Pio Manzù Centre

The deep concern aroused by the fate of children in today’s world constitutes perhaps a minimal, inescapable focus of convergence for a universal consensus of agreement between the various parts, ideologies and societies of the world. But what actually is the present situation of children in the multiple theatres of the Earth after the signing of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by the leaders of 192 states in 1989? The media inundate us constantly with a sickening morass of terrible and repugnant images of what sadly is still an all too widespread reality: underage slave labour, child soldiers, child pornography and abuse. Not only hunger, thirst and disease destroy the existence of children, but also the denial of cultural and educational opportunities and of their right to enjoy their childhood. As long as we retain our sense of moral and intellectual abhorrence, our sense of shame and our awareness of the sins committed against our own kind, it will not be a macabre and resigned fatalism that wins the day. There are people who have stopped asking questions and stopped waiting on the sidelines, but who proactively contribute to the creation of a fertile alliance of forces that will ultimately change the world. Volume One documents the Plenary Session: messages of greeting, keynote speeches and medals. Volume Two contains the opening address and the contributions made by the speakers during the debates on:
Eradicating hunger: interdependence of the Millennium Development Goals.
I care: feeding the thirst for knowledge.
The bank of dreams.
Granting freedom to childhood.
Making children’s potential grow.
The inarticulate voice of the child: freeing the body.
The Children’s Crusade: freeing the mind.

The Third Millennium has begun in an economic climate of uncertainty and turbulence. Poverty, which our all pervasive globalisation seemed capable of exorcising, is now back with a vengeance in the form of an epoch-making drama that threatens not only the historically depressed economies but also the developed areas of the world. The icons of the world economy – flexibility, interconnectedness, marketism – are bringing about a resurgence of uncertainty and precarious insecurity, while the economic centre of gravity is steadily shifting towards the East, driven by the productive and commercial booms of India and China. A subtle form of poverty is insinuating itself in Western societies through phenomena such as the uncertainty of the labour market, the increased cost of living, and the difficulty of saving, while fears of an energy crisis and the financial collapse of virtual wealth are advancing apace. Once again, the decision-makers are faced with a dilemma: the immoral economy bears no fruit. Volume One documents the Plenary Session: messages of greeting, keynote speeches and medals. Volume Two contains the contributions made by the speakers during the debates on:
The 2015 Millennium Development Goal: paths and scenarios of economic emancipation
The riches of poverty: thoughts, words, images and stories
From the flexibility of labour to the precarious insecurity of life
Equity and prosperity: escaping from the vicious circle of inequality
The ‘low-cost’ neoconsumer: neo-affluence and neo-barter
Development and poverty: does poverty engender violence?

In 2000, with the dawning of the New Millenium, the Pio Manzù Centre organised a special edition of its International Conference entitled “Sindbad’s Compass”.

The meeting transformed itself into a “platform of dialogue” aimed at honouring the wisdom of men and women of good will who intend to persevere in the fields of knowledge and cultural exchange, free of any preconceived ideas of race, religion or political conviction.

The extraordinary range of presentations, reflections and speeches emerging during the Conference is encompassed in the volume, a re-edition of which the Pio Manzù Centre has now decided, with the Support of the Sultanate of Oman, to present nine years later, thereby offering the numerous readers who have requested it a renewed opportunity to consult the proceedings. The topical nature and intrinsic value of the themes addressed is beyond question: like Sinbad, the great family of humankind needs a compass in order to proceed on its path of emancipation from war, suffering, underdevelopment and inequality.

The volume contains a special and richly illustrated section dedicated to the Sultanate of Oman, a wide photo session and the contributions made by the speakers during the International Conference (5 workshops, Plenary Session, special evening event).

The Third Millennium is witnessing the emergence of an errant generation, a nomad power on the move. The world recession has led to a speeding up of precarious labour conditions: millions of young people, in both the Western world and the East, now view their future with insecurity, but also with undeniable confidence.

The debate focused on the condition of young people examined in its entirety, from the economic and labour aspects to cultural, artistic and religious expression of a generation that lives in the shadow of permanent uncertainty but, with immutable hope, wanders in the desert of ideologies expressing its need of inclusion in the socio-economic system.

Volume One contains a wide photo section and documents the Plenary Session (messages of greeting, keynote speeches and medals). Volume Two contains the contributions made by the speakers during the debates on:

Liquid youth: individual insecurity, global insecurity

The languages of youth: amidst the interaction of groups, media and fashions

Alien politics. Youth and the institutions: anomie or anger?

Timeless youth. Notes, colours, signs of conflict

Don’t worry, be happy! Young, self-motivated, determined optimists, in search of sense: those who want to get things done