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><em>Many Sri Lankans seek work and easy money in the Gulf, the Middle East, Malaysia and Singapore. However, the poorly educated and the unskilled have become the victims of human trafficking, including prostitution and forced labour. A Sister of the Good Shepherd who works with migrants bears witness to the problem. For her, Sri Lankans have a right "to find work and earn a living in their country."</em></p> <p>"Human trafficking is one of the most cruel and heinous crimes that can be inflicted on another human being. Not only do victims go through hardships, but they also come out of it deeply changed. Their entire world crumbles around them, the family in the first place," said Sister Sunila Thomas Rgs, a member of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, one of the few groups in Sri Lanka that works with victims of human trafficking.</p>
<p><em>A harsh guerrilla group has been terrorizing some areas of Nigeria for some time now. The States of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe are those most affected by the attacks and for more than a year have been living in a state of emergency. A trip to the borders of the world to share the sufferings of the refugees.</em></p> <p><strong>According to the United nations, there are 700 thousand people who are forced to leave their homes</strong> due to the violence in the northeastern states of Nigeria. Precisely during the days of the massacre in Paris, Nigeria was again in the news, with the criminal escalations in the State of Borno due to the actions of the extremist group of Boko Haram. They even spoke of kamikaze children who were made to explode in two markets of the Country. The population is defenseless, while contradicting politcal analyses are given and very few reveal the heavy economic interests linked to the exploitation of the petroleum resources of the country. There is great expectations for the presidential elections in February.</p>
<p><em>147 boys and five girls are back home<br /></em></p> <p>Families living in the eastern provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu and Orientale are reunited with their children after months or even years apart. The 147 boys and five girls all belonged to armed forces or groups until recently.</p> <p>ICRC (International Committee of Red Cross) staff collected the information they needed to trace their families and have been working with the children in the centre to gradually prepare them to return to their communities.</p>
<p><em><em>2015 Theme: Inspiration, Education & Action</em></em></p> <p>The annual<span style="cursor: pointer;" aria-labelledby="wf_editor_jform_articletext_toggle" class="wf_editor_toggle" role="button"><span id="wf_editor_jform_articletext_toggle">Toggle </span></span> Season for Nonviolence is now in its 18th year. Spiritually guided citizen leaders in 900 cities in 67 countries have participated since the campaign began in 1998, co-founded by Dr. Arun Gandhi and The Association for Global New Thought (AGNT).</p> <p>It's an educational, media and grassroots awareness campaign spanning the January 30th and April 4th, memorial anniversaries of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.</p>
<p><em>A brief experience recounted by a group of young people in Taipei.</em></p> <p><strong>“</strong><strong>Here in</strong> <strong>Taiwan there has not been much news about the Ebola outbreak</strong>, apart from when there seemed to be some danger that it might spread outside of Africa. For most people, it is a distant problem that has nothing to do with them. But we Youth for a United World (<a href="http://y4uw.org/">Y4UW</a>) – both from Taiwan and some international students who are studying Chinese here – felt differently because we feel that every person in this world is part of the same human family.</p>
<p><em>Freedom of expression is not an end in itself. Opposite extremes of violent fundamentalism and absolute freedom must give way to the "will to live together". The West is becoming a multi-religious society. As in the case of the Holocaust, we must limit anti-religious "negationism". Lebanon is a model. Secularism is dead.</em></p> <p>Beirut (AsiaNews) - Pope Francis took part in the global debate about freedom of expression that followed the <em>Charlie Hebdo</em> massacre. Whilst noting that everyone "not only has the freedom, the right but also the obligation to say what one thinks to help the common good," the pope made it clear that those who provoke or offend can expect a reaction.</p>
<p><em>Shanell’s daughter Kate has autism. On the way home from a trip to Disney, she sat by a stranger on the plane. What happened on that trip is documented in this heart-melting thank-you letter. This post originally appeared on <a href="http://www.goteamkate.com/blog/dear-daddy-in-seat-16c-flight-1850-from-philly">Go Team Kate</a>.</em><a href="http://www.goteamkate.com/1/post/2014/01/dear-daddy-in-seat-16c-flight-1850-from-philly.html" target="_hplink"></a></p> <p>Dear "Daddy",</p> <p>I don't know your name, but <a href="http://www.goteamkate.com/" target="_hplink">Kate</a> called you "daddy" for the entire flight last week and you kindly never corrected her. In fact, you didn't even flinch as you could probably tell that she was not confusing you with her own "daddy," but instead making a judgment regarding your level of "safety" for her. If she calls you "daddy" then you better believe she thinks you are alright.</p>
<p><em>On Tuesday, January 27, 2015, Bishop Raffaello Martinelli will preside at the opening of the Cause of Beatification and Canonization of the foundress of the Focolare Movement, at the Cathedral of Frascati, Italy.</em></p> <p><strong>The opening of the Cause was joyfully announced in a letter to</strong> <strong>the Focolare Movement, in which president</strong>, <a href="http://www.focolare.org/en/news/2014/09/15/maria-voce/">Maria Voce</a>, invited all those who live the spirituality of unity to be a “living witness” to what Chiara had lived, proclaimed and shared with so many; that is, the common effort of “becoming saints together.”</p>
Dialogue & Interculture
New Humanity NGO presented the M.E.D.I.T.erraNEW project — co-financed by the Erasmus Plus Program — to the Youth Section of UNESCO in Paris.
Peace & Human Rights
Amid the rubble of Syria, art becomes an act of resistance. Discover the story of Aeham Ahmad, the “The Pianist of Yarmouk”, who defied the horror of war with the invincible beauty of his musical notes.
Operation Mato Grosso is working on over 100 missions across Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia, all rooted in education, hard work, and solidarity. Jacopo Manara, who has been a volunteer for years, tells us their story.
An interview on communication with Michele Zanzucchi, journalist and writer, former director of Città Nuova, professor of communication at Sophia University Institute and at the Pontifical Gregorian University, and author of around forty books.
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