Better World Campaign

For great, up-to-date information about taking action with the UN, visit the Better World Campaign website.

The Impact of Gender Inequality on Global Poverty and AIDS

The Westchester Coalition on Global Poverty and AIDS will present a talk with Letty Chiwara, Director of Global Programs at the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). She will speak on Monday, April 28th, at 7pm at the Thomas H. Slater Center – 2 Fisher Court, White Plains - NY.

Ms. Chiwara is a native of Zimbabwe and was a founding member of the Positive Women’s Network of Southern Africa, a non-profit organization providing support to women living with HIV/AIDS in 8 southern Africa countries. She also leads an inter-agency team of the United Nations, World Bank, and European Union which ensures that the development aid that is given to developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America will benefit women equally.

This event is sponsored by the Westchester Coalition on Global Poverty and AIDS. The Slater Center is located in downtown White Plains, across from the County Courthouse building near the intersection of Quarropas and Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. (914 948-6211). Local parking is available.

For more information contact: Ron Mitchell — hapny@hotmail.com / 914 576-8473

2008 Members Day at the UN

Riley McMahon, of UNA-USA HQ, has announced that 2008 Members’ Day at the United Nations will take place on Saturday, April 5, 2008 from 1:00–5:30 pm.
Members must register by March 21, 2008.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has set ambitious goals for the UN in 2008 to tackle some of the world’s most pressing issues, both new and old. This year brings two significant milestones for the UN: 2008 is the midway point for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the sixty year anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. While the UN will use these milestones to direct much of its work, a range of ongoing issues have to be addressed.

The United Nations Association of the USA invites its members from around the country to United Nations headquarters in New York for a members-only event. This FREE annual event is a unique opportunity for our members to learn more about the work of the UN from those who carry out the organization’s unique mission to confront the global challenges facing the world today.

Discussion Topics
The UN’s Goals for 2008
Climate Change
Human Rights
The Millennium Development Goals

Register online at www.unausa.org/MembersDay2008 by March 21, 2008.

UNA-USA Announces the Earl Eames Award for Communications, the Arnold Goodman Award and the Global Young Advocate Award

The Council of Chapters and Divisions Steering Committee invites chapters for their nominations for three awards to be given at the CCD-SC Annual Meeting in Washington in June. The deadline for nominations is April 1. These are the Earl Eames Award for Communications, the Arnold S. Goodman Award for leadership, and the Global Young Advocate Award. Forms and criteria for the awards may be obtained from Riley McMahon riley@unausa.org, and the completed forms should be returned to him.

The Earl Eames Award is a memorial to the late Earl W. Eames, Jr., of Minnesota, the former chair of the Council of Chapters and Divisions (CCD) and President of the UNA of Minnesota from 1980 -1986. The winner receives a check for $500. Jeanne Betsock Stillman of the Westchester Chapter is chair of the CCD-SC Subcommittee on Communications, which supports the Earl Eames Award.


The Arnold Goodman Award is presented by the UNA-USA Council of Chapters and Divisions to recognize and encourage outstanding leadership among the chapters and divisions of UNA-USA. The Award is a tribute to the late Arnold Goodman of Wisconsin who, by his example and service as chair of the then Council of Chapter and Division Presidents and in other capacities, set a standard of excellence and commitment to the work of UNA-USA. The winner receives a check for $500.

Young people around the nation show their commitment to the goals and ideals of the United Nations on a daily basis. UNA-USA is proud to recognize young professionals whose accomplishments demonstrate personal initiative and commitment to the United Nations through the Global Young Advocate Award.

UNA Events in the New York Area

Upcoming United Nations Association events in the New York area include:

http://www.unawestchester.org/ (UNA Westchester)

Climate Change: Too Hot to Handle?
Mar 15 2008 4 - 6 pm
Greenburgh Nature Center
See Philip Reynolds - philreynolds60@aol.com
An Insider's Guide to the UN
May 4 2008 2 - 4 pm
Scarsdale Library
See Philip Reynolds - philreynolds60@aol.com

http://www.unasouthernny.org/ (UNA Southern NY State Division)
Board Meeting
March 10, 2008, 5:30 - 7:30 pm
Arthur G. Ross Conference Room, UNA-USA, 801 Second Ave., NYC
See Catherine White - catherinedwhite@aol.com

UPCOMING: Mid-Atlantic Conference -- Date and venue to be determined
The Southern NYS Division and the New Jersey Division will hold a one-day conference open to all.

www.unasouthernny.org/ypic (Southern NY Young Professionals for International Cooperation)
"The Heart of the World Lies in the Amazon"
February 10, 2008
7 pm - midnight
Nikki Beach East
Register: www.unausa.org/projectemerge
Online: $15 Door: $20

http://www.unanyc.org/events/nycevents.html (UNA New York (Manhattan) Chapter)

http://www.unaqueens.org/about.html (UNA Queens Chapter)

George Clooney named UN Messenger of Peace

Adding to a long list of prominent people affiliated with the UN, on January 18, 2008, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has named American actor George Clooney a United Nations Messenger of Peace. He will work mainly on Peacekeeping issues, stemming from his work on the Darfur crisis. UN spokeswoman Michele Montas said Clooney was recognized "for focusing public attention on crucial international political and social issues." Only the Secretary-General names UN Messengers of Peace.

United Nations Messengers of Peace

George Clooney
Michael Douglas
Jane Goodall
Elie Wiesel
Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein
Daniel Barenboim
Paulo Coelho
Midori Goto
Yo Yo Ma

Many UN agencies have their own Goodwill Ambassadors. These give of their time, energy and often funding and other resources to the various areas of work of the United Nations. These include:

United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)

Roger Federer (Swiss; world tennis champion), 2006
Amitabh Bachchan (Indian film star), 2005
David Beckham (English football star), 2005
Lucy Liu (actress), 2005
Lang Lang (pianist), 2004
Ricky Martin (pop singer). 2004
Jackie Chan (actor), 2004
Danny Glover (actor), 2004
Clay Aiken (singer), 2004
India Arie (singer), 2004
Whoopi Goldberg (comedian/actress), 2003
Angela Basset (actress), 2003
Alyssa Milano (actress), 2003
Jessica Lange (actress), 2003
Isabella Rossellini (actress), 2003
Liv Tyler (actress), 2003
Shakira Mebarak (singer and songwriter), 2003
Femi Anikulapo-Kuti (Nigerian musician), 2002
Angélique Kidjo (West African singer), 2002
Annette Roque Lauer (model), 2002
Sebastião Salgado (Brazilian journalist), 2001
Téa Leoni (actress), 2001
Mia Farrow (actress), 2000
Susan Sarandon (actress), 1999
Sarah Jessica Parker (actress), 1998
Summer Sanders (swimmer), 1998
Claudia Schiffer (model), 1997
Maxim Vengerov (Siberian violin virtuoso), 1997
Vendela Thommessen (model and actress), 1996
Laurence Fishburne (actor), 1996
Vanessa Redgrave (actress), 1995
Johann Olav Koss (Norwegian Olympic speed-skating champion), 1994
Judy Collins (singer and songwriter), 1995
James Kiberd (actor), 1995
Leon Lai (singer and actor), 1994
Nana Mouskouri (singer), 1993
Katie Couric (TV host), 1993
Youssou N’Dour (Senegalese performer and bandleader), 1991
Sir Roger Moore (British actor), 1991
Jane Curtin (actress), 1991
Lord Richard Attenborough (actor, director), 1987
Harry Belafonte (concert singer, actor), 1987
http://www.unicef.org/

United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)

Nicole Kidman (actress), 2006
http://www.unifem.org/

United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime

Tetsuya Komuro (Japanese musician), 2000
Eduardo Najera (NBA)
Vlade Divac (NBA)
Khodadad Azizi (Iranian soccer player)
Hidetoshi Nakata (Japanese soccer player)
Nene Hilario (NBA)
http://www.unodc.org/

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

Didier Drogba (African soccer star), 2007
Misako Konno (Japanese actress), 1998
Ronaldo de Lima (soccer star), 2000
Maria Sharapova (tennis star), 2007
Zinédine Zidane (French soccer star), 2001
Crown Prince Haakon Magnus of Norway, 2004
Dikembe Mutombo (NBA)
Lurdes Mutola (athlete)
http://www.undp.org/

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

José Antonio Abreu (Venezuelan musician), 1998
Adamkus Valdas (President of Lithuania), 2003
Mehriban Aliyeva (First Lady of Azerbaijan), 2004
Alicia Alonso (Cuban ballerina), 2002
Patrick Baudry (French astronaut), 1999
Pierre Bergé (French entrepreneur and co-founder of the Yves Saint Laurent), 1993
Montserrat Caballé (opera diva), 1994
Pierre Cardin (French fashion industry icon), 1991
Claudia Cardinale (Italian cinema actress), 2000
Catherine Deneuve, (French actress), 1998
Princess of Hanover, 2003
Nelson Mandela, 2005
Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand, 2005
Ivry Gitlis (Israeli violinist), 1990
H.E. Sheikh Ghassan I. Shaker, 1989
Her Royal Highness Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg, 1997
H.R.H. Princess Firyal, 1992
Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Meryem, 2001
Rigoberta Menchú Tum (Nobel Peace Price Laureate), 1996
Kitín Muñoz (Spanish navigator, sociological explorer), 1997
Kim Phuc Phan Thi (peace activist), 1994
Susana Rinaldi (Argentinean tango singer and actress), 1992
Mstislav Rostropovich (cellist), 1998
Giancarlo Elia Valori (Italian economist and businessman), 2001
http://www.unesco.org/

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Office of the (UNHCR)

George Dalaras (Greek musician), 2006
Muazzez Ersoy (singer and musician), 2006
Osvaldo Laport (Argentinean soap star), 2006
Giorgio Armani (Italian designer), 2002
Julien Clerc (singer-songwriter), 2002
Adel Imam (Egyptian actor), 2000
Angelina Jolie (actress), 2001
Barbara Hendricks (American opera soprano), 1986
http://www.unhcr.org/

World Food Programme (WFP)

Drew Barrymore, 2007
Lauren Bush (American model) 2005
Ronaldhino (Brazilian soccer player), 2005
Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, 2005
Kaka (Brazilian soccer player), 2004
Paul Tergat (Kenyan marathon runner), 2004
Princess Sirindhorn of Thailand, 2004
Mahmoud Yassin (Egyptian actor), 2004
George McGovern, 2001
http://www.wfp.org/english/

World Health Organization (WHO)

Yohei Sasakawa, 2005
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, 2005
Liya Kebede (model), 2005
Sylvie Vartan (singer), 2005
http://www.who.int/en/

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

Chucho Valdés (pianist and composer), 2006
Ronan Keating (Irish singer), 2005
Beatrice Faumuina (athlete), 2005
Raúl González (Spain's leading soccer goalscorer), 2004
Carla Fracci (Italian dancer), 2004
Khaled, rai musician (Algerian singer), 2003
Maná (Latin American / Mexican rock band), 2003
Achinoam Nini Barak, a.k.a Noa (singer), 2003
Oumou Sangaré (singer), 2003
Roberto Baggio (Soccer player), 2002
Debbie Ferguson (Olympic athlete), 2002
Justine Pasek (former Miss Universe), 2002
Massimo Rainieri (Italian actor and singer), 2002
Dionne Warwick (singer), 2002
Magid Al Roumi (singer), 2001
Al Bano Carrisi (singer), 2001
Gilberto Gil (singer), 2001
Mory Kanté (singer), 2001
Youssou N’Dour (Senegalese singer), 2000
Gong Li (actress), 2000
Dee Dee Bridgewater (singer), 1999
Gina Lollobrigida (actress), 1999
Miriam Makeba (singer), 1999
Prof. Rita Levi Montalcini (Nobel Prize winner for Medicine in 1986), 1999
http://www.fao.org/

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)

Princess Basma Bint Talal, 2001
Alfred Biolek, for Germany, 2001
Lara Dutta, for India, 2001
Chea Samnang, for Cambodia, 2000
Mpule Kwelagobe, for Southern Africa, 2000
Mary Banotti, for Ireland, 1999
Bartrand Piccard, for Switzerland, 1999
Geri Halliwell, for the United Kingdom, 1998
Mikko Kuustonen, for Finland, 1998
Yuko Arimori, for Japan
Ctaraina Furtado, for Portugal
Ashi Sangay Choden Wangchuck, for Bhutan
Kari Jaquesson (Fitness professional)
http://www.unfpa.org/

United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)

Maxim Mirny (Tennis player from Belarus)
Jackie Chan (actor/martial artist, from Hong Kong)
Salma Ahmad (Pakistani actor)
Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lankan Cricketeer)
Bill Roedy (President of MTV Int’l)
http://unaids.org/en/

The UN and Elections

UN Photo - Haiti

In a NY Times Op Ed of January 7, 2008, Edward P. Joseph, a visiting fellow at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, points to the great need for further development and action by the UN Department of Political Affairs Electoral Assistance Division in preventing and in assisting with national elections in global trouble spots. He takes the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan and the turmoil after the Kenyan elections as cases in point for strengthening and using this UN institution in its preventive capacity, and not just in election monitoring.

His full article can be read at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/07/opinion/07joseph.html?th&emc=th

Information about the Electoral Assistance Division can be found at http://www.un.org/Depts/dpa/ead/overview.html

The most recent biennial report by the Division available online is from October 2005, General Assembly document A/60/431. This excerpt shows the complexity of the Division's work, and what is needed going forward.

"2. During the period under review, the involvement of the United Nations in assisting the democratic processes of its Member States was highly visible. The images of voters in Afghanistan in October 2004 and a few months later in Iraq, in January 2005, were vivid reminders of the promise of democracy and of the power of the ballot box to transform subjects of dictatorship or victims of civil war into citizens able to exercise their political rights. United Nations involvement in both of these processes was critical to their success. While these highly visible processes were taking place, the United Nations was also supporting post-conflict elections in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti and Liberia. At the same
time, technical assistance was being provided in numerous countries to improve their electoral processes — work that is less visible but no less important.

3. Despite manifest successes, the capacity of the United Nations in providing electoral assistance remains overstretched. As noted in the previous report under this agenda item, we continue to risk becoming the victims of our own success. Effectiveness increases demand, but the latter is not followed by a concomitant increase in resources to maintain that effectiveness.

4. The complexity, variety and quantity of the electoral assistance being requested of the United Nations are such that we must look beyond the simple consolidation and coordination of existing assets. Additional assets must be provided and more creative synergies must be found within the United Nations system to unlock existing potential. There are increasing demands for
democratization characterized by: (a) the holding of elections in places where credible elections have not generally been held; (b) a recognition among “mature” democracies that reforms are required to solve problems unaddressed for too long and to take advantage of new technologies; and (c) a strengthening of the consensus at an international level that democracy is a key means to preserving the dignity and fundamental rights of individuals, to advancing the Millennium Development Goals and to fostering a geopolitical climate that is favourable to international peace.

5. The United Nations, along with several key international partners, has developed a set of practices over the years that have proved to be effective. The consistent defence of these practices in implementing successful electoral projects has given the United Nations a high degree of credibility on elections. Begun amid some scepticism that electoral assistance might encroach on national sovereignty or impose a single model of democracy, United Nations electoral assistance now serves as a recognized arbiter of norms in a period when an increasing number of actors — international, regional and subregional, governmental and non-governmental, profit and non-profit — are providing electoral assistance. The United Nations is thus in a logical position, by mandate and experience, to lead the promotion of the principle of genuine and periodic elections at a time when it is high in the international agenda."