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United Nations Association of Greater Boston
| June 2012 |
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June Newsletter
Global Issues, Local Connections
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Dear Members, Volunteers and Friends,
Temperatures are rising in New England, just as things are heating up here in the office for our Education staff - the first session of our Model UN Summer Institute kicks off Monday, with more than 40 middle and high school youth joining us at Harvard Business School for a week of intensive global diplomacy training! We've also been kept busy with both staff and members attending UNA-USA's Annual Meeting and keeping tabs on Rio+20, the UN Conference on Sustainable Development finishing up this week in Brazil.
We hope you stay cool and hydrated as you read the following headlines and event recaps. And we hope to see you amid your vacation and travels at our upcoming events!
Best wishes,
UNA-GB staff
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UNA-USA Annual Meeting Recap
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This year's UNA-USA Annual Meeting wrapped up just under 2 weeks ago, and was a great success with more than 150 UNA-USA members from 63 Chapters and 31 states coming together in Washington DC from June 10-12. The goal of the conference was to provide chapters with skill trainings, issue briefings, networking opportunities and capacity-building workshops. Advocacy Day on Capital Hill was also held during the conference weekend, for members to show their legislators how much support there is for the United Nations in the U.S.
There was an impressive showing by Boston members this year; along with staff member Kaitlin Hasseler and Board Member Alma Morrison, 5 UNA-GB members actively participated in the conference. There was palpable energy in the Westin DC City Center Hotel on Sunday as members convened for the first time since the UNA-USA-UNF merger was finalized last year. The meeting opened with Executive Director Patrick Madden and UNA-GB's very own Alma Morrison, outgoing Chair, Council of Chapters and Regions presiding over the annual business meeting and awards ceremony. The next three days offered up numerous opportunities for learning amongst chapters on topics and issues important to the UN and UN Foundation. The conference was capped off with an invigorating day on the Hill, where the UNA-GB delegation met with 7 Congressional staffers (!!) to advocate for robust support of the UN. Read our full recap of the conference here. UNA-GB would like to thank our wonderful volunteers, Dan, Martin, Immaculate, Virginia and Ritah that attended the event! You can also learn more about this year's Meeting, see photos and video, and access post-conference materials (powerpoints, handouts and more!) here.
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Quick Links
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Your support helps us inform, inspire, and mobilize around critical global issues in greater Boston!
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COMMUNITY ACTION SPOTLIGHT: Thank a UN Peacekeeper!
The UN peacekeeping department is a dynamic program composed of international police officers, soldiers and civilian personnel that assists and monitors peace efforts in post conflict areas. They are often referred to as Blue Berets.
The UN peacekeepers are the largest deployed military force with 120,000 personnel, from 114 countries and serving on 15 missions.These missions help the US by sharing the burden of peacekeeping efforts, saving money, promoting democracy and leveraging international support and legitimacy.
Going on now is a campaign to acknowledge the work of the UN peacekeepers and to engage American interest in further supporting the program.
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Top Headline: The Future We Want In Rio +20
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Thousands of participants, including world leaders, CEOs, and global citizens alike convened in Rio de Janeiro this week for Rio +20, also known as the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the first sustainability conference in Brazil and is an opportunity for us to reflect on the strides we have made in supporting our environment as well as what lies ahead in the future of sustainable development.
The emphasis of the conference, which took from June 20 through 22, is "the future we want"; not only are we urging corporations, NGOs, and the every day citizen to be more conscious of our environment today but we also need to look forward to future generations. "The Future We Want" taps into two main focuses of the Conference on Sustainable Development: green economies and international coordination. Rio+20 is also focusing on 7 key global environmental issues: jobs, energy, cities, food, oceans, water, disasters.
Read our full article on Rio+20 here! And stay tuned for our post-conference reflection and analysis.
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UNAGB and John Hancock staff clean up Carson Beach on World Environment Day.
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At UNA-GB, we are continuing to answer the question about what is the future we want and are working towards it here in New England, beyond Rio+20, and we hope you continue to join us. While there are a lot of ways to get involved, one exciting area we are expanding locally is our engagement around corporate social sustainability and responsibility. Read the blog post recap about our World Environment Day project with John Hancock Financial a few weeks ago.
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Upcoming Events
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Model UN Summer Institute, Harvard Business School
Session 1: June 25-29 Session 2: July 9-13 The Model UN Summer Institute offers a comprehensive introduction to the field of international relations through training in Model United Nations. The objective is to give students the opportunity to develop their public speaking, negotiation, and research skills, while simultaneously learning about Human Rights and the foundation of the current international system. The students will leave the Institute with a better understanding of international politics and how to view critical issues and global problems through the eyes of many different stakeholders, whose opinions may be vastly different from their own.
Taste Of Haiti (Young Professionals)
End of July, Exact Date and Location TBD
Join the UNA-GB Young Professionals at the next Taste Of event as we celebrate the culture and cuisine of Haiti! The event will consist of Boston's young professionals coming together to discuss the current events and political landscape of Haiti. An assortment of authentic Haitian dishes will be served; guest speakers from Haiti will be in attendance and trivia will be played! Don't miss out on this all exclusive great deal! (ticket price includes authentic Haitian food and beverage - tax and gratuity also included in total). Stay tuned for more details! |
Meet Our Sizzling Summer '12 Interns!
| It's not just the temperatures rising in Boston that gets the office buzzing in June - we are excited to welcome a whole new batch of interns during the summer months! And this summer we're making our global to local tagline come to life in the office - we have a big group who come from a variety of different schools across the country, not just Boston, and have a diverse portfolio of experience! Learn a little bit more about our interns here!
And for those interested in joining our stellar internship team this fall and beyond, check out more info here!
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Advocacy Corner: Child Marriage Prevention Act passes through Senate |
The International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act (S. 414) passed through the Senate at the end of May, just days after UNA-GB's Women's Forum Luncheon on Child Marriage here in Boston.
This is a particularly important issue as the rate of child marriages remains high throughout the world. When girls are married young, there is increased risk of poverty and health problems and she is much less likely to continue on with her education. Over the last ten years, almost 60 million or one third of girls in developing countries were married before the age of 18, 15 million of which were married by age 15. This issue is not just global - here in the U.S. reports of child marriage have been recorded and is mainly a problem in low-income areas, among minority populations and certain religious groups.
The bill focuses on expanding funding for community programs that empower girls and promote awareness of the problems caused by child marriage. The bill also requires the government to create a more comprehensive strategy for preventing child marriage.
We would like to ask you to join us, our UNF partners at Girl Up and other organizations in thanking our senators (Kerry and Brown) for passing the bill through the Senate. And also to help spread awareness for the problem and help support the bill through the House this time around. Thank you!
Interested in learning more about UNA-GB's Advocacy Committee? Read our blog post here and contact us at info@unagb.org for more information on how to get involved!
UNA-GB's Advocacy Committee is specifically looking for volunteers who are interested in becoming District Chairs, or liaisons for UNA-GB's members and friends in each district in Massachusetts with their local representatives! For more information, email us at info@unagb.org
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Rio + Social's impact
This one day live stream online forum discussing topics related to the Rio+20 conference and sponsored by the UN Foundation took place the day before the the start of the conference on June 19. It went viral and became a globally trending topic on Twitter. The forum speakers were focused on discussing if social media could raise awareness and support for the conference that had not been very widely covered in traditional media.
UN suspends mission in Syria but observers will remain in the country
The UN suspended its observer mission in Syria on June 17th, due to increased violence targeted specifically at the observers. The head of the mission, Major General Robert Mood, later detailed that the observers will remain in the country because of moral obligation. He also reiterated the importance of the six-point plan outlined by Kofi Annan. On Wednesday, June 20, the United Nations raised awareness for more than 42 million refugees and internally displaced peoples throughout the world. A recent statistic was released reporting that 800,000 people -a record amount - were forced to to flee across borders last year.
UN flies in emergency aid to South Sudan South Sudan is currently harboring 150,000 refugees who have been forced out of neighboring Sudan. There is a significant lack of food and clean water in the areas surrounding the camps, mostly in the Upper Nile State. The UN has flown in emergency supplies of food, water, soap, blankets and mosquito nets and they are participating in efforts to drill water wells.
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Originally introduced in 2003 by a group of peace laureates, the Arms Trade Treaty is a potential treaty that would regulate all international trade of weaponry. In 2006, the Treaty was supported by 153 countries and had the support of the European Union. Twenty-four countries abstained which included India, China, Russia and Israel. The United States voted against the treaty. The conference will be held in Washington D.C. and representatives from a large majority of the world's countries will be present.
July 18 - Nelson Mandela International Day
In 2009, the UN General Assembly created the "Nelson Mandela International Day"to commemorate the former President of South Africa and his contribution to peace, democracy and freedom. This year will be Mandela's 93rd birthday - to celebrate the day, the UN is inviting citizens to dedicate 67 minutes of their day to helping others to honor the 67 years that Mandela has been in public service.
July 27-August 12 - 2012 Summer Olympics
The Olympics are relevant to the United Nations, as it serves as one of the rare times where the countries of the world join together in friendly and peaceful competition. The United Nations shows support for the Olympic games every year by adopting the resolution of "Building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal", encouraging all UN Member States to observe this Olympic Truce. The UK broke a record this year by having 193 UN member states agree to the resolution.
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Notable Quotable
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"We are here because we understand that, with smart public policies, governments can grow their economies, alleviate poverty, create decent jobs and accelerate social progress in a way that respects the earth's finite natural resources."
-Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
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United Nations Association of Greater Boston
10 Winter Place, Boston, MA 02108 Tel: 617-482-4587
Fax: 617-482-0937 info@unagb.org www.unagb.org
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