Stories from around the globe show how a united world is already in motion. This platform highlights experiences, initiatives, and projects from people and communities working for unity and peace. Explore what’s happening and get inspired.
<p>The Security Council today moved to set up a United Nations political mission in Colombia, approving a team of international observers to monitor disarmament should the Colombian Government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army (FARC-EP) reach a final agreement to end Latin America’s longest armed conflict.</p> <p>Unanimously adopting a United Kingdom-led resolution, the Council decided to establish a political mission for 12 months “to monitor and verify the definitive bilateral ceasefire and cessation of hostilities, and the laying down of arms,” acting just days after the two sides <a href="http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=S/2016/53">jointly requested</a> the UN to consider such a measure in light of progress during three years of Havana-based peace talks.</p>
<p><em>The initiative of a 10-year old student in one of the largest schools of Salta (Argentina). With the support of his teacher, he instituted an ecumenical prayer for peace celebration.</em></p> <p><strong></strong><strong>“I teach in a Catholic school in my city, Salta, in northern Argentina</strong>,” says Gabriela Carral. “In early October of 2015, I met Misael, a 10 year old student, following a prayer service held by Orthodox and Catholics for peace in Syria. At that particular time, the image of the lifeless body of the little Syrian boy, Aylan, had made the headlines globally through the mass media.</p>
<p>The United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, concluded today his regional consultations with meetings in Tehran, where he received assurances from his interlocutors that regional current tensions would not affect Iran's engagement in facilitating the holding of upcoming Geneva talks on ending the crisis in Syria.</p> <p>According to a <a href="http://www.un.org/sg/offthecuff/index.asp?nid=4315">note</a> issued by the Spokesperson for UN <a href="http://www.un.org/sg/">Secretary-General</a> Ban Ki-moon, Mr. de Mistura told a press conference in the Iranian capital that he had useful exchanges with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Deputy Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdollahian. Mr. de Mistura updated his interlocutors on preparations for the upcoming Geneva talks on Syria.</p>
<p><em>Sarvodaya, meaning Universal Uplift or Progress of All, expresses Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of future human society.We present the Bala Shanti Project in Coimbatore on the 25th anniversary of its establishment.</em></p> <p>“A society is good when the last and smallest member of society will have the opportunity to produce and earn sufficiently for a decent and dignified living.” This was the ideal of the philosophy which in 1986 pushed Dr Aram and his wife, Minoti, and a group of Gandhian friends, to start up the Shanti Ashram of Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. Literacy, development of the conditions of women, healthcare, environmental politics, battle against poverty, leadership programs for the youth and projects for children, are the actions promoted by the Ashram, of which the <strong>Bala Shanti</strong> project is part, and which was created in 1991 to help the very poor children in the surrounding villages. In 2013, Mrs Minoti wrote: “<strong>Tagore</strong>, the much loved poet and Nobel Prize awardee said: ‘Every boy and girl is a harbinger of the message that God still has not lost hope in man.’ It is in this context that I see the work for our children: to be able to serve one of the most precious gifts of God to humanity.”</p>
<p><em>The Quest for Peaceful Interfaith Co-existence” was the title of an international conference held in the Pakistan capital. It was sponsored by the Universal Nexus for Interfaith Trust & Engagement (UNITE). Christina Lee, a Korean focolarina, was one of the speakers.</em></p> <p><strong></strong><strong>“A strong message of peace and friendship”</strong> was the goal of the event, held on 24-25 November in Islamabad, which was largely achieved and defined by the organizers as being “unprecedented in the history of Pakistan”. It was a conference that was sponsored by the Federal Ministry for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony in order to focus on issues relating to religious minorities in the country and to engage in dialogue with international experts regarding methodologies applicable in conflict situations. The conference gathered scholars and religious leaders from 26 countries. The Pakistan delegation included various representatives of these religious minorities (Christians, Hindus, Sikhs) and a number of young <em>ulema</em> Muslim scholars, since the formation of young people in projecting a correct image of Islam is one of the priorities of UNITE.</p>
<p>Marie Tarawally disembarks slowly from the motorbike taxi, holding baby Yusufu. The two have travelled seven miles along the dusty roads that connect their village, Robuya, to Pate Bana Marank community health centre, in Bombali district, northern Sierra Leone.</p> <p>Marie and Yusufu enter the centre. Inside, dozens of mothers and their young children are awaiting treatment for malaria, acute respiratory infection, diarrhoea, malnutrition and other childhood diseases. The neonatal clinics are free, and they are popular.</p>
<p>With the ratification by Norway, following a similar action by Niger, of the International Labour Organization (<a href="http://www.ilo.org/global/lang--en/">ILO</a>) protocol on forced labour, a significant step has been taken towards ending the scourge, as the agency’s binding instruments generally provide that an adopted protocol only comes into force 12 months after being ratified by two member States.</p> <p>“Norway’s ratification will help millions of children, women and men reclaim their freedom and dignity. It represents a strong call to other member States to renew their commitment to protect forced labourers, where ever they may be,” <a href="http://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/news/WCMS_426566/lang--en/index.htm">said</a> ILO Director-General Guy Ryder in a news release.
<p><em>Europe, the Far East and a common denominator: the ability of the young to try something new in favour of two burning issues: ecumenism and peace.</em></p> <p><strong></strong><strong><strong>There is a festive atmosphere in Reșița, </strong>Romania, a Municipality located on the border with Serbia, population around 90,000.<br /> </strong></p> <p>The first young people began to arrive yesterday evening from Italy, Catholic youth who were welcomed at an official ceremony in the most ancient Orthodox church in the city, and they were offered hospitality in the homes of their Romanian peers. Today the Orthodox youth arrive: some by bus, some by car and some on foot. The Municipal Administration held a moment of greeting before the party moved on to Băile Herculane, a tourist town in the southwest of the country where an ecumenical camp will be held. The vice-mayor was pleased and expressed congratulations for the experience of twinning between the Romanian Parish of Our Lady of the Assumption and the Roman Catholic parish of Santa Maria de Borgo in Pesaro, Italy, which has been established for eight years.</p>
<div><em>Margaret Karram, an Arab-Palestinian focolarina comments on Pope Francis’s message for the 2016 World Day of Peace.</em></div> <p><strong><a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/it/messages/peace/documents/papa-francesco_20151208_messaggio-xlix-giornata-mondiale-pace-2016.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"></a></strong><strong>The message of Pope Francis in this Jubilee Year of Mercy urges us more than ever to live the immense gift of Peace.</strong> It is a strong plea that shakes our conscience and invites us to convert ourselves. Peace and Mercy: two inseparable elements for coexistence among people and with all Creation, and two words which we have become more aware of today, now that they are absent. A piece of the papal message brought me back to my homeland. <strong>It is really moving for me – an Arab-Catholic of Palestinian origin –</strong> to study Jesus’ behaviour following the motto, “Overcome indifference and achieve Peace.” In retracing those places, I can affirm that He lived as a Person and narrated divine parables taken from daily life.</p>
Health, Sport & Ecology
United World Week
Discover Run4Unity 2026, a global race bringing thousands of young people together in the name of peace. From Italy to Uganda, Brazil to Hong Kong, the relay of solidarity and sport forms just one part of United World Week 2026.
Dialogue & Interculture
United World Week
Here’s the key: knowing that we do not know. No one possesses the absolute Truth, and by engaging in dialogue with everyone we can grasp aspects or fragments of truth that help us reassemble a shattered vase that we can restore only if we are “together”.
Economy & Work
Anna Granata, professor at the University of Milano-Bicocca, reminds us that teaching peace is not an abstract utopia. It is something that happens every day in Italian classrooms among children with diverse stories, languages, and backgrounds.
Art & Social Commitment
Celebrated Marvel and DC artist Gabriele Dell’Otto invites us to consider the people who are working to build peace as the real superheroes of our world. A profound discussion on responsibility, citizenship, and the challenge of doing the extraordinary in our everyday lives.
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