Giulio Regeni was born on the 15th of January 1988 in Fiumicello in north-east Italy. With a strong passion towards politics and human rights, Giulio applied to UWC and joined the UWC USA class of 2007. While studying at University he became a member of the UWC National Committee team in Italy. On 25th January 2016 he disappeared in Cairo (Egypt), where he was doing his PhD studies. His body was found a couple of days after, with evident signs of torture, in a ditch alongside the Cairo-Alexandria highway. Since that day of 2016, Giulio has become a symbol for the victims of forced disappearances around the world.

A group of students at UWC Red Cross Nordic organised the making of a video to raise awareness about Giulio’s story and to highlight the current situation of forced disappearances in many countries.  Since Giulio was a UWC alumnus they wanted to cooperate with the whole UWC movement, bringing together the efforts and passion of 10 UWC colleges. The result is this video made by UWC Red Cross Nordic with the collaboration of UWC Adriatic, UWC USA, UWC Costa Rica, Li Po Chun UWC of Hong Kong, UWC East Africa, UWC Atlantic College, UWC South East Asia, UWC Changshu China and UWC Dilijan.

Truth for Giulio Regeni. Verità per Giulio Regeni.

Alumnus Edwin Gonzalez from Nicaragua was invited by the Norwegian MFA and Red Cross to attend the Oslo Review Conference, on the prohibition of the use and destruction of personnel mines, which took place between 25-29 November 2019.

While we are still awaiting the final outcome of the event, Edwin, himself a land mine survivor, was uplifted by this experience. “I am impressed with how people from many sectors have come together to tackle the problems created by the garbage of war. It takes a lot of resources, willpower and know-how to take up the battle against these destructive forces. But what encourages me most is to see the shift from a land-based focus to a human focus. After all it is the concern for human beings we are fighting for. I leave Oslo with strengthened hope.”