NBC's Coverage of the Ends of the Earth

I commend NBC for its Green series, and particularly enjoy the Today Show's coverage of the Ends of the Earth.

The series hasn't mentioned it, but their work fits very well with achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, especially number 7. -- Environmental Sustainability. This Goal has three targets -- No. 9: Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programs and reverse the loss of environmental resources. No. 10: Halve by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation; No. 11: By 2020, to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers.

The first target deals with the broad issues of environmental sustainability -- and all the policies our governments and international accords need to achieve to ensure that we mitigate the negative effects human beings have had and continue to have on the environment.

Google and Cisco have helped the UN Development Programme to create an MDG Monitor website. Partners are the Statistics Division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), Relief Web of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). .

The MDG Monitor is designed as a tool for policymakers, development practitioners, journalists, students and others to: TRACK progress through interactive maps and country-specific profiles; LEARN about countries' challenges and achievements and get the latest news; and SUPPORT organizations working on the MDGs around the world See http://www.mdgmonitor.org/

The MDG Awards Committee is planning an MDG Awards Festival and Telecast, to be held at the United Nations on June 5, 2008. See the website http://www.un-mdgawards.org/.

All who are contributing to achieving the MDGs (corporations, non-governmental organizations, schools, academic, business associations, etc.) are invited to apply and to publicize their efforts. Grammy Awards Producer Nile Rodgers will produce the event. Come on, Come all! Show the world what you're doing.

Teaching About the United Nations

A wonderful resource on teaching published in 2006 about the UN is available for purchase at:

http://catalog.socialstudies.com/c/product.html?record@TF39783+s@4FZRUzkJdLGZI

This was prepared by Jenna Arnold of the UN Works Unit of the Department of Public Information. It includes a teacher's guide, student handouts and a PowerPoint presentation with extensive slides about the UN, historical through 2006.

Teachers may incorporate slides into other presentations and use this in a very flexible way. Great too for Model UN preparation!

UNITED NATIONS CURRICULUM BUNDLE: PowerPoint® Presentation and Activity Book

Introduce students to the foundation and facets of the United Nations while helping them develop critical thinking skills. The PowerPoint^® presentation features documentary photographs and film clips and informative text on 50 animated slides accompanied by a script, a 20-question multiple-choice quiz, discussion questions, extension activities, and related Web sites with annotations. The reproducible unit directs students to online primary sources, spurring analysis, interpretation, opinions, and well-shaped arguments. Topics include the League of Nations, Dumbarton Oaks, the UN's charter and organization, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the UN's agencies and their roles in the world today. The PowerPoint is contained on a single CD-ROM. Grades 7–12. Social Studies School Service. ©2004–06.

Globalization, Education and Us

I urge everyone to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMcfrLYDm2U -- a most dramatic rendering of the world in which today's children are growing up, created for a school district in Denver and now spreading around the world.

New Video in Going Global Season Three

We've substituted another of Bill Miller's excellent interviews for the episode originally planned.

Season Three's Episode 60 is a new interview with Dr. Asha-Rose Migiro, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations. Dr. Migiro talks about her role as Deputy S-G, in relation to the UN Millennium Development Goals, management issues within the UN, climate change, and other timely topics. She is a Tanzanian.

For more information, see her biography, speeches and responsibilities at: http://www.un.org/sg/deputysg.shtml

UN Millennium Development Goals Awards

A September 12, 2007 press conference and luncheon launched the MDG Awards Festival and Telecast event at the UN. Grammy Awards producer Nile Rodgers presented a special crystal statue symbolizing the Awards to Her Excellency, Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa of Bahrain, the President of the 61st UN General Assembly, in view of her work to promote achievement of the MDGs.

The Permanent Missions of Madagascar, the Dominican Republic and other UN Member States, Offices and Agencies of the UN, and the Public-Private Alliance Foundation are supporting this event. An Awards Selection Panel of Experts and a Distinguished Panel of Judges will determine winners.

Winners will be selected for their actions toward promoting the eight MDGs, with a special category for programs that work with more than a single MDG. Corporations, governmental agencies, non-governmental organizations, schools, higher-education institutions, intergovernmental organizations, business and professional associations and individuals are all encouraged to apply. For the application form and more information, see: http://www.un-mdgawards.org/

We encourage Westchester County individuals, organizations, schools, colleges, corporations, NGOs to apply!

UNA Southern NY State Division website is Live!

UNA Southern NY State Division's new website is live, at http://www.unasouthernny.org/ .

The site will soon carry information about the Young Professionals for International Cooperation (YPIC) group and its many activities.

Highlights of the Southern NY State Division include an upcoming Middle Atlantic Conference, now in planning stages, a kiosk shared at the UN with WFUNA -- the World Federation of UN Associations -- and a new course for business leaders on world affairs.

For information, email Catherine White, President of the division. CatherineDWhite@AOL.com