Congresswoman Nita Lowey named International Family Planning Hero

l to r: Cecile Richard (PPFA), Reina Schiffren (PP HP), The Hon. Nita Lowey, Dr. Gill Greer (IPPF), Kathy Bushkin Calvin (UN Foundation)

I was very happy to attend a breakfast at the Rye Town Hilton in Westchester County, at which Congresswoman Nita Lowey received the first "International Family Planning Hero" award offered by the UN Foundation and Planned Parenthood Federation of America, as well as Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic. About 90 community leaders, politicians and Planned Parenthood supporters attended. Brenda Smith, board member of UNA Westchester and former Superintendent of Schools of Mount Vernon, Noema Chaplin, board member of UNA Queens and I made up the UNA-USA contingent.

I had a chance to talk with Kathy Bushkin Calvin of the UN Foundation, Amir Dossal, Executive Director of the UN Office for Partnerships, Andrea Stewart-Cousins, State Senator from my district (Greenburgh, Yonkers), Representative John Hall of the 19th Congressional District, Reina Schiffrin, President of PP Hudson Peconic, and Dr. Gill Greer, Director-General of IPPF. Adequate funding and U.S. support for family planning services and education, as well as linked issues such as women's economic rights and human rights, and education for women and girls, are very important to me.

I worked for many years as an international family planning consultant, beginning my career in family planning with Planned Parenthood's Washington office, and later worked in the IPPF Western Hemisphere Office in New York. I also consulted with the UN Population Fund. I'm a strong supporter of family planning- not only because for its implications for women's personal choice, but also for its impact on family health & economics and community & national development.

Through her position as the chair of the State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Lowey has worked to increase the level of funding for international reproductive health programs to an all-time high of $648.5 million in the Fiscal Year 2010 House Appropriations bill. The 2010 appropriations bill also expands funding for the UN Population Fund. Mrs. Lowey has also fought consistently against the Ronald Reagan/George H. W. Bush Mexico City policy that barred any foreign organization receiving U.S. foreign assistance from using its own funds or funds from other donors to perform abortions; advocate for the liberalization or decriminalization of abortion in laws and policies; or provide information, make referrals, or counsel women on the procedure—even in countries where abortion is legal. That policy was overturned by the Clinton Administration, reinstated by the Bush administration in 2001, and repealed by President Obama this year.

Exciting Times / Challenging Times

I'm grateful and honored to be the President-Elect of the UNA Southern New York State Division, and to work with the team that includes Catherine D. White and Marcia Brewster, Vice Presidents, Margaret Shannon, Secretary, and Lee H. Bloom, Treasurer, as well as the rest of the UNA Southern New York State Division Board.

I've been approached in the last few weeks by several prospective UNA volunteers who are offering their time and talent to the UNA Southern New York State Division. In this new era of U.S. multilateralism, it's exciting to meet people who have found us on-line and want to become part of the UNA-USA mission to support the United Nations.

Ambassador Tom Miller, who has been President of UNA-USA just since May, has asked Chapters, Divisions and individual members to step up their volunteer support as well as financial support, so that we can together bring to the American public the important news of the important work of the UN. Tom's remarks and Jeff Laurenti's remarks to the Annual Meeting of the UNA Southern NY State Division are posted on our new Youtube channel: www.youtube.com/UNAsouthernNYStatedv

Several of us will be calling UNA friends to encourage greater involvement as well as the needed financial support. I hope you will step up, volunteer your time and enthusiasm, and lend your strong support to the United Nations. Email or call me to become part of this volunteer effort or just to learn more. jinka.stillman@gmail.com

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

YPIC's Haiti Expedition Project Launched

Those of you who read the UNA Southern NY Division website will see a longer article about the Young Professionals for International Cooperation (YPIC) recent fundraiser to launch their Haiti Project. Congratulations to YPIC and all who were involved. On March 25, YPIC brought together over 140 members and friends for this launch, a cocktail party held at the 92Y Tribeca center. Please take a little time to read about YPIC's Flagship Program: The Haïti Expedition Project , which is worth supporting.

David Stillman and I greatly enjoyed the event (though we don't fit in the 21-40 age group). The slide show was both inviting and poignant. The program was just long enough to invigorate an audience to become involved. Conor Bohan spoke about HELP, the program he started, which gives scholarships to help some of the poorest Haitian students to attend college. Martina Bruno, a Haitian-American singer, treated the audience with "Summertime" and with a lively call-and-reponse piece.

On a personal note, I worked in Haiti in public health, most recently about 15 years ago; David has traveled there twice in the past three years, and is currently developing two projects related to Haiti. We were the lucky winners of two of the four pieces of artwork that were part of the silent auction -- both by Richard Rapoport, a peace artist whose website is http://www.peacefreedom.com/ The art pictured above I purchased at a street market in Port-au-Prince.

YPIC Chair Patricia Sacristan, VP Michele Chaplin, Kevin Jamison, director of YPIC's European Affairs Committee and members of several other committees were responsible for the excellent planning and implementation of the event. Brava and Bravo!