities in Nairobi's slums. He reiterated that health is a right influenced by social determinants, calling for a shift from poverty to "impoverishment," and denouncing how war is the primary driver of illness and suffering.
To follow, the Dr. Washington Njogu, Medical Director of Ruaraka Uhai Neema Hospital, outlined the evolution of the hospital, founded in 2008 on the northeastern outskirts of Nairobi and now certified to Level 5 SafeCare, the highest standard of quality care. He recalled how Neema has grown on three levels: community-based prevention, hospital-based care, and healthcare worker training, and recounted the key milestones. Among its achievements are over 1.5 million patients served, more than 25.000 births, and 26.000 healthcare workers trained. He concluded by reaffirming Neema's vision: to care for patients as individuals, not as clients.
The orthopedic surgeon Antonio Melotto He presented the Disability Project and the Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) model, highlighting the urgency of breaking down stigma even before architectural barriers and once again emphasizing the multidimensionality of the concept of health.
Lucia Pincerato, Deputy Regional Coordinator of World Friends Kenya, drew attention to women's health, recalling that being born a woman still represents a disadvantage in accessing healthcare and illustrating the organization's commitment to maternal health, from antenatal visits to assisted births at Neema to mobile clinics in the most remote areas of Kajiado and Kilifi.
Finally, the Vice President Paul Leoncini He demonstrated how the method developed in the slums of Nairobi is the same one that guides the work of World Friends in Turin, through the construction of a local network that allows for both prevention (with emotional and health education projects in schools) and care for the most vulnerable (thanks to the two health centers of the "Art. 32 Outpatient Clinics" project).
A key moment of the panel was marked by the Live streaming from Neema Hospital in Nairobi, during which the organization's health workers and local staff shared with the audience the reality of their daily work serving marginalized communities.
The documentary film "To Be Human" and a photographic exhibition
Giving emotional strength and visual substance to the day's narration was the preview screening of the documentary «To Be Human», signed by the director Thomas Pini. Produced in an ultra-wide format and running for approximately thirty minutes, the work unfolds through six real-life stories—four set in the slums of Nairobi and the rural areas of Kajiado and the coastal zone of Kilifi in Kenya, and two in Italy. The documentary was conceived with a specific stylistic and conceptual choice: eschewing any didactic voiceover or glossy interviews to fully immerse the viewer in the real ambient sounds and authentic images of the daily lives of workers and patients. The film's primary purpose is to overcome the trap of commiseration and the exploitation of pain, restoring full dignity to vulnerable conditions that are often viewed with pity. Through smiles, gestures of care, and glances of hope, the work invites the audience to recognize themselves in the humanity that unites us and in the conditions that make a life dignified, demonstrating how cooperation is first and foremost a matter of human relationships and mutual closeness. After the screening, director Tommaso Pini took the stage for a discussion to further explore the aims and objectives of the work.
In parallel with the conference proceedings, the spaces of the Auditorium foyer hosted the Photographic exhibition by Giacomo GandossiConsisting of 13 large-format photographs, the exhibition offered participants a parallel and complementary journey of visual identification. Through authentic and unvarnished images, the exhibition captured the faces, hands, gazes, and everyday realities encountered and supported every day by World Friends in the field, transforming project numbers and statistics into living, tangible human stories.
The challenges of global health
The second part of the morning opened with institutional greetings from Marco Riccardo Rusconi (Director of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation - AICS), and the speech by Prof. Giovanni Mottini (Head of the University Cooperation Support Office of theUniversità Campus Bio-Medico di Roma), focusing on the pedagogical and ethical role of the university in the training of young doctors and in academic exchange programs with other countries around the world.
Subsequently, the scientific round table entitled "Crossed Destinies: Africa, the West, and the Challenges of Global Health", moderated by the journalist Enzo Romeo, broadened his gaze to include international geopolitical and epidemiological dynamics. The missionary father and journalist Julius Albanese he analyzed the complex historical and economic relations between the West and the African continent.
Maria José Caldés (Director of the Global Health Center of the Tuscany Region) discussed global health strategies and decentralized cooperation.
Federico Gobbi (expert in tropical diseases) focused on neglected diseases and the impact of climate change on health.
Finally, Marie Claire Gegera She brought her valuable experience in protecting maternal and child health in highly vulnerable contexts.
The commemorative book for the 25th anniversary of World Friends
The following was also presented and distributed to all participants: book celebrating the 25th anniversary of World Friends, a historical and photographic volume that traces a quarter century of commitment, milestones, and values of the Kenya-Italy partnership. The event concluded with a renewed awareness that the twenty-fifth anniversary celebration is not a milestone to rest on, but a powerful, idealistic impetus to continue ensuring, with professionalism and passion, the fundamental and universal right to healthcare for every human being.
Silvana Merico, President of World Friends ETS, he said: "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 where we operate. We were guided by a vision that identified health and education as the cornerstones of true 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 professor. Leandro Pecchia, Vice-Rector for Research and Professor of Biomedical Engineering at theUniversità Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, has ofchiarahave: “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 the collaboration with World Friends, which began several years ago, is the most authentic testimony to this. The support of UCBM Our work in 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 commitment on a global scale, with the spirit of service that has always characterized and distinguished us.
Marco Riccardo Rusconi, Director of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation, he said: "RReducing 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.".
