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>If several African countries are known because of civil wars, extreme poverty, dictatorship, and corruption, Botswana can be considered an exception in the continent. </em><em>In fact, it is a landlocked country in Southern Africa, mostly desert, rich in diamond resources, sparsely populated – only around two million inhabitants.<br /></em></p> <p>Economically speaking, it is one of the few African countries which has experienced one of the greatest growth in the world since the 1960s, out of the exploitation of its very rich <strong>diamond resources</strong>, but also thanks to the good management implemented by its leaders since independence. As to economic growth, for example, while the rest of Africa experienced an average negative economic growth rate of -0.3% over the period 1965 to 1998, Botswana recorded an average 7.7% growth rate over the same period. Such performance was, at the time, higher than the one of the ‘Asian tigers’ - which performed miracles of economic growth during the last quarter century. In this perspective, <strong>this country of reference for Africa multiplied by 11 the standard of living of its citizens between 1960 and 2007 according to the 2008 World Bank Report</strong>.
<p><em>Today, at the Polo Lionello Bonfanti, in the Burchio neighbourhood, Municipality of Incisa Valdarno, Province of Florence, Italy, the official inauguration of a multimedia exhibition of social, civil, and communion economy - "SCiC" – will take place.</em></p> <p>There is also a <strong><a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/1812800599039553/">SCiC economy</a></strong>. No, it is not a typing error, we just wrote well. It is about the <em>s</em>ocial, <em>c</em>ivil, and <em>c</em>ommunion economy on exhibition at the <strong><a href="http://www.pololionellobonfanti.it/">Polo Lionello Bonfanti</a></strong> from today.</p>
<address>Last Saturday, the United World Week was closed in Cordoba, Argentina, with the first event aimed at introducing the Dice of Peace, prior to the inauguration of the Monument of the Dice of Peace that will be erected in a central square of the city.</address> <p>Last Saturday the first activity to introduce the Dice of Peace was held, as part of a plan scheduled to be carried out in 6 peripheral and marginalized areas of Cordoba. Behind this initiative, carried out jointly by the Focolare Movement, the Youth for a United World, and the</p> <p>Office of the Ombudsman of the Rights of Children and Adolescents of the Province of Cordoba, there is the idea of introducing the Dice of Peace through theatre plays, songs, and games that would involve 6 to 12 year-old children who live in complex, stigmatized, and peripheral areas of the city of Cordoba.</p>
<p>The Project’s name is <em><strong><a href="http://www.besom.com/">The Besom</a></strong></em>. Yes, the broom made of twigs that you use in the garden to sweep away leaves or dirt. Only in this case, rather than leaves, "<strong>The Besom</strong>" is a Foundation that aims to wipe away pain and suffering. You can read on their Website:</p> <address>Poverty, isolation, abuse, ill health, injustice, homelessness: we all see the sharp inequalities of life around us and the devastating impacts they have on people’s lives. Many of us want to do something, to get involved but we don't always know how. The Besom exists to help you make a difference to the lives of others and to make it easy for you to do so.
<p>Some years ago, in the Province of Buenos Aires, the Focolare Movement created a Foundation that they called later on Civil Association “<strong><a href="http://www.asociacionnuevosol.org.ar/">Nuevo Sol</a></strong>” (New Sun). It includes three Community Centers located in vulnerable areas of the Province.</p> <p>These centers offer sports activities, such as soccer and hockey on grass (a highly developed sport in Argentina), recreational activities, workshops, as well as after-school support and health-care services. </p>
Economy & Work
Thirty-five years ago a dream was born: the Economy of Communion. In late May Argentina will host an extraordinary celebration where people of all ages will come together to breathe new life into this project and write the future for a different kind of economy.
Lorna Gold, Executive Director of Laudato Si’ Movement, reflects on ten years of the encyclical, analysing how integral ecology is an essential path to global unity and tackling the climate crisis.
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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