“As a surgeon, I came to the conclusion that war is my enemy”. Gino Strada, founder and driving force of Emergency, was the protagonist of one of the most appreciated meetings of the IMPACT! section, during which he talked with the giffoners about human rights, utopias to be realised and emergencies linked to current events. “I believe it is unthinkable to imagine a future that includes armed conflicts, because the hypothesis of a thermonuclear war would mean the destruction of humanity as we are used to conceiving it. That is why we have no choice: we must live without war. Unfortunately, our politicians are not aware of this. That is why I exhort young people like you to be the advocates of this important message”.
The young people addressed a lot of questions to Strada, who was also asked for his opinion on the health emergency. As always, Strada's thoughts were extremely insightful: “Covid was an opportunity for change. However, it seems to me that we are not talking about it anymore. The only concern now is the management of current affairs”. Pushed by the giffoners, Emergency's founder then launched a harsh attack on the policies that tend to criminalise NGOs: “Until we realise that a boat sinking in the sea is not normal, nothing will change. This is a crime to all intents and purposes, something that marks a border between the human being and the being who is not human. I am firmly convinced that we need to put pressure on the government to review its policies on the reception of migrants”.