We are the Johnson County affiliate of the United Nations Association - USA, a national, non-partisan, non-governmental movement advocating for the life-changing and life-saving work of the United Nations.

Board of Directors: Barbara Eckstein, President; Britta Loftus, Vice President; Amy Brewster, Secretary; Meredith Gall, Treasurer; Jerry Anthony, Mercedes Bern-Klug, Stefanie Bowers, Nittaya Burnham,

Farnaz Fatahi, John W. Fuller, Wangui Gathua, Donna Hirst, Bijou Maliabo, Lucie Mordecai,

Jean Paul Mugemuzi, Jim Olson, Sanaa Sebaaly.

E-Newsletter Editor, Jim Olson

Lulu Devlin

While youth voices have always mattered, our role in creating local and global unity has never been more urgent. As the world changes around us, and we face immeasurable choices, decisions about our future must be made by us, not by those who have nothing to lose from the loss of our future.

In a country built on freedom and a world dependent on unity, it is our responsibility to protect what past generations have built. From taking action in our communities, we ensure that all people, now and in the future, may benefit. Change begins here, and it begins with us.

Lulu is a senior at UI, with a double major in Linguistics and Spanish and a minor in International Studies. 

Harper Dunne

It's the youth who are inheriting this warming planet, increasingly unstable global order and widening inequality. It's easy to be pessimistic, but days like these urge us to see all of the good that has been done by those who have come before us and the good that remains to be done in the future by us.

Partnership between the youth and other segments of the population is key to remember on this day, because previous generations have truly done incredible work promoting health, peace and justice.

A 2024 graduate of UI with a B.S. in Global Health and a B.A. in Spanish, Harper is pursuing a masters degree in Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding at Durham University in the UK.

Last month Congress approved a request from the administration to claw back $9 billion in congressionally-approved funds for public broadcasting and foreign assistance, including funds for UNICEF, the World Health Organization, and other UN agencies.

Thanks to all members and friends who sent messages in opposition to these cuts to Senators Ernst and Grassley and Representative Miller-Meeks.

Our congressional representatives have responded to our messages. They thanked us for sharing our views. We appreciate their responses, but all failed to comment on the impact of the rescissions on the humanitarian work of the impacted UN agencies.

• Sen. Grassley responded with a detailed letter stating that he supports "placing emphasis on life-saving humanitarian aid." Regarding the rescissions, he emphasized that he supported an amendment that protected the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

• Sen. Ernst wrote that the rescissions will "eliminate waste, fraud and abuse while preserving life-saving foreign aid." Many foreign assistance programs that "had once been life-saving were transitioned by bureaucrats towards controversial ideological causes."

• Rep. Miller-Meeks agrees that foreign assistance can address crises around the world, but she is concerned about the "misuse of appropriated funds." She also noted that she is not a member of the House committee dealing with foreign assistance.

The full text of these responses is available HERE.

Congress will soon act on the FY 2026 budget. We must continue to communicate our views to our congressional delegation.

For an update, please plan to participate in UNA-USA's upcoming webinar Rescissions, Budget, and the US-UN Partnership, Wednesday, August 6, 7:00 p.m. Central presented by Ryan Kehmna, Deputy Director of the Better World Campaign.

To register for this webinar CLICK HERE