On the occasion of Africa Day, that celebrates the anniversary of the Organisation of African Unity on 25 May, Sant'Egidio renews its commitment in the continent, which still has great inequalities, yet also great human resources, particularly young people who are the majority of its population.
Present in many African countries with its Communities, close to the most fragile groups of the population (from the elderly to street children and prisoners), Sant'Egidio has intensified its work for peace considering the many conflicts still open on the continent.
BRAVO! programme has been engaged in the civil registration of 'invisible' citizens, primarily minors, who are thus protected from many risks, including trafficking, but also adults who do not 'exist' because they have never been registered in the civil registration system.
DREAM, on the other hand, has been working for more than 20 years to defend health, prevention and accessibility to treatment for AIDS as well as for many other diseases, i.e. diabetes and hypertension. The Programme operates at different levels, from hospitals to health centres to the most remote villages, making a significant contribution to the process of prevention, diagnosis and treatment. DREAM, with more than half a million HIV-positive people treated in 10 African countries and 150,000 children born healthy to HIV-positive mothers, supports the national health systems, distributes medicines free of charge and is actively involved in local staff training, in difficult contexts, maintaining standards of excellence.
These achievements result from collaboration with several academic institutions, including the University of Tor Vergata Rome, a scientific partner since the beginning, the Politecnico Torino and the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies Pisa, which joined in 2018. Thanks to the partnership with the team led by Prof. Giuseppe Turchetti of Sant'Anna Management Institute, significant results have been achieved in Malawi and Mozambique. In particular, through the "Bridge the gap" and "WeMen" projects, gender inequality in the fight against HIV/TB has been reduced and access to health care for women has been improved, promoting the inclusion of men.
