Almost everywhere, the migration issue has been used to condition the poorest social strata, those hardest hit by the ongoing socio-economic crisis, people whose material and non-material resources continue to shrink day after day. Who and what is responsible for their anger? “Political entrepreneurs of fear” and the tearing down of the welfare state.

As part of its projects aimed at promoting health on the ground, the Italian Medical Students’Association (SISM) conducts peer education activities in Italian high schools, using informal education techniques to raise awareness among young people on issues related to sexual and reproductive health and human rights.

As part of SISM’s work using the peer education method, we recently held four meetings on sexual and emotional education for our young guests at Casa Murri.

Some 3,000 young people die around the world every day due to preventable causes including injuries, violence and infections. Many of the health risks that affect adolescents are due to the lack of health education available to them, yet they are rarely able to find and interact with individuals able to support them in this regard.

In Uganda a very high percentage of the population is between the ages of 10 and 19, which means that there is often insufficient protection and care for the country’s youth. The worst affected are girls and young women, many of whom are forced to drop out of school due to early pregnancy – a still-widespread phenomenon which has a dire impact on their lives.

Comprising a third of the Mozambican population, adolescents are a particularly fragile category in a country where HIV prevalence is one of the highest in the world. For several years Doctors with Africa CUAMM has been helping to support clinics in Beira that provide health services to young people aged between 10 and 24, including reproductive health and HIV treatment.

Doctors with Africa CUAMM is taking part in a project to fight malaria in Sierra Leone’s Port Loko district. It involves young people and adolescents who are playing a key role in designing and assessing initiatives aimed at improving the community’s ability to identify, treat and prevent the disease.

In recent years a growing number of unaccompanied foreign minors have arrived in Italy. Mostly adolescent males from African and Asian countries, they are in need of a system of protection that takes into account their psycho-physical and social vulnerability.

From the birth of the State of Israel through today’s massacres on Gaza’s borders, Israel’s military occupation and colonization of Palestine and expropriation of its lands have exacted a heavy toll on Palestinian youth. Humanitarian needs are overwhelming, and young people face violence every day.