On March 24, 2026, John Cabot University hosted the launch of the book La forza sia con te. Cronaca di una missione in Ucraina (May Force be With You. Chronicle of a Mission to Ukraine, People, 2025), written by Andrea Iacomini, journalist and Italy’s spokesperson for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). The event was organized by the Department of Political Science and International Affairs and co-sponsored by JCU’s Model United Nations Society to discuss the current state of children’s rights during one of the most urgent crises worldwide: the Russo-Ukrainian war.
The panel featured Andrea Iacomini, Triantafillos Loukarelis (UNICEF Director of International Relations), Daniela Maffuccini (UNICEF Institutional Relations Officer and editor of the book), and Professor Michele Riondino (Lecturer in Law at JCU). The event was moderated by Professor Silvia Scarpa, Chair of the Department of Political Science and International Affairs.
During the event, Iacomini indicated how La forza sia con te is not a war report but a chronicle of a father who traveled to a country torn by war. The book invites readers to see victims not just as data, but as individuals with their own personal stories, all deserving of our attention. The book narrates encounters, silences, and lived experiences that the author documented during his journey across a wounded yet resilient Ukraine. where even brief moments of beauty can become acts of resistance and sources of psychological relief for survival. He emphasized the courage of the war’s “invisible heroes:” mothers, children, humanitarian workers, journalists, and anyone who continues to resist day after day. Iacomini also highlighted that, in many cases, the biggest desire of Ukrainian children is to sleep, something that we usually take for granted, but that proves difficult for them because of the air raid warnings that awaken them at night and the fear and anxiety of bombardments. As emphasized during the discussion, “children should be dreaming while sleeping, not dreaming of sleeping.”
The discussion offered a powerful reflection on the conflict’s impact on children. Speakers highlighted how the book discusses violations of children’s rights due to forcible displacement, violence, and denial of access to basic needs.
The panel also discussed the long-term consequences of such dynamics, questioning how they will shape children’s lives in the future as adults and whether trauma will remain as a lasting wound. Speakers also highlighted that the role of UNICEF in responding to the plight of Ukrainian children, as well as that of children in other wars and humanitarian crises worldwide - not only by providing material aid, but also by creating safe spaces that support children’s education and mental health. To conclude, Iacomini urged the audience to consider how individual actions can be part of a change.
Overall, the event encouraged the audience to consider the consequences of war and underscored the importance of amplifying the voices of those who experience it firsthand. By bringing attention to these invisible heroes, the discussion served as a powerful reminder that even in the darkest times, dignity, resilience, and hope endure.
