Emergency is an Italian NGO operating worldwide which offers free medical care to people in danger and war zones, which also stood up for people’s equal rights promoting an inclusive culture and same opportunities for everyone.

Due to the the acre political situation in Italy, due to the hardening immigration policies and the migrant crisis in the Mediterranea sea, Emergency wanted to spread a video online around New Year’s Eve. But instead of traditional New Year’s Wishes, it chose to remind everyone that everyone needs to be treated equally, raisin awareness on the problem and changing the perception of migrants.

The idea was to show the story of Miriam, a girl like any other, with dreams like any other girls her age. Moving somewhere, finding a job, a house, friends, and maybe building a family together with someone special. But then, reality kicks in, as we show her stuck in a refugee camp: due to her provenance, history, and political choices, the future she wants will probably never be accessible for her.

During the previous months, a change in the government saw the worsening of migration policy: prime minister Matteo Salvini launched a social media campaign and public declarations asking to close harbours, manipulating the public opinion against migrants and making people perceive the mas dangerous and unwelcome. As a result, as a few boats were forced to find other countries to be welcomed, while extreme rights movements started to rise again and migrants were seeing their opportunities of integration decline very fast. But another side of Italy was against this approach, and embraced a more inclusive approach, personally welcoming migrants at the harbours.

The video aired on YouTube and Facebook brand channels a few days before New Years, when people usually spend more time online exchanging wishes to friends and family. The target was very wide considering it had to hit a very large segment of population, made both of Emergency supporters who were likely to embrace the message but also people who could relate to the story (Italians in the same age and life perspective range).

As the video was warmly welcomed by the audience ( 3k shares in just a few days on Facebook only and around 10k views ) it was reposted by many local newspapers, sparking the conversation around equal rights and migration policies. Many manifestations were organized around the country, and the Pope itself took part by the migrants. After a few months, the prime minister publicly retreated his declaration around the “dangerous” number of migrants, admitting the numbers he gave during his political race were untrue.