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>The continuing economic crisis can lead to dishonest shortcuts, an experience that goes against this current.</em></p> <p><strong>Around two years ago, in a timespan of about three months</strong>, my teeth began to deteriorate in a dramatic way. So I went to a dentist and asked for an estimate of the cost of the work that would have to be done. Heart attack! It was going to cost a good 10,000 Swiss francs.</p> <p><strong>I discussed the decision with my wife</strong> and, given the urgency, we decided to accept the doctor’s estimate and proceed with the treatment. The cure lasted a few months and that gave us time to prepare for the important investment.<br />On the second to last visit the dentist informed me that there were further complications and the cost would be raised to a total of 11,280 francs.
<p><em>An original and simple idea from an assistant teacher helps to melt tensions in classrooms of small children. The teacher recounts:</em></p> <p><strong>“I work in an elementary school as an assistant teacher</strong>. There is a boy in my classroom who wears a hearing aid. For the sake of privacy I’ll call him F. He has problems getting along with his classmates who are then disrespectful towards him and excluding him from their games. There is a general atmosphere of rivalry among the children who compete in underscoring the errors and defects of those who seem to be weak. So I decided to engage them in an activity that would be gratifying to them and would help them to see the good in one another; and hoping that they would also see the good in F.
<p><em>The experience of Rahmé confirms that in the name of brotherhood, any barrier can be torn down, even at the cost of serious risks.</em></p> <p><strong>«After my studies of fashion design I worked</strong> for several years in the clothing sector. Providence then gave me a chance to work in a humanitarian organization with a religious sister of the Focolare Movement. Together we brought ahead projects, teaching the women evacuees sewing, embroidery as well as fashion design. In this way we helped them to then find a job in order to support their families.</p> <p><strong>In September 2012, 45 women enrolled for the course</strong>. They belonged to all the different faiths present in the country (Sunnites, Shiites, Christians, Alawites, Druze) and of various political tendencies. They had only one thing in common: they were evacuees and had lost everything. There were very strong and evident tensions between them, they even refused to stay in the same place.
<p><em>The International Day of Non-Violence is marked on 2 October, the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, leader of the Indian independence movement and pioneer of the philosophy and strategy of non-violence</em>.</p> <p><strong>According to General Assembly resolution</strong> A/RES/61/271 of 15 June 2007, which established the commemoration, the International Day is an occasion to "disseminate the message of non-violence, including through education and public awareness." The resolution reaffirms "the universal relevance of the principle of non-violence" and the desire "to secure a culture of peace, tolerance, understanding and non-violence."</p> <p><strong>Introducing the resolution in the General Assembly</strong> on behalf of 140 co-sponsors, India’s Minister of State for External Affairs, Mr. Anand Sharma, said that the wide and diverse sponsorship of the resolution was a reflection of the universal respect for Mahatma Gandhi and of the enduring relevance of his philosophy.</p>
<p><em>Almost a month after its adoption, we want to give relief to this important legislation </em></p> <p><strong>6 August 2013 - IOM South Africa has welcomed the signing</strong> into law of the long-awaited Prevention and Combating of Trafficking in Persons Bill by President Jacob Zuma.</p> <p><strong>The new legislation clearly makes trafficking in persons</strong> a criminal offence. In addition, it has also created offences such as debt bondage; the possession, destruction, concealment of and tampering with travel documents; and using the services of victims of trafficking, among others.</p>
<p><em>Sharing is an act of fraternity. A story from Texas </em></p> <p><strong>Beginning my first semester in a community college</strong>, I found that everyone was extremely individualistic. Little to no communication happened between students, and what was said was not always nice. In my math class, I found that my neighbour next to me always made rude remarks under his breath about everything my friends and I did.</p> <p><strong>This was my chance to build bridges</strong>. I brought a bag of chips to class and informed my friends about my plan. At the beginning of class, I popped open the bag, offering some to my friends first so as not to awkwardly come off too aggressively to the person I was really trying to love, my enemy.
<p><i><span>The 27th of September the fifth UN assessment report on the state of climate science. All you need to know from <a href="http://www.theguardian.com">www.theguardian.com</a></span></i> </p> <p><strong><span>What is the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)?</span></strong></p> <p><span>Set up in 1988, the IPCC is a UN body that evaluates the state of climate science. It produces major assessments every five-seven years. The last report, published in Paris in 2007, said that scientists were 90% certain that humans were responsible for global warming. The panel was awarded the Nobel peace prize in the same year, shared jointly with former US vice–president, Al Gore.</span></p>
<p><em>Bertola srl, a story through the eyes of an entrepreneur from Piedmont...</em></p> <p><strong>Livio Bertola is the owner of an engineering company</strong>, which employs thirty workers in Marene, in the province of Cuneo, in northern Italy. In 1995, Livio met the ideal of fraternity, he embraced and made it a way of living, not only at home but also in the factory, with truly amazing results, impacting the surrounding area. Livio has recently told his story on the Italian television channel Raidue, during the program "On the road to Damascus".</p> <p><strong>To us, he told some facts of his life</strong>, related to his company, witnessing the construction of a healthy social fabric, that goes beyond the walls of the factory.</p>
<p><em>On September 21, 2013 in Rome, Italy, Youth for a United World meet 1987 Nobel Peace Prize recipient and ex-president of Costa Rica, Óscar Arias Sánchez who adheres to the United World Project.</em></p> <p><strong>Shared commitment to peace.</strong> This triggered an immediate understanding between the delegation from Youth for a United World (YUW) and Nobel 1987 Peace Prize recipient and the then president of Costa Rica. Arias had been visiting Rome to attend a Community of St. Egidio conference on the United Nation’s Arms Trade Treaty, and an audience with Pope Francis.</p> <p><strong>The purpose of the meeting was to find forms of collaboration with the Arias Foundation</strong> for peace and human development , since the YUW already work for peace and brotherhood.</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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