The President of the European Parliament David Sassoli Participates in the International Forum “DareToCare”, the main event of the United World Week 2021 of the Focolare Movement.

The International Forum “DareToCare” opened in Brussels on May 7 as part of the United World Week 2021, the event promoted during the first week of May by the Youth of the Focolare Movement. Each year, a continent is chosen to host and prepare for the main event of the United World Week. This time it was Europe’s turn. And Brussels, the capital of the European Union, is the heart of the events that will be transmitted via the web.

The starting point of the Forum is the Atomium, the monument erected in 1958 for the Universal Exhibition in Brussels, which has also become the symbol of the Belgian capital. Prophetically, the theme of that Expo had been, “For a more human world”. From here, from the heart of Europe, the young promoters of the DareToCare campaign, today launched their commitment to ensure that in the world there is more care, more inclusion, more fraternity, for a world that respects the dignity of all human beings and the identity of each people and community.

Through testimonies, actions and initiatives from five continents, Rita, Febe and Johnny, three young Belgians and Luxembourgers of different origins, showed the path taken by the DareToCare campaign since its launch in June 2020. Burundi, El Salvador, Myanmar, Italy, Colombia, are the countries touched by this virtual tour of the world, to discover the most diverse ways of taking care of their communities, their countries, to live the political commitment or active citizenship.

Then, young people in Porto (Portugal) committed to the #daretocare campaign were able to convey to European leaders, gathered in their city for the Social Summit, an “Appeal to Care”. It reads, among other things:

“On behalf of everyone associated with the #daretocare campaign, we call on EU leaders gathered in our country this weekend – and leaders around the world – to answer our call and ‘dare to care’. […] To strengthen social rights throughout Europe, to launch the Conference on the Future of Europe with the ambition to unite the peoples of Europe, putting care at the heart of this European project and make sure that the Covid-19 vaccine becomes a vaccine for all, a global common good shared by all across all borders”.

Next, the President of the European Parliament David Sassoli dialogued with a group of young people involved in the #daretocare campaign. They were students of international relations, politicians, communicators, peacemakers coming from Italy, Czech Republic, Poland, Belgium, Colombia, Hungary, Rwanda. Their questions focused on topics such as: democracy, Europe’s adhesion to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, reception and humanitarian corridors, the climate crisis. “This image of taking care is very beautiful, because politics has this horizon, it cannot have others, it is the horizon of politics: taking care of people, of one’s own community, of one’s own cities. I believe this is really an expression that represents this desire to bet on the future”, commented President Sassoli. And then:

“We know that politics can do a lot of things, but it certainly can’t do much without the citizens, especially without the young people. So, at this very difficult time, if we want to think about and prepare for the challenges of the future, the participation of young people is very important and decisive“.

The Forum continues throughout the weekend with many appointments:

May 8
2:00 p.m.: “A vaccine for all, a Common Good the whole world needs”, with Jeffrey Sachs, economist and author (USA), and Catherine Belzung, psychologist and professor in neuroscience at the University of Tours (France).

9:00 p.m.: the concert of the international band Gen Rosso.

May 9
12 noon (UTC+1): again, from Brussels, the International Forum for the launch of the new step of the campaign #daretocare (May 2021-May 2022) which will have as its theme integral ecology and the protection of our planet. A series of stories (from the Amazon, Poland, Burkina Faso) will be integrated with the commitments of people from all over the world: How I will live the challenge of integral ecology in the coming year?

3:00 p.m.: “Care and COP26” with Simone Borg, Professor of Environmental and Resource Law at the University of Malta; Lorna Gold, Professor of Environment, Sustainability and Social Justice, at the National University of Ireland Maynooth (Ireland); Pasquale Ferrara, diplomat and ambassador.

More information on the website: unitedworldproject.org/uww2021