The Secretary General Michele Capasso, the Council of Ambassadors, the members of the Governing Board, the International Committee, and the heads of the autonomous sections and branch offices express their deep condolences on the passing of Giorgio Napolitano.
A dear friend, Giorgio Napolitano, who always supported our Foundation and was even closer as President of the Italian Republic.
A great pro-European with the awareness that Europe had to transform itself into UNITED STATES OF EUROPE and look at the Mediterranean not as a frontier but as an opportunity for exchanges of knowledge, cultures and know-how.
How can we not remember the discussions on politics "from below", which had to be the foundation of every Party and every aggregation, and his visit in February 2000 to the headquarters of the Fondazione Mediterraneo with the late Andrea Geremicca!
And then the singular way in which his election was announced in Algiers: as President of the Republic (see page 23 onwards): https://www.fondazionemediterraneo.org/.../nostro.../01.pdf
Giorgio Napolitano's example will guide us through this difficult time in history.

The United States of the World and the Fondazione Mediterraneo took part in the "Mediterranean Meetings" organised in Marseille from 17 to 24 September 2023, at the initiative of the Italian Bishops' Conference: a process of confrontation between the dioceses of the countries bordering the Mediterranean began in 2020 in Bari. This process is in the spirit of Pope Francis' 'Mediterranean' journeys, from Lampedusa (2013) to Marseille (2023), passing through Tirana, Sarajevo, Lesbos, Cairo, Jerusalem, Cyprus, Naples, Rabat, Malta, etc.
After 490 years since the visit of Clement VII, a Pope visits the city of Marseilles.

Since 6 July 2000, almost a quarter of a century has passed since the Fondazione Mediterraneo and the United States of the World presented their programmes, projects and concrete initiatives in Marseille on the issues of migration, integration, ecological conversion and respect for creation.
Jean Claude Gaudin, Vice-President of the Senate and historic mayor of Marseille from 1995 to 2020, supported our action by organising a solemn "Rentrée" with les "Assises de la Méditerranée": more than 1,500 representatives from various countries who for 4 days discussed the Foundation's programmes and projects.
Present at the "Mediterranean Meetings" organised by the Mediterranean bishops from 17 to 24 September 2023 - with the participation of Pope Francis - President Michele Capasso said: "I thought of those days in July 2000 when we returned from Marseilles full of enthusiasm and hope. And then the visits of Mayor Gaudin to Naples and Benevento, the award to "Marseille Esperance" presented in Naples, the inauguration of the 'Marseille Room' at the headquarters of the United States of the World.
So many protagonists reappearing: here is Pope Francis at the centre of the same stage where with Shimon Peres and other Heads of State we gathered the first adhesions to the United States of the World, here are Bishops and Cardinals of the Mediterranean countries at centre stage, as were then academics, university rectors, mayors of the main cities adhering to the United States of the World.
Here is the then Mayor Gaudin, tired and disappointed, next to the Pope as if to remind him never to leave the Mediterranean.
And then the room where the Pope meets President Macron: the same room where with Shimon Peres we signed the first draft of the Constitution of the United States of the World.
And then the driveway to the Pharo Palace, where in the same place where the President accompanies the Pope in his wheelchair we laid the foundations for a true interreligious dialogue with his brother and friend Father Paolo dall'Oglio a few weeks before his death.
So many memories entrusted to so many images - President Capasso concludes - with a sadness and a hope. The sadness is not having succeeded, despite constant efforts, in making the Mediterranean a sea of exchanges and knowledge, but a tomb of dignity, as Pope Francis said. The hope lies in this variegated mosaic of cultures and faiths that can, if properly coordinated, be the founding element of a new model of solidarity based on welcome and coexistence".

After the strong earthquake that caused so many victims, the Marrakech btanch office of the United States of the World and the Fondazione Mediterraneo - directed by Prof. Lhassan Hbid in collaboration with Prof. Mohamed Knidiri - with the coordination of Secretary-General Prof. Michele Capasso, is activating the best synergies to "rope in" and provide concrete aid to the populations affected by the earthquake.
Already in the evening of 9 September 2023, a team from the ROE, 'Raggruppamento Operativo Emergenze' - a founding member of the UNITED STATES OF THE WORLD - arrived in Marrakech with President Giovan Battista Marchegiani and other operators with considerable experience in Maxi Emergencies, in particular first emergency interventions for areas hit by seismic events and the creation of reception facilities for people left homeless.
They will bring decades of experience developed in the many emergencies they have managed and coordinated (L'Aquila, Amatrice, Prezmyls, Ukraine, Poland, etc.).
Thanks to Dr. Mana Al Otaiba -  Ambassador to the United States of the World - the team members were hosted at the Royal Mirage Hotel in Marrakech.
TG2 RAI journalist Silvia Squizzato took part in the mission.
The team made an initial assessment of the real situation in order to subsequently structure projects with the local authorities to assist the population.
The most affected localities on the slopes of Morocco's main mountain range were reached: in particular the locality of Moulai Brahim where, as in all the villages encountered, people are deprived of any kind of assistance. The displaced people have settled themselves in makeshift shelters made of bamboo canes, tarpaulins and blankets. Thousands of people, the elderly and very young children sleep outside both day and night with the consequences of the drop in temperature.
In these hours we are helping to set up shelters for the homeless, assisting them with basic necessities, medicines and food parcels. Tents and sleeping bags and blankets are urgently needed. The mission will also start scouting and monitoring activities for sending goods and materials to Morocco, which will be collected in Italy with the support and coordination of the Secretary General of the United States of the World Prof. Michele Capasso.