This year too, the United World Week (UWW) gave space to global events and actions for peace and fraternity that focused on “Caring”,with a particular focus on integral ecology. The #Daretocare Campaign will continue for another year.

United World Week 2022 came to an end on 8th May, with a live streaming event during which an invitation was launched to continue living #daretocare for another year.

There were 56 countries involved and 126 events around the world which renewed our commitment to work constantly to protect our planet and achieve better living conditions for all.

Bearing in mind the current situation and the painful conflict in Ukraine, the need for a change of perspective in relationships between individuals and peoples was expressed as a matter of urgency, starting from a different way of relating to planet earth and all its inhabitants.

This shared need was clear from the very beginning of the Week on Sunday, 1st May, thanks to the contributions, insights and presence of Gen Verde, with their latest composition “We Choose Peace”. For this UWW, Gen Rosso went to Bihac, in Bosnia and Herzegovina. From there, they were connected with many actions taking place throughout the world and working with migrants of the “Balkan route”.

All this and other main events were material for the United World Week Podcast, a daily news bulletin with a focus on a different part of the world each day. It reached an audience of about 2000 people through the website www.unitedworldproject.org In the coming months, on this same platform, it will be possible to continue to explore the themes and review the stories presented in these eight days.

For example, in Hyderabad, southern Pakistan, 130 young people met to reflect on life after the pandemic. They understood the importance of having clean drinking water, sustainable energy, reforestation that guarantees the ecosystem, but above all the strengthening of relationships and the “network” among them as a method to generate change.

The focus of attention this year was the Middle East. One of the reasons is the war, which has made several generations understand the importance of integral ecology, an increasingly important tool to rebuild a reality in which social unease is very strong. This was also demonstrated by the Youth for a United World of Banias, Syria, who undertook an educational action for deaf and mentally disabled children, working to gradually improve their living conditions.

Sunday, 8th May was also the turn of Run4unity, the worldwide relay race during which boys and girls of different ethnicities, cultures and religions ran together from 11:00 to 12:00 (in the different time zones) to give witness to their commitment for peace and to promote a method to achieve it: the Golden Rule. This year there were 33 Run4unity events around the world.

NEW INITIATIVE

At the end of the United World Week 2022, a new App was launched, to share good ideas and to increase the social impact that so many simple good practices can generate together: the idea, entitled DARE TO SAFEGUARD THE ENVIRONMENT ON THE NET, was started by a group of Italian teachers in their schools.

The idea is easy: after identifying a sponsor – a parent, a friend, yourself – you can attribute an economic value of 0.10 cents or the equivalent in each currency, to the “savings” necessary to invest this sum in various solidarity projects.

UPCOMING

The first event of the #Daretocare 2022-2023 campaign will be the Festival of Good Living, two days of in-depth study and workshops on themes of integral ecology, on 14th-15th May, live on the United World Project YouTube channel.

Paolo Balduzzi

Caring for the planet, for our societies, for the common home where humanity lives, is the central theme of the next United World Week, from 1 to 8 May. Global events and actions for peace and fraternity with a focus on the Middle East.

From 1 to 8 May, the “United World Week” will take place on all five continents, eight days promoted by the communities of the Focolare Movement around the world, involving professionals, families and institutions in actions for peace, fraternity and unity. Eight days to form public opinion globally by raising awareness about the needs of people, about the urgency of an ecological conversion. “Care” is thus understood as attention and action and becomes the privileged means to build new interpersonal relationships and between peoples and nations for peace.

The Middle East, with its riches and contradictions, will be the beating heart of the Week this year, with contributions from Lebanon, Syria and Jordan: a geographical area whose inhabitants are well aware of the tragedy of war, and therefore know more than others how to work for peace and unity, at this time so threatened also in Europe. The Middle East is also a place where working for integral ecology is becoming increasingly important in order to rebuild a reality where social unease is very strong.

There will be many local actions, some of international importance, during these days: starting on Sunday 1 May, at 1.00 pm, with live worldwide streaming on www.unitedworldproject.org: in-depth analysis, experiences, connections from the world, projects on how the different continents are preparing to live this week.

On the same platform, it will also be possible to follow the United World Week Podcast, a daily news program reporting the main events with a daily focus on a piece of the world.

Other appointments: in Johannesburg on 7 May an action will have place aiming to care for the environment by cleaning a deprived area. In Bolivia, a group of young people will deliver school supplies to a small school in the Bolivian Highlands at 3900 m above sea level, an example of integral promotion of care for the person. In Italy, in Loppiano (FI) there will be the usual appointment on 1 May, with the event entitled “Recharge” and then there will be meetings and forums on dialogue, peace and care for the planet; the calendar is available on the United World Project web page.

On Sunday 8 May the United World Week will be closed by launching the commitment for the next year, linked to the campaign #daretocare and the world sports relay “Run4Unity”: boys and girls from different ethnic groups, cultures and religions will run together from 11:00 to 12:00 (in different time zones) in order to give witness to their commitment to peace and to promote a tool to achieve it: the Golden Rule.

Source:

Communications Office, Focolare Movement, Press Release – 29 April 2022

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For more details:
http://www.unitedworldproject.org – mediaoffice@unitedworldproject.org
Tamara Pastorelli +39347 006 4403, Paolo Balduzzi +39 3355612730