UN Program Director News and Updates 2017

UN Program Director News and Updates 2017
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UPDATE # 1

New Ambassador

Maureen Burns-Bowie

Nikki Haley, with no international experience, has been confirmed by Congress to be our new Ambassador to the United Nations. During her confirmation hearings she discussed her willingness to learn, her respect for the UN, and referring to the new US president, her ability to speak truth to power. But on her first day at the UN she announced that regarding countries that "do not have our back", she is taking names . And she warned that the US administration is going to fix what isn't working and eliminate the programs it does not like. (Neither of these is a viable option or part of her role). She is a sharp contrast to Samantha Power, who began her tenure as Ambassador with intelligence, strength, global sophistication, humility, and a spirit of cooperation. We will see how this unfolds. As Haley says," there's a new sheriff in town".

However, as an NGO and a member of civil society, WCA's role in the UN is independent from the diplomatic relationships between member states

UPDATE #2

Download App to view UN art collection

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UPDATE #3

Welcome Our New United Nations Youth Representatives
Art Students from CUNY

Three Youth Reps this year! Art students from CUNY. And a wonderful young man who is such a strong feminist that he wanted to take part.
Maureen Burns-Bowie

Kaitlyn Cicciarello

I am interested in engaging in Women's Caucus for Art because I believe that creating communities that discuss the issues and concerns facing women today is the key to changing the role of women and the way we are perceived. To achieve this change, we must recognize that education plays an essential role. Art is a medium of communication where we can discuss and express the wide range of issues facing women today, from the wage gap to rape culture. By engaging with Women's Caucus for Art, I hope to learn how artists and other members of the community express topics relevant to the issues owmen face. A recent DPI/NGO briefing presented a discussion about art as a tool for conflict prevention and reconciliation. Part of the discussion described a program where difficult community issues were addressed through theater. Programs like these are key to creating sustainable and equitable communities.

Armando Vukafac

I would like to be a Youth Representative for the Women’s Caucus for Art because it is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I would love to be able to sit in meetings and see how the UN tackles important issues. There is a big difference between watching a video of a conference and actually seeing it in person. I personally rarely voice my opinion when it comes to certain topics involving politics or social issues. I only do so with a few select people, knowing that, in case our views differ, they would have an open mind to hear my views and I would have an open mind toward theirs. This is a problem because being quiet and only talking to a select few isn’t going to fix anything. Sadly, the voices that are most often heard are those that cause the most controversy. I want to be able to see how issues are discussed at the UN in person and start to do my part in trying to solve some problems in the world.

I understand it may seem a little unorthodox for a male to apply to this internship, but I think the fact I’m a male applying is meaningful because I believe that gender equality should be everyone’s concern. I appreciate the way the UN works to achieve gender equality through the He for She campaign and by making gender equality a major priority in the Sustainable Development Agenda. The Women’s Caucus for Art and its International Caucus have played important roles in the work toward equality. The road ahead to create a world where all humans are equal is paved each day by individuals who do their part to make gender equality a reality. That is what the UN and the International Caucus have been doing and I want to be a part of that.

I believe that the arts can bring about positive change in ways that are mysterious, beautiful and even more effective than other forms of dialogue. This is something that I would like to do through my own work as well. I believe the work that the WCA does to highlight the issues, artwork and concerns of women is wonderful and necessary for achieving gender equality in the arts and in the world at large. I would like to support that work, and I believe that this internship is a good place to start, especially in light of all the good work that the UN has done and continues to do.

Alissa Beth Leavy

My name is Alisa Beth Leavy and I am a 47-year-old woman getting an Associates' Degree in Digital Art and Design 25 years after receiving a B.A. in Communication Arts from Hofstra University. I am a mother, wife, daughter, sister and survivor of domestic abuse, an issue that had weakened my soul and has given me the strength to pursue my dual dreams of finding my identity and rekindling my passion for art.

I know there are millions of women on a global scale who face fear and even death on a daily basis due to domestic abuse. Without a doubt, I feel that women need to help each other and I welcome the opportunity to be part of an organization that stands for the strength and potential of women everywhere. As a 2017 WCA/UN Participant, I am looking forward to learning more about the UN Commission on the Status of Women, which advoates for gender equality and empowerment of women, particularly focusing on the elimination of all forms of discrimination as well as violence towards women, I hope to learn further how it can be used as a powerful tool to bring inspiration, awareness and healing to women around the world.

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UPDATE #4

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The UN Program is proud to announce that Liz DiGiorgio, our Director of the United Nations Youth Representative Initiative has been published in the new book "Intercultural Horizons: Identities, Relationships and Languages in Migration". The chapter, "Enhancing Intercultural Competence through Civic and Global Learning Projects" was co-written with two colleagues, Meghmala Tarafdar and Isabella Lizzul.

She included UN material and resources in her research.

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UPDATE #5

"International Day For Commemoration Of Victims Of The Holocaust"
Lea Weinberg

On Nov.1, 2005, the United nations designated January 27 as an annual International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the victims of the HOLOCAUST. January 27, 1945 was the liberation day of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi concentration and death camp. The double meaning of this date is the victory of Freedom and Survival along with the horrific tragedy of millions innocent people who lost their life, 6 million Jews as well as so many others.

Since January 2006, the Holocaust and the United Nations outreach program- Remembrance and Beyond has yearly activities at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, each year has its special theme. The 2017 theme is: "Holocaust Remembrance: Educating for a Better Future". The theme emphasizes: the universal dimension of Holocaust education as a platform for building respect for human rights, increasing tolerance and defending our common humanity. The Holocaust was a defining point in history and its lessons have much to teach about the danger of extremism and the prevention of genocide today.

For some people, January 27 is an important day to remember, it ismarked on their calendar so they will not miss the Holocaust Remembrance Ceremony. It really warms my heart to realize the diversity of humans who care and come to the UN to honor this day and its essence. For other people, each day is a day they remember, as part of their life or part of the loss in their life. Some remember in silence, unable to talk about it; others are sharing their stories wishing the world will learn from the past, with hope to prevent Holocaust denials.
Both of my parents are Holocaust Survivors, as a second generation and as an artist I feel it is my obligation to present a visual message preserving their stories I have personally heard. I am expressing Holocaust in contemporary art inspired by my mother’s story about her experiences

Each year I participate in a few UN events, also visiting related exhibitions. The 2017 main exhibit, at the Visitors’ Lobby, General Assembly Building was: State of Deception: The Power of Nazi Propaganda, curated by United States Holocaust Memorial Museum . It included large posters with images and texts which examines how the Nazis used propaganda to win broad voter support in Germany’s young democracy after the First World War, implemented radical programs under the party’s dictatorship in the 1930s, and justified war and mass murder. The exhibition emphasizes why the issue of propaganda matters and challenges visitors to question, analyze, and seek the truth.

On Thursday, January 26, 2017, a DPI NGO conference: Holocaust Remembrance: "Educating against Extremism- Building a Better Future" moderated by Kimberly Mann, Chief of the Education Outreach , Department of Public Information, United Nations. A panel of experts examined the powerful propaganda that enabled the Nazis to successfully spread their racist ideology and gain influence. In 1924 Adolf Hitler wrote: "propaganda is a truly terrible weapon in the hands of an expert The panel questioned: what was the impact of this? How did the society recover from it? What lessons are there to be learned for educating against extremist views and help build a more peaceful world today? A following discussion was held with the audience on effective educational tools and the responsibility of society in helping to stop the spread of hatred and extremism. We talked about the dangers of social media and fake news -one must check the message before sending it, along with other important, sensitive issues, as creating a child friendly solutions …the right ways to talk about a difficult past…

Among the panelists was Mr. Steven Luckert (PhD) the curator of the permanent exhibit at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the curator of the museum’s latest exhibition: "State of Deception The Power of Nazi Propaganda". The Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Program has partnered with the USHMM to produce a set of 16 posters based on the exhibit, the posters and a lesson plan are available in all 6 United Nations official languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish) as well as Dutch, Kiswahili and Ukrainian.

Main event: The Holocaust Remembrance Commemoration Ceremony, on Friday, January 27, 2017, at the general Assembly Hall with 1500 people attending.A very important emotional and impressive event, that also marked the last year passing (July 2, 2016) of Holocaust Survivor and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Elie Wiesel, who was represented by his wife Marion: "My husband fought for the memory of the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust, and fought for Israel. He waged countless battles for innocent victims regardless of ethnicity or creed. But what was most meaningful to him was teaching innumerable students who attended his university classes". Ellie Wiesel was honored by a special visual presentation dedicated to his life and achievements. The ceremony was hosted by Ms. Cristina Gallach Under-Secretary-General for communications and public information.

First speaker: United Nations Secretary- General Antonio Guterres, who shared the news about a planned Jewish Museum in Lisbon despite of the antisemitism history in his country Portugal: "Today, we honor the victims of the Holocaust, an incomparable tragedy in human history. The world has a duty to remember that the Holocaust was a systematic attempt to eliminate the Jewish people and so many others…Tragically, and contrary to our resolve, anti-Semitism continues to thrive. We are also seeing a deeply troubling rise in extremism, xenophobia, racism and anti-Muslim hatred. Irrationality and intolerance are back… We can never remain silent or indifferent when human beings are suffering. We must always defend the vulnerable and bring tormentors to justice. And as the theme of this year’s observance highlights, a better future depends on education…Let us build a future of dignity and equality for all- and thus honor the victims of the Holocaust who we will never allow to be forgotten."

A message from Peter Thomson, President of the UN General Assembly: "Through Holocaust education we can teach future generations the dangers of extremism, the importance of defending the vulnerable, and the need to stand up against racism and prejudice."
H.E. Mr. Danny Danon, Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations declared: …"the worst crime is silence". He was talking about the lessons we need to learn from our unforgettable painful history, and mentioned the UN issues against Israel, requesting a special UN person to deal with antisemitism.

Ambassador Michele J. Sison Deputy Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations was describing Auschwitz and the end of WWII, and talked about mourning the victims, honoring the survivors and renewing our own commitment to pass this history from
one generation to the next, especially as there are fewer and fewer individuals who can share their firsthand experiences. But we also remember because of the reality that the Holocaust was a man-made evil. Adolf Hitler and his deputies conceived of the ideology to denigrate Jews, they created the propaganda to encourage citizens to stay silent as the SS took away neighbors and colleagues, and they built the ghettos and concentration camps to enable the slaughter of six million. We now recognize as heroic the small number of individuals who showed the extraordinary courage to save as many people as they could from the Nazis. But most people said and did nothing. That is the behavior the Holocaust teaches us never to repeat, the reason we focus so much on educating future generations about the Holocaust.

So, we commemorate the Holocaust to remind ourselves of how we must act. Yet, man-made atrocities still surround us. Places like Syria, South Sudan, and the Lake Chad Basin that demand our collective action here at the United Nations to stop overwhelming human suffering. And there are far too many places where anti-Semitism is again on the rise, where attackers have vandalized Jewish homes and businesses, or assaulted Jews coming to and from synagogues. When we think about the Holocaust, we need to remind ourselves never to overlook or normalize these trends – never to be the bystanders.

Ms. Sison mentioned the late and incomparable Ellie Wiesel and finalized her speech with a quote from his book NIGHT: " Never shall I forget that night, the first night in the camp, which turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies I saw turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky…"

The ceremony included: Cantor Israel Singer, of Congregation Temple Emanu-El of Closter, NJ with the memorial prayers accompanied by violinist Artur Kaganovskiy. music by guitarist Gary Lucas and vocalist Rachel Joselson with her songs of the Holocaust. The Keynote speaker was Noah Klieger, a 90-year old Holocaust survivor and journalist who has dedicated his life to Holocaust education. Mr. Kleiger stepped on stage accompanied by his grandson, a young Israeli soldier who was proudly dressed in his navy army white uniform. Mr. Noah Klieger was born in Strasbourg, France, was 13 years old when WWII began. As a teenager, he joined the Jewish underground movement working with the French Resistance against the Nazi Regime. In 1942, when Mr. Klieger was 16 years old he was captured, sent to Auschwitz Birkenau. After he was liberated from Ravensbruck Concentration camp, he emigrated to Israel and began a career as a journalist. He covered trials against Nazi criminals in Belgium, France, Germany and Israel, including the Eichman and Demjanuk trials. For the last 60 years he has been a writer for Yediot newspaper.
Mr. Klieger talked about his horrors: " I can tell the stories but I can’t explain it". He shared the 3 dreams he had in Auschwitz: 1. To survive the hell, to live 2. To go on a mission and tell about what happened to as many people as he could, 3. To help Jewish people return to their country. His dreams were fulfilled but now he is concerned about the time that the survivors will not be here anymore: nothing can replace the story of someone who was there. He said that now is the time that the UN will have a mission to go on teaching about that history.

My mother brought to life her lost family through the vivid stories she was constantly telling about her happy childhood, and later she was also sharing about her Shoah and survival when I asked: "how can you be so optimistic after losing all your family"? Her reply and motto in life was: The Evil has already happened, from now on life should be good." In my art I am bringing to life my mother’s personal stories with her optimistic spirit, intertwined with the Holocaust history through emotional interpretations and symbols, hoping to inspire the future generations to think about the many meanings that are hidden in my works and the materials I use.

UPDATE #6

“Education for Global Citizenship:  An Emerging Approach to Implementing
the Sustainable Development Goals”
   Alisa Leavy

Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development was the highlight of this DPI/NGO Briefing. Promoting peace, preventing violent extremism, promoting public health, sharing sustainable food resources, eradicating poverty, and advocating for women’s and children’s rights were just some of the reasons given for encouraging global citizenship.  The common goal of the afternoon’s panel of speakers was to advocate for education on a cross-cultural and global scale to make children, young adults, parents and teachers aware of each other, these issues, and how to solve them together, as a global community.
Ambassador Hahn Choonghee, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea to the United Nations in New York expressed “the need for education to build immunity against hatred, so that violent extremism loses its power.” Ambassador Hahn also spoke about “Leave No One Behind” and “Agenda 2030,” which aim to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, take action against climate change and achieve gender equality throughout the world.   He stressed that these issues are hot topics that must be addressed urgently now, through education, awareness and communication.
Mary E. Norton, Executive Director of The Center for Global Academic Initiatives spotlighted the U.N. Fellows Program at Felician University, one of the few universities in the world to have NGO status at the U.N. In keeping with the University Mission Statement, students in this program learn Global Citizenship through “service to others and informed minds” and have gone on to study abroad, collaborate with other universities in Australia and The African Union and become global citizens themselves, promoting peace and justice worldwide.
Eunhee Jung, Founder and Executive Director of IVECA International Virtual Schooling provided insight on the actual technology (ICT – Information and Communication Technology) that is being used in “virtual classrooms” around the world.  Beginning as early as kindergarten, students use computers and other direct communication devices to collaborate with others students around the world on activities designed to “increase intercultural competence and promote global citizenship.”  The images shown during her presentation highlighted students in Papua New Guinea designing a flag and menu that was inspired by weekly live classes with fellow students in Korea. You can “sit in” on one of these classes at (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cquix5fudp0).
Children participating in the program are learning in their native homelands yet working together on projects with other children across the planet, promoting peace, understanding, cultural awareness and communication.   The sharing of ideas, forming of friendships, and learning at an early age show that we can all work together as a global community in solidarity to end the hardships that face the citizens of our planet.
Along with this passionate panel of speakers, I too, support the idea that we, as active global citizens, must take the steps needed to spread awareness and educate others to combat world threats, starting with our youngest members and continuing throughout their educational careers.  We have the technology to communicate with others from anywhere to everywhere.  Let’s use it to promote peace and understanding in our interdependent world.

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UPDATE #7

Welcome Madeleine Segall-Marx as our new WCA/UN Program United
Nations Liaison for Human Rights

Madeleine Segall-Marx is an award-winning sculptor and painter, and she works in varying mediums. She has done four public works, including three in NYC and one in Rhinebeck NY. During her years as President of the National Association of Women Artist she collaborated with other organizations in programming joining artists to issues, including human rights. With the help of UNIFEM she mounted an exhibition of over 400 miniature works by NAWA members in the UN lobby in 2002.
       In 2013 she completed her 10-year anti-war project entitled “The Singing Bowl: Voices of the Enemy” (www.listeningtotheenemy.com) comprised of 25 large works and a book that houses 25 stories from people in armed conflict. In 2015 a short autobiographical piece on her and her sculptor husband, Richard Marx, appeared in the Art Students League’s LINES magazine.
       Her project led her to work with Iraqi refugees and with the indigenous Tharu people of Nepal. She is currently excited to be involved with Combatants for Peace (www.cfpeace.org), Israeli and Palestinian former fighters who concluded that violence is not the way, and who work together to say so.

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UPDATE #8

NO ONE LEAVES HOME
by Warsan Shire (Somali-British poet)

no one leaves home unless
home is the mouth of a shark
you only run for the border
when you see the whole city running as well
your neighbours running faster than you
breath bloody in their throats
the boy you went to school with
who kissed you dizzy behind the old tin factory
is holding a gun bigger than his body
you only leave home
when home won't let you stay.
no one leaves home unless home chases you
fire under feet
hot blood in your belly
it's not something you ever thought of doing
until the blade burnt threats into
your neck
and even then you carried the anthem under
your breath
only tearing up your passport in an airport toilets
sobbing as each mouthful of paper
made it clear that you wouldn't be going back.
you have to understand,
that no one puts their children in a boat
unless the water is safer than the land
no one burns their palms
under trains
beneath carriages
no one spends days and nights in the stomach of a truck
feeding on newspaper unless the miles travelled
means something more than journey.
no one crawls under fences
no one wants to be beaten
pitied
no one chooses refugee camps
or strip searches where your
body is left aching
or prison,
because prison is safer
than a city of fire
and one prison guard
in the night
is better than a truckload
of men who look like your father
no one could take it
no one could stomach it
no one skin would be tough enough
the
go home blacks
refugees
dirty immigrants
asylum seekers
sucking our country dry
niggers with their hands out
they smell strange
savage
messed up their country and now they want
to mess ours up
how do the words
the dirty looks
roll off your backs
maybe because the blow is softer
than a limb torn off
or the words are more tender
than fourteen men between
your legs
or the insults are easier
to swallow
than rubble
than bone
than your child body
in pieces.
i want to go home,
but home is the mouth of a shark
home is the barrel of the gun
and no one would leave home
unless home chased you to the shore
unless home told you
to quicken your legs
leave your clothes behind
crawl through the desert
wade through the oceans
drown
save
be hunger
beg
forget pride
your survival is more important
no one leaves home until home is a sweaty voice in your ear
saying-
leave,
run away from me now
i dont know what i've become
but i know that anywher
is safer than here.

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UPDATE #9

UN.org

"Creating Cultures of Peace: Art, Music and Peace Museums"
  Armando Vakufac

Welcome: Jeff Brez, Chief, NGO Relations, Advocacy and Special Events, Department of Public Information.
Moderator: Nitza Escalera, Founder, PASOS Peace Museum Project
Speakers: Joyce Apsel, International Network of Museums for Peace, NGO Representative to the United Nations Department of Public Information
Michael Dinwiddie, Board Chair, Duke Ellington International Study Society
Lea Giddins, Board Member, Art for Peace Projects
Lily Gray, Liaison Officer, UNESCO New York Office
Special Guest: Mercedes Ellington, President, Duke Ellington Center of the Arts.

I will be blunt and honest and say that I had no idea that Peace Museums even existed. As I attended this briefing, I wondered why I had never seen or heard of these places. Panelist Lily Gray even listed several museums and I kept drawing blanks trying to figure out why I hadn’t heard of them. The speakers addressed my question in the course of their presentations by simply saying that they aren’t as popular as natural history museums. This briefing taught me a great deal about what Peace Museums are and sparked my interest in them.

The PASOS Peace Museum is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to peace-building through the arts. They have many exhibitions and workshops that feature music, visual arts, dance, spoken word, and theatre with peace-building as the major theme. Their mission is “to connect, inspire and empower peacebuilders.”

One of the highlights of the presentation came when an NGO representative asked the speakers for suggestions as to how to go about adding peace classes as options in college. Joyce Apsel noted that it’s just not a popular idea, and that schools don’t see creating such classes as worthwhile. She suggested the brilliant solution of offering such classes under the guise of War and Peace. Generally, we are always taught about war and conflict in history class, but barely touch upon any aspect of peace. Perhaps this is because war is just a more dramatic topic to learn about than peace. I believe that combining them in one class is a good idea because they are two sides of the same coin. We should be taught about war and conflict, but also taught about what peace can do for us. Younger generations should have the opportunity to learn that peaceful solutions are a better alternative to solving conflicts than war.

Michael Dinwiddie spoke about Duke Ellington and his journeys to promote peace through his music. Mercedes Ellington, granddaughter of Duke Ellington spoke about his 1963 State Department tour of the Middle East, which started in Syria and eventually ended in Turkey with another 8 countries in between. Duke Ellington played many concerts and named many compositions and albums for the places he visited.

Panelist Hajime Kishimori told a wonderful story about the “Plaster Wall,” created to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Japan joining the United Nations. They had chosen to create a simple plaster wall and inscribe the word peace into it. I really love that idea because the simplicity of the wall parallels the simplicity of the goal we aim for, and that is peace. As simple as this goal is, sadly there are many obstacles to overcome before it can be attained. When Hajime Kishimori was talking about the wall, I pictured someone standing at the bottom of a giant wall with the word peace inscribed on it, and I imagined that they would make an attempt to climb it to reach that goal of peace throughout the world. The problem with this image was that I was picturing only one person, and peace isn’t something that can be reached by one
person.

As all of the speakers agreed, we need to reach for that goal together. Making peace a topic to be discussed is a start to achieving it. Starting small by doing simple good acts and going bigger as you go along is a viable path. This was a wonderful briefing that really sparked my interest in peace museums, but it also sparked my interest in using art to help achieve that goal. Art is powerful in all its forms and is a perfect strategy to help educate everyone on peace. Honestly, sitting in a room with so many people interested in reaching that goal put a smile on my face because it gave me hope that world peace isn’t an impossible thing to attain.

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UPDATE #10

WCA, EcoCaucus, UN Program Member, and Recipient of IC Honor Roll Award,
Felicia Young, speaks at NYU Climate Conference

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UPDATE #11

With so much pain in the world today, it is difficult to think of happiness. However, a high quality of life for everyone is what we are striving for. We need to keep our eyes on the prize.
Maureen Burns-Bowie

International Day of Happiness

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UPDATE # 12

"Israel and Palestine: Through the Lens of Biography and Memoir"
Madeleine Segall-Marx

I have been carrying around a brochure on which I jotted some notes, thinking that the thoughts I scribbled were worth incorporating one day into a visual artwork. The brochure is from:

Biography Series of the 8th Annual Leon Levy Conference at the CUNY
Graduate Center.

Featured were Professor Sari Nusseibeh, long time president of Al-Quds Universtiy in Jerusalem, and author of Once Upon a Country: A Palestinian Life, among many other distinctions; and Dan Ephron, journalist and author of Killing a King: The Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin and the Remaking of Israel. Having worked on my own 10-year art project that explored looking from the "other" side, I love to listen in on discussions about conflict. They are often very rich.

I am humbled by the Women's Caucus for Art title Maureen Burns-Bowie has entrusted me with - WCA/UN Program United Nations Liaison for Human Rights, and I will try to live up to it, at least by sharing some of my own experiences - like this one I mention here. Whether or not these experiences are directly part of a United Nations activity, they will always be of the spirit of the mission of the UN.

The discussion was wide, as the focus of each man was different. Mr. Ephron shared insight into what drove a Jew to kill Rabin - an important topic that I would venture to say almost no one has looked into. It is interesting that his book has not been translated into Hebrew. He explained the religious concept of Din Rodef, which is not to say that radical religion drove this assassin. I will leave you all to do your own research if you are interested... From Prof. Nusseibeh we got a portrait of a life on the ground as history changed drastically around his family.

Prof. Nusseibeh and the Israeli Ami Ayalon sat down and drew up a peace plan some 15 years ago. Two men, 100,000 signatures. I find this wonderful. That it hasn't found a home in the real world is less wonderful, but it is a lovely thing that you can see here:

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-ayalon-nusseibeh-plan-the-ldquo-people-s-choice-rdquo

Two things Nusseibeh said got me talking during the Q & A. One was that achieving peace from a place of no peace must have a strong grassroots presence. The other was that the people with the best position to build peace are those who were in the fight. Yitzhak Rabin was a warrior turned elder statesman turned leader of a peace initiative - which cost him his life. But it was very important that he had been there, among all the players.

I love the organization Combatants for Peace. So I spoke of them during the Q & A of this program. These are Israeli and Palestinian fighters who each individually came to the conclusion that violence was not the answer. For ten years now they have been working on the ground, together. I recently screened a new documentary about them, Disturbing the Peace, in my Soho loft. And each of you can host a screening too! It is so worthwhile to spread this word. Since that screening two weeks ago, the film received the first Roger Ebert Humanitarian Film Award, AND Combatants for Peace have been short listed as nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize. I'm excited beyond words.

I encourage you to Google the people that I have mentioned here, and to get more of a picture, as I don't want you to slog through 50 pages of my own writing. You could always reach me through my website www.listeningtotheenemy.com if you want to know more.

But I will leave you with some of those snippets I jotted down on my brochure.

From Dan: "Tel Aviv is a place where you can forget there is a problem." And "Israelis are not paying the price for the absence of peace." And "everything is reversible." One might agree or not, but it is a point of discussion.

From Sari: "We are almost inside one another."And "The end vision is not clear." And "We have to be careful."

There was more, of course. But enough worms have escaped here from this can.

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UPDATE # 13

" WHAT THEY TOOK WITH THEM"

YOU TUBE VIDEO released by UN Refugee Agency
Poem by Jenifer Toksvig

https://www.unhcr.org/en-us/what-they-took-with-them.html

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UPDATE #14

Commission on the Status of Women

Joyce Ellen Weinstein, UN Program Member

On Wednesday, 22 March 2017, I was fortunate enough to be invited to observe a side event of the Commission on the Status of Women; “Constitution Building through a Gender Lens”, held at the United Nations, NYC. Not having been to the UN in more years than I care to remember it was a thrill to be surrounded by so much incredible energy and people with such a positive purpose from all over the world.

The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality, the empowerment of women, promoting women’s rights, documenting the reality of women’s lives throughout the world, and shaping global standards on gender equality and the empowerment of women.

The panel for ”Constitution Building through a Gender Lens”, consisted of:
Ms. Suki Beavers, Policy Advisor, Inclusive Political Processes, UNDP (The United Nations Development Programme)
Ms. Beatrice Duncan, Justice and Constitutional Advisor, UN Women
Mr. Massimo Tommasoli, Permanent Observer for International IDEA to the UN
Moderated by Mr. Jason Gluck, Policy Specialist, Political Dialogues and Constitutional Processes, UNDP .

There were several hundred people in attendance with many standing and/or sitting on the floor as all the chairs were quickly filled.

The panel discussion and later the Q & A centered around the discussion on how written constitutions advance gender equality and women’s empowerment, mainly through participatory government and constitution writing so that a social contract between State and its citizens contain the strongest legal means of protecting and promoting gender equality.

Handbooks and on line data bases that are up and running have been developed as useful tools and to use as reference and formats to help facilitate constitution writing. It was noted that 195 constitutions are in existence around the world and that it is crucial that these foundational documents “embody the principle of the equality of men and women” as an underling basis of State accountability, and can be used as reference or starting points for constitution building. Women’s Rights in Constitutions looks at key substantive constitutional issues across different themes that provides examples of “global good practices in advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment in constitutions”.

During the Q & A, among other things, three important issues were raised:
1. The necessity of educating young people to continue the process
2. Little attention being paid to the needs of the elderly
3. How to actually implement what is written in the constitution.

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UPDATE #16

The Trump administration proposes deep cuts in foreign aid amid four famines with 20 million people at risk. The UN calls this situation the largest humanitarian crisis since the founding of the United Nations.

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UPDATE #16
March 25 Remembrance of Victims of Slavery

Courtesy: United Nations

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UPDATE #17
Felicia Young on Art and Activism

UPDATE # 18

"Was the U.S. A Bad Host at the UN Women's Conference?"

Laura E. Kirkpatrick
(Published in "Passblue")

The annual women’s conference at the United Nations may have encountered severe weather on its second day, when a blizzard swept through the region and events had to be canceled at the UN, but the real storm originated with the actions of the host country, the United States. Indeed, the role that the US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, took at the conference — minimal and guarded — symbolized how much the US has turned away from providing strong support for women’s equal rights and moved toward restricting those opportunities.
The last three ambassadors from the US to the UN, all of who have been women, participated in the annual Commission on the Status of Women in different ways. (This year’s theme was the gender-wage gap and unpaid care work.) During her tenure as ambassador, from 2009 to 2013, Susan Rice spoke at the event several times while the US State Department broadcast her participation and attendance on social media.
Rice’s successor, Samantha Power, also spoke at the conference and participated in side panels during her tenure as ambassador from 2013 to 2017. Power tweeted on issues regarding women’s and human rights during the conference as well. Other members of the US mission to the UN also participated: at the time there was even a US ambassador at large dedicated to global women’s issues, Melanne Verveer (who now heads the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security).

Haley spoke once at the official UN Commission meeting and did not engage in any of the 290-plus side events held at the conference, which ran from March 13-24 in New York. Her brief speech touched on concepts of human rights for women, beginning with, “We want to make sure that our governments support girls and support women so that they always feel like that can show the power of their voice and be free to act accordingly.” In her next sentence, Haley reverted to a message she has laced throughout her speeches at the UN — expressing what the US will tolerate and what it will not. “We should encourage every country to support these basic rights, and we should help them in any way we can. But we should also call out any country that is not supporting these basic rights and let them know that we will not stand for it.” In other words, as she said on her first day as ambassador, she was “taking names.” Haley did not use the women’s conference, via hashtags or other social media means, to widen the distribution of her statement. She did tweet about her music tastes, the NCAA women’s basketball tournament and an inspiration quote.
On background, a US mission official who works on women’s rights said that directions on the overall approach to the UN conference from the State Department was almost nonexistent this year, as the agency was understaffed and President Trump had just announced proposed budget cuts. State Department staff members, including those working at the US mission, didn’t know if they would even have jobs. Equally significant, the US usually sponsors two to three side events at the conference; this year they hosted one. The event, on indigenous women, was originally planned by Mexico and Canada, who invited the US to join as a sponsor.

Since taking office, the Trump administration has proposed two executive orders barring travel and immigration from certain Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East and Africa. Though the bans have been rescinded, they hurt attendance at the conference, a fact that the UN has avoided discussing in detail. None of the countries listed in the first executive order (Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Yemen) or the second (same countries, except Iraq) sent civil-society delegations to the CSW, as it’s called. Other nationals from countries like Bangladesh and Nepal were also barred without explanation, according to Wo=Men, a Dutch-based feminist network.

As a result of the first Trump edict, issued on Jan. 27, a handful of feminist groups boycotted the conference in solidarity with women from countries listed in the bans, including the world’s oldest women’s rights group, the Womens International League for Peace and Freedom.
The US also disrupted the conference early on through its choice of official delegates — two conservative groups, the Center for Family and Human Rights and the Heritage Foundation. A US mission official who met with civil-society organizations during the conference justified the designation of Heritage and C-Fam as a way to show a “diversity” of opinions. When questioned about the similar “pro-life,” anti-choice agenda of both groups, the US official repeated her “diversity” language.

The Heritage Foundation, which declined to comment on its participation for this article, has published papers critical of the UN, such as “In Bed with Radical Feminists: The UN’s Misguided Women’s Agenda” and “LGBT Groups Seek to Entrench Agenda at the UN.”
The two groups drew heavy media coverage to the women’s conference, which rarely enjoys much visibility in major news sites. The Southern Poverty Law Center’s classification of C-Fam as an antigay “hate” group heated up the controversy. C-Fam and Heritage have participated in the conference for decades but never in an official government capacity.

For Susan Yoshihara, a senior vice president of research at C-Fam, the negative reaction by some media and feminist groups at the conference was mere “name-calling.” “Because marriage has been redefined legally in the US, there’s a friction between that and what international law says, which creates tension with American groups that have moved on to what the legal definition is here,” Yoshihara said in an interview with PassBlue.
She added that the Southern Poverty Law Center has been discredited for its unsubstantiated name-calling, applying labels of “hate groups to anyone who disagrees with a very particular view of sexuality.”

The Heritage Foundation and C-Fam both present what is called a “family-first agenda,” centered on traditional family roles and mostly originalist interpretations of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, especially Article 16, which reads, “(1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.” “I think things got heated this year because so much has changed,” Yoshihara said. “For the first time in the last 20 years, we have a president who is more likely to be pro-life and pro-family in his appointments.”

In one of his first acts as president, Trump reinstated the global gag rule, a measure supported by conservative and religious groups that bans all official American aid to global organizations that provide abortions or information about the procedure. When the US delegation was announced on March 15, two days into the conference, social media blew up, lambasting the two groups’ designation. During the briefing with civil-society participants at the US mission, tempers flared, with one delegate berating the C-Fam representative in the room. The extreme range of agendas filling the conference and the clash of ideologies was far more noticeable at panel events and in the lounges of the UN than in the past. A French-led program, titled simply, “Abortion,” stood out for its boldness. It was well attended, with people cramped on the floor.

A Canadian doctor, attending the conference to advocate against abortion, unwittingly approached Lakshmi Puri, the deputy executive director of UN Women, in a crowded UN lounge. Even after self-introductions were done, the Canadian stressed the harmful effects of abortion, citing “over 140 studies and reports.” Puri countered by citing the decrease in maternal-death rates experienced in countries with access to family planning and the increase in women’s economic participation in countries with progressive family planning. Studies from the National Women’s Law Center and the Guttmacher Institute have shown that women who can access effective family planning are more likely to stay in their jobs longer and experience greater professional movement. Eventually, the Canadian doctor and Puri agreed to disagree, missing, as Puri observed afterwards, a chance to connect on the fact that at heart, they both wanted better health care for women globally.

Lynne Hindman, a professor at Oregon State University, was also at the conference as a civil-society member. She marveled at the spectrum of agendas, from what she called the “ultraconservative” C-Fam to groups supporting the “very liberal” Convention for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, or Cedaw. (The US remains one of seven UN countries that has not ratified the treaty.) Hindman attended the conference as part of the C-Fam delegation, representing the more moderate Foundation for Sustainable Families. “To better understand the global issues facing women,” wrote Hindman via email, “there is value in understanding the multitude of perspectives and variables involved so we can help create, together, comprehensive solutions for the SDG’s.”

On the last day of the conference, a final resolution was adopted. The Commission for the Status of Women, a UN body, recognized for the first time the role of the International Labor Organization in promoting the right of women to work and their rights at work and how critical these elements are for economic empowerment. Traditional allies, like the European Union and the US, were split over the document, especially on abortion and reproductive rights. Europe, represented by Spain, said the document was restrictive. The envoy from Spain maintained that the “language in the resolution further reinforces the stereotypes and traditional role of women and girls.” The US, however, criticized the document for not establishing a clear, internationally recognized distinction between abortion and reproductive rights.

Speaking at a side event, titled, “Women Wartime, Radicalization and Islamophobia From Iraq to America,” Zainab Salbi, a journalist who founded the Washington, D.C.-based group Women for Women International, presented the most direct route to equality. “I’m convinced that the only one who can save me as a woman is myself,” said Salbi, who was born in Iraq in 1969. “I am the knight, and I am the horse, too. No one saves women but ourselves.”

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UPDATE #19

On Lives Uprooted
Madeleine Segall-Marx

Last night I attended a panel discussion at the CUNY Graduate Center entitled: “Crisis Mode?: Consequences of the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants”

For me the name of the declaration was misleading, as this is neither New York State nor NYC that is declaring. Rather this was a UN summit that produced this document of September 19, 2016. So I think of this in similar terms as the Geneva Convention, which relates to that city only as to the real estate in which it was born.

Panelists for this discussion were two diplomats working at the UN (Carmelo Inguanez, Malta; and Tareq Md Ariful Islam, Bangladesh), each with considerable human rights backgrounds, and Sarah Case, Director of Policy and Planning at the International Rescue Committee.
This is a BIG topic. So I am going to throw out snippets that I hope piece together an understanding of the big picture. The declaration states that migrants and refugees have all basic human rights, which should be upheld and supported everywhere on the globe (my paraphrase).
One result of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals is that the UN is now regularly discussing migrants, whereas previously only refugees were a formal topic of concern there. In our era and for the foreseeable future the number of people in movement, taking on life in a new place, is humongous and growing. These can be categorized in three groups: migrants, refugees, and internally displaced people (IDPs) who are refugees in the sense that they were forced to flee their homes and cannot return, but who have not left their country. The above declaration is a statement of rights for all of these people. It was ratified by 193 nations. The follow up comes in the form of two compacts, one for refugees, one for migrants, due to be completed in 2018. These compacts will be the framework for how the individual nation signatories should commit to this document. Mr. Inguanez posited that 2018 is already too late for this, as change on the ground outpaces negotiation.
While the United States has lead in resettlement – 50-70% of resettled refugees are settled in the US - only a tiny amount of refugees in general are ever resettled. Almost 90% of refugees end up living in developing as opposed to developed countries, host countries that are least able to sustain them. And with our current administration, things are already getting much worse for these at-risk populations. Already the annual US refugee intake has dropped from 110,000 to 60,000. This administration’s nationalistic stance is having a negative snowball effect, where other host nations are seeing a rise in nationalistic, anti-immigrant, anti-migrant groups. And, if climate change is not seriously and immediately addressed, the number of refugees on the planet will grow exponentially, as climate change leads to famine, flood, drought and armed conflict, among other things.

While the terms “migrant” and “refugee” have been distinguished by voluntary as opposed to involuntary movement, often the lines blur. People who “decide” to leave their home because they can no longer grow crops to sustain themselves because of lack of water sources, for example, can be called refugees. Really, if they want to stay alive, they have to move. Mr. Inquanez mentioned circular migration, where migrants work in a host country, have basic human rights including health care and education, send money to the home country which directly helps development there, and get training and skills that they can eventually bring back home with them. This is turns problem into opportunity for both the host country and the country of origin.

So, while the reality is that needs on the ground are outpacing the political negotiation that is meant to ameliorate them, and that the outlook politically in the United States is currently plummeting downward instead of rising upward, there are many talented and earnest people working to stem this tide and turn things around. For the future.

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UPDATE # 21

The Synergy of DPI/NGO Relations
Armando Vakufac

This article will span two events that I think link together very nicely. The first one was a briefing on March 23, 2017 on the “Economic Empowerment of Women and Girls,” and the second event was actually the orientation for newly appointed NGO representatives held on April 11, 2017. Both events featured speakers who were particularly inspiring to me.
            At the “Economic Empowerment of Women and Girls,” Ourania S. Yancopoulos, a journalist with openDemocracy, spoke about how the UN is a great place to set an example of women holding higher positions, and she urged the UN to do more. As a journalist who writes about gender equality, and as a former advisor to the Group of Friends for Gender Parity, among other accomplishments, she shared her awareness about the difficulties that women in power have faced along the way, solely because of their gender. She listed many women leaders who became the first women in power in their governments, despite the difficulties, and pointed out that there are not enough of them. Her passion on the subject made a powerful impression on me.
            During the orientation, the presentation of Bruce Knotts, Chair of the NGO Executive Committee, particularly resonated with me. The orientation itself was intended to help us see how we can do our part in making the world a better place. I learned a lot from all the speakers, but Bruce Knotts definitely got my attention. He talked about what he had done in the past to bring about change, and explained that change is not something that happens quickly. He said that if you want to see results, you need to stay in for the long run. This really got my attention because it made me question what I will do after the end of the internship. I learned so much, but wonder how am I going to use all the knowledge I have gained to help the world. Even though the internship will end, it doesn't mean my part is done. I need to keep putting in effort wherever I can.
            The reason I brought up these two events is because they influenced me and had an impact one of my classes at Queensborough Community College. For my speech class, I had to write and present a persuasive speech on a current issue. At first, I had no idea what to write, but this internship and the speakers that I mentioned above led me to the realization that I wanted to write a persuasive speech about gender equality and persuade my fellow classmates to join an organization that supports this issue. It took a while to find a specific organization, but, thanks to Professor Liz DiGiorgio, I was able to learn about the HeForShe campaign. After researching it, I knew this was something I wanted to talk about. The HeForShe campaign was initiated by UN Women, which is an entity of the UN working towards the empowerment of women. They take a hands-on approach to solving the problem of gender inequality. I took the pledge and became a member to do my part in any way I can. This is where both the orientation and the briefing on the “Economic Empowerment of Women and Girls” came together in my speech. I first had to paint a picture of the reality of gender equality. The briefing made me fully aware of how women are treated differently in the work environment, and raised my awareness of the prevalence of unequal pay. After conveying the reality of gender inequality to my class, I brought up the HeForShe campaign so that my classmates would know of at least one way that they can help with this issue.
            I have no idea if my speech inspired any of my classmates to join the movement. I would like to think so because they all have shown passion in helping the world in their own ways. Introducing the HeForShe campaign may have helped them find something that they can do. What I did is very small and may have only motivated one person to take action, but, to me, that’s one more person than before.

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UPDATE #21

"Finding A New Home: The Role Of Faith-Based Organizations
In Refugee Assistance And Refugee Resettlement Work"

UN photo

Liz DiGiorgio

Moderator: Caryl Stern, President and CEO of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF
Panelists: Jean B. Bingham, General President of the Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Barbara Day, Domestic Resettlement Section Chief at the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration
Anwar Khan, CEO of Islamic Relief USA
Abdul Saboor, Match Grant Coordinator of Interfaith Works
Reverend Canon E. Mark Stevenson, Director of Episcopal Migration Ministries
Maria Fare, Policy Specialist and Regional Focal Point for Latin America for the UN Sustainable Development Goals Campaign.

The panelists for this NGO-led briefing shared their personal stories of migration and described how their organizations have partnered with others to maximize their effectiveness in providing humanitarian aid to refugees and migrants in the US and around the world. The goodwill that interfaith collaborations can generate was clearly evident in the genuine affection and respect that the panelists displayed toward one another. The packed audience indicated the high level of concern and compassion that NGOs bring to this issue.

Moderator Caryl Stern spoke about her own origins as a child of a child refugee. Her grandparents had made the heartbreaking decision in 1939 to send her mother and uncle (then ages 6 and 4), to New York on board a ship fleeing Europe. She noted that her family has maintained a steadfast remembrance for the unknown woman who brought her mother and uncle to safety in New York, where they were raised in an orphanage. Caryl Stern also spoke about her grandfather, who was among the 1,000 people who sailed to Cuba on the SS St. Louis, in the journey known as The Voyage of the Damned. She explained that the ship was held in the port for 40 days because no country would take in the refugees. Although her grandfather ultimately survived the war, the ship was forced to returned to Europe, where many of those who had been turned away perished. The fact that her family owed its continued existence to a single woman of unknown religion, led her family to hold a deep respect for all faiths, and to know the difference that a single person can make. She spoke proudly about the work of UNICEF as having no politics except that of protecting the child. She spoke of the 50 million children wandering in the world, 28 million as refugees forced from their homes, and shared tender stories of the wonderful children she encountered in her work around the world.

Jean Bingham spoke about the long history of relief and humanitarian aid provided around the world by the over 7 million women who comprise LDS Charities. She spoke of her Church’s own history of persecution, which led its pioneers from New York to Missouri, where they were then driven out to neighboring Illinois. She described how they were initially helped as refugees in Illinois, but that hostilities subsequently arose and led them to move again and to settle in the Salt Lake Valley. She spoke about the doctrinal inspiration of her organization that teaches “it is by small and simple things that great things are brought to pass.” She quoted Joseph Smith’s declaration in 1842, following a period of intense persecution, that “a member of the Church is to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to provide for the widow, to comfort the afflicted, to dry up the tear of the orphan, whether in this Church, or in any other, or in no church at all, wherever he finds them.” She remarked on the boldness of this statement being made to a group of exiles who were struggling for their own survival.

Jean Bingham traced the roots of LDS Charities to 1985, when members across the world were asked to take the simple step of foregoing two meals in order to donate money for famine relief in east Africa. She quoted the General Secretary of the World Council of Churches, Rev. Dr. Olav Fyske Tveit, who stated that “churches and other religious communities are not engaged in humanitarian response and development because of the SDGs, but because of their fundamental faith commitments to respecting human dignity, to serving the community, to protecting creation, and to witnessing to the divine.”

Anwar Khan spoke of his own family’s history of migration, which began when his family fled from India to Pakistan to escape the ethnic cleansing that cost many lives on both sides. He migrated first to the UK, and then to the US.

He spoke about the work and challenges faced by Islamic Relief, and noted that its oldest partnership was with LDS Charities. He described how the two organizations worked together to help refugees fleeing from Somalia to Kenya in 2011. In describing the evolution of his organization’s work, he said, “Initially the idea was to help Muslims in need around the world, but then it changed to helping human beings in other parts of the world, and then it changed to helping everyone everywhere.” He described his organization’s work with Catholic Relief Services and World Vision in the Central Africa Republic, funded by USAID, to encourage peace between Muslims and Christians. He described relief work with Catholic Relief Services in Gaza and in Yemen. He spoke of working with Episcopalian Relief and Development in various areas and in Liberia to prevent violence against women. His organization has worked with Adventists, Lutherans, American Jewish World Service, Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) and others.

Anwar Khan talked about his organization’s Day of Dignity program, which was originally designed to help homeless people in the US, but with the financial crisis of 2008 changed to also help the working poor by providing food and clothing and then hygiene kits provided by LDS Charities. He proudly noted that, “Now we have Syrian refugees volunteering to help homeless US army veterans in New Jersey and Seattle. That is not the narrative you see on TV, but it should be.” While this work was covered in the UK by The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, and in the US by Samantha Bee, he pointed out that other major media outlets have not covered it. He asserted that, “There is a very active counter narrative against people working together, to divide people. We need to identify what we are working against. We answer their hate with love.”

In speaking of his organization’s work, he noted that it is difficult. He acknowledged the death of staff members who have died overseas, including two Christian staff members who died in Kenya assisting Muslim refugees. He explained that, “We have to know how to deal with people that like us and don’t like us.” Despite the current challenges, he reported that donations have gone up and that he had never seen so much love from friends of other faiths as he has seen this year. He noted that he never fully understood that verse in the Bible about welcoming strangers until he saw Christians and Jews at the airport welcoming immigrants, adding “This is the America that I love.”

Barbara Day began her work in Lutheran service organizations, working to settle refugees throughout the US. She reminded the audience of the migrations of first two decades of the 20th century that brought 15 million immigrants to the US, and of the wave of immigration brought about by WWII, noting that the roots of assisting immigrants run deep. She spoke about the role of faith organizations in the modern-day resettlement program that began in 1975 to help settle Vietnamese refugees, and how the magnitude of that crisis caused the US government to reach out to churches.

She explained the origins of the current US Refugee Resettlement Program created by Congress in 1980 by establishing the Office of Refugee Resettlement in the Department of Health and Human Services. This program delineated federal responsibilities and the funding of support programs in public/private partnerships designed to include private contribution administered through NGO- and state-based partnerships with six established church world service programs: Episcopal Migration Ministries, HIAS (Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society), Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, The US Conference of Catholic Bishops and Church World Service (which encompasses 40 denominations and their congregations).

Barbara Day noted that the US government does not distinguish between faith-based and non-faith based organizations, but that all of their partners are held to the same standards. She stressed that there is a clear separation required to ensure that inherently religious activity is separate in time and location from the services that faith-based organizations offer to refugees. She noted that matching what is offered with what is needed is complicated and requires many resources. She explained that faith organizations can respond quickly and efficiently, and can help even long distance, by providing funds or clothing and backpacks. She also noted that the greatest gift can be simply the gift of friendship, and recalled a Bosnian refugee who told her that what she craved most was someone to have coffee with.

Faith organizations have been able to provide English language training, help with tax returns, driving lessons, and running thrift stores to teach job skills. She noted the transformational nature of this work to both the giver and receiver.

Reverend Canon E. Mark Stevenson expressed deep gratitude for his position as director of a national resettlement program that “reaches deeply to the core” of his faith as a Christian. He displayed an image of a poster created in the 1930s to promote the Lutheran Church’s work to aid World War II refugees. The poster was based on the second chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, which describes the flight of Mary and Joseph into Egypt to protect their child from a campaign of infanticide. He invited the audience to see the parallels to today’s refugee crisis in the image of a veiled Middle Eastern woman and a family willing to take unimaginable risks to protect their child. EMM is one of only nine organizations (six of them faith-based) that work in partnership with the Federal government to resettle refugees. EMM resettled 5,762 of the 85,000 refugees by working with 30 affiliate partners across 22 states, to offer cultural orientation and language instruction, and by helping refugees to access education and employment. He quoted the words ascribed to Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew, “I was a stranger and you welcomed me. And even as you did it to others, you did it also to me.”

Abdul Saboor currently works with Interfaith Works to help refugee families in Syracuse, New York to achieve self-sufficiency within 180 days. He worked in Afghanistan as a cultural advisor and instructor for the US military, for USAID and for AECOM as a stability program manager. He described his journey, which started when his own community became dangerous. He recounted that people were being targeted for believing in freedom of expression and democracy. His journey to the US took him 5 years from the day of his application, and he described the difficulty of adjusting to his new community. He described himself as feeling puzzled and disorganized and his wife as feeling marginalized and lonely as they started their new life in upstate New York. He noted that he didn’t know the congregation or faith of the people who came to his home to offer rides to appointments, but that now he “takes pride in calling them friends.”

He shared his observation that, “Volunteerism in America is exceptional.” He saw the virtue of American life, in which people of different cultures and religions volunteer to help others. He welcomed the opportunity to volunteer in a community in which every problem is approached through an interfaith dialog, and spoke about the resiliency and cohesion of his community in Syracuse. He stressed the value of interfaith dialog in developing empathy, and quoted Mother Teresa as saying, “The reason we’re having so much trouble is that we have forgotten that we belong to one another.” Abdul Saboor describes his new life in America as allowing him to start dreaming again. He currently attends Syracuse University, where he majors in political science.

Maria Fare acknowledged the importance of the eight Millennium Development Goals that preceded the SDGs, but she noted that they were not created in consultation with the world’s populations. She described the successor SDGs as “truly a miracle” in that they were created by asking people around the world to prioritize 16 global issues through the My World Survey. She explained that when governments report back on their progress in achieving the goals, the data makes them accountable. She described the many ways to involve communities around the world, such as young people being invited to take photos about which goals are important to their families and communities. Maria Fare suggested that people create their own Humans of Our World sites or contribute photos to the UN’s page https://www.facebook.com/humansofmyworld/
Maria Fare also encouraged young people to take part in the World We Want art project, which offers instructions on how to create walls on which community members can write about the world they want. She describes the new agenda as providing more opportunities for people to give their opinions, and as being more qualitative in nature.

She also described how the UN uses tools, like virtual reality films, to create empathy. These films allow the viewer to experience what it is like to live as a refugee, to live without clean water, or to live in an area where war is part of your life. She explained that the UN uses this tool when there are meetings of the Security Council concerning refugees.

Maria Fare also described how they use the data gathered through the My World Survey in exhibits around the world, particularly when world leaders are meeting. She described a Voices of the People award to acknowledge exceptional engagement in the SDGs, and the establishment of a space in Bonn, Germany for inviting organizations and governments to discuss what they are doing to raise awareness of the Agenda.

Maria Fare’s presentation was especially relevant to the subject of this panel in that she shared the astonishing fact that the UN My World Survey Office has only 15 people on staff. It was only with the help of 1,000 partner organizations that they were able to reach 10 million people. She noted that many of the responses to the survey were gathered by telephone and in person, and that 80% of them came via pen and paper. Clearly, partnerships are crucial to providing aid to refugees as well as to implementing the Sustainable Development Agenda.

“Focus on Faith: Faith Based Organizations and Refugee Assistance”
Armando Vakufac

The briefing entitled “Focus on Faith: Faith Based Organizations and Refugee Assistance,” had the largest audience of any that I attended this year. My only guess is that the majority of people who attended were religious themselves, and that attending this briefing would be very special for them. It would demonstrate to them that their religion does good in the world, and that they should be proud of their beliefs. I was happy to attend this briefing, and happy to see people of different religious backgrounds sitting together just talking about the good that they do, despite the difficult circumstances in the world. The picture painted in the media and the picture painted in this presentation are very different. I saw good people with different beliefs trying to do good in the world and make it a place worth living in. This panel had many wonderful speakers who all said great things. Anwar Khan was among those who stood out the most.
            Anwar Khan is part of Islamic Relief USA and he had a lot to say that I wholeheartedly agree with. Islamic Relief USA is a faith-based organization whose goal is, as their website states, to provide “relief and development in a dignified manner regardless of gender, race, or religion,” and “to empower individuals in their communities and give them a voice in the world.” He spoke about two Christian staff members of Islamic Relief USA who died in Kenya trying to help Somali refugees. They practiced interfaith humanitarian commitment event at the cost of their lives. It was important for him to note that the staff members in this organization have different religious backgrounds and that Islamic Reliefs partners with different faith-based organizations like LDS Charities, Catholic Relief Services, USAID, World Vision, and others.
People are being forced out of their countries, some running away, and there are people who do what they can to help. Religion is a difficult thing to talk about and I know this from experience because I have never been in a conversation about religion that didn't lead to an argument. The problem is that some people don’t understand that a person’s beliefs are his or her own and should never be judged or changed just because it doesn’t line up with what they believe in. That’s why the most important word that every speaker used is in this briefing was “interfaith.” All the organizations represented by the panelists practice an interfaith approach, and that is what the world needs to adopt as well.
            Anwar Khan explained that the media is quick to portray the negative, while events like this one do not get mainstream media coverage. It appears that the media gets more viewers and attention if they focus on the worst of humanity, and that is a terrible thing to do. The news must report on the bad, but it can also show that there are good people in the world trying to make a difference in a positive way just like panelists of these faith-based organizations do.
            Whatever anyone believes should never be questioned. Instead we should all take the idea of interfaith cooperation and apply it everywhere. Not only in these relief organizations, but in our everyday lives.
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UPDATE #22

"Indigenous Voices, Indigenous
Rights: The Role Of Community Media"

Liz Di Giorgio

Host: Jeff Brez, Chief of NGO Relations, Advocacy and Special Events in the Department of Public Information
Moderator: Suzanne Benally, Executive Director of Cultural Survival

Panelists:
Shaldon Ferris, Award-winning filmmaker and producer of an award-winning weekly radio program in South Africa
Dev Kumar Sunuwar, journalist and co-founder of the Indigenous Media Foundation
Avexnim Cojtí, sociologist and program associate for Cultural Survival’s Community Media Programme and Indigenous Rights Radio

As an artist whose work is labor- and time-intensive, I’ve always had a deep appreciation for the radio programming I’ve listened to during long hours spent in the studio, and I have always been aware of how fortunate I am to have access to the Internet and other media. Nonetheless, I entered this briefing without a full understanding of how critically important radio is to the lives of indigenous people. As the panelists made clear, whether they live in urban areas or in remote places (often lacking electricity), indigenous community radio and other indigenous media do not simply provide news, information and entertainment, but are essential to the survival and wellbeing of indigenous people around the world. Media communication gives them the voice necessary to protect their rights and is essential for preserving their languages, cultures, stories, and wisdom. It is especially crucial to indigenous societies in which language is often primarily spoken, without a practice of writing.

This briefing was part of the Celebration of the 10th Anniversary of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which affirmed, in Article 16, that indigenous peoples have the right to establish their own media and to have access to all forms of non-indigenous media without discrimination. Moderator Suzanne Benally, who is of Navajo and Santa Clara Tewa heritage, asked the panelists to describe how their work makes a difference to indigenous communities, the challenges of their work, how their work differs from non-indigenous media, and the participation of women in their indigenous community media.

Panelist Shaldon Ferris, who identifies with the KhoiSan South African tribe, expressed an appreciation for the mainstream media that served as entertainment in his community. He explained that the media of his childhood was tightly controlled under apartheid. While he had an appreciation for the John Wayne and Clint Eastwood characters who served as heroes and role models, he noted that at some point it was necessary to acknowledge that none of the people seen on mainstream media looked like him. He noted that his culture has news and stories, too.

Shaldon Ferris was speaking literally of survival when he noted that there are areas in South Africa where indigenous people live where ambulances might arrive hours after they are called, and where houses burn down in the hours that it takes the fire department to respond. He explained that having a voice on an indigenous community radio station creates the public pressure needed to access services and to discuss community problems.

He spoke about the difficulty of preserving and maintaining the culture of the first peoples who lived in South Africa when their geographical home can only be found on a 500-year-old map. He spoke about being able to hear a poem, song or prayer in the language of one’s culture as essential to preserving the sacredness of one’s identity.

Avexnim Cojti, who is a Maya from Guatemala, explained that the Mayan people live in the regions encompassed by southern Mexico, Belize, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador. She noted that they comprise 60% of the 16 million people living in Guatemala, and that they speak 23 Mayan languages. Despite their number, they are among the poorest people in the country, with 8 out of 10 Mayan girls suffering from malnutrition. She explained that the peace accord signed in 1996 acknowledged that indigenous peoples have a right to radio frequencies, yet the frequencies have been sold to private owners. Consequently, the indigenous radio that exists today are underground operations.

Ms. Cojti spoke about the lack of education among the Mayan people, with the average education level being 6th grade for men and 3rd grade for girls. The lack of literacy makes radio communications crucial to the life of Mayan communities. She noted a lack of pride about the culture, and the importance of radio in empowering pride in their history. She noted that indigenous radio often addresses human rights, women’s rights and children’s rights, but women do not hold management positions in the media. She noted the importance of radio in keeping indigenous community informed, and helping them to organize to find solutions to community problems, such as the need for water. She also noted the importance of radio in keeping indigenous communities informed about decisions regarding land use for monocrop farming and mining. These are issues that affect indigenous communities, but in which they have little voice.

As is often the case, the question and answer period added much to the briefing. A representative of the Arctic Inuit people in the US, spoke about the challenges facing the Arctic Inuit in the US, Greenland and Iceland. He spoke about the importance of young Inuit people achieving higher education and studying communications to advocate for the rights of indigenous people. He noted that much of social media use by young Inuit people is conducted in English. He expressed concern for the 2,000 indigenous languages in danger of extinction in the near future.

In response, Dev Kumar Sunuwar agreed about the importance of increasing the number of indigenous youth going into communications and journalism, and noted the need to access the funding to bring radio communication to indigenous people, many of whom live in remote areas. He used his experience in mainstream media to start-up the first indigenous radio in Nepal and the first cable network in South Asia.

One member of the audience emphasized the importance of protecting the rights of minority communities everywhere, in addition to protecting of indigenous populations.

A student majoring in international business asked what businesses can do to celebrate indigenous cultures without exploitation. Avexnim Cojtí noted the importance of fair wages and spoke about a current movement in Guatemala to recognize the intellectual property rights of indigenous peoples to their textiles and designs.

Panelists and audience members spoke of the importance of uniting and aligning the indigenous communities around the world. Several audience members stressed the importance of creating podcasts to make indigenous programming available outside of the immediate broadcasting area, as well as the importance of archiving indigenous programming. Suzanne Benally noted that this is something that is currently being accomplished by Cultural Survival through www.cs.org. Indigenous communities around the world are fortunate to have Ms. Benally and her panelists as advocates.

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“Indigenous Voices, Indigenous Rights: The Role of Community Media”
Kaitlyn Cicciariello

            Community media is crucial to indigenous people and it is often a struggle for indigenous communities to have access to a media platform without facing bias. During the briefing “Indigenous Voices, Indigenous Rights: The Role of Community Media,” the speakers addressed the rights of indigenous people, as outlined in the “UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples” to have access to mainstream media and to have theiown media platforms so that they can attend to the needs of their communities. The between the two means of access is that community media can focus on the issues the community faces, and in many cases, can provide assistance in emergency situations. Community media is also important because it helps to preserve indigenous cultures and languages, providing a way for these communities to stay connected, even in remote locations. Community media provides a way for cultures to preserve and hand down their stories from one generation to the next. As Suzanne Benally, the moderator of the event and the Executive Director of Cultural Survival, says, “Radio, through cultural programs, connects young people with the cultural ideas and education [in their culture].” It serves the community as an empowerment and a form of education of the community’s roots.

UPDATE # 23

LETTER TO CONGRESS:

As former U.S. Permanent Representatives to the United Nations who have served under both Republican and Democratic Administrations, we share a deep understanding of the UN’s strategic value in advancing U.S. national interests and promoting American leadership. While the UN is imperfect, and many reforms are needed, the UN remains an indispensable instrument for advancing the global stability and prosperity on which U.S. interests and priorities depend. We therefore urge you to support U.S. leadership at the UN, including through continued  payment of our assessed and voluntary financial contributions to the Organization. The United States and its allies and partners today face grave and interconnected challenges that transcend national borders. These include cascading conflict in the Middle East and South Asia, an emboldened North Korea, the rising threat of violent extremism and organized crime, vulnerability to pandemics, the worst forced displacement crisis since 1945, the prospect of famine in four countries, and the potential for major societal disruptions from climate change. The U.S., despite its wealth and military might, cannot afford to take on these issues alone, nor should it have to. That is exactly why the UN was created in the first place: to harness the resources and commitment of all countries to act on challenges that necessitate collective response. Since its establishment, the UN has been a cornerstone of the post-World War II international order, serving also to advance U.S. priorities and interests on many fronts. Through its  peacekeeping operations, humanitarian relief work, efforts to address international public health emergencies, and development investments, the UN has helped secure core U.S. interests while reinforcing America’s longstanding commitment to human rights and human dignity worldwide. By marshalling financial contributions from all UN member states, the UN has also reduced the  burden on American taxpayers by leveraging U.S. contributions to the UN four-fold. The whole UN system is built on burden-sharing that ensures the United States does not have to go it alone and that other countries stand up, rather than stand by. We understand frustration in Congress at what can seem a needlessly slow pace of critical management, budgetary, and accountability reforms at the UN, all of which we have fought hard to advance during our respective tenures at the helm of the U.S. Mission in New York. We fought those battles differently and did not always agree. Nevertheless, in our experience, the U.S. is much more effective in pressing reforms when it stays engaged and pays its dues and  bills. Withholding or slashing funding for the UN, by contrast, weakens our hand, alienates allies whose support is critical to our reform priorities, undermines essential UN activities that promote core American interests and values, and costs us more over the long term. It also cedes the agenda to countries that can be hostile to our interests and more than willing to see the U.S. give up its seat at the table. This January, the UN elected a new Secretary-General Antonio Guterres of Portugal
–and the U.S. Administration fielded a new U.S. Permanent Representative -Nikki Haley, the former Governor of South Carolina. Secretary-General Guterres and Ambassador Haley have both expressed a commitment to work together to create a more efficient, effective, and responsive UN. We urge you to give them the time and space needed to advance this critical work and avoid policies, such as drastically reducing our financial support, that would damage our nation’s ability to lead not just at the United Nations but on the wider world stage. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,
Ambassador Andrew Young
Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations, 1977-1979
Ambassador Donald McHenry
Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations, 1979-1981
Ambassador Thomas Pickering
Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations, 1989 - 1992
Ambassador Edward Perkins
Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations, 1992 - 1993
Secretary Madeleine Albright
Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations, 1993-1997
Ambassador Bill Richardson
Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations, 1997-1998
Ambassador John Negroponte
Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations, 2001-2004
Ambassador Susan Rice
Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations, 2009-2013
Ambassador Samantha Power
Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations, 2013-2017

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UPDATE #24

April 30 is United Nations INTERNATIONAL DAY OF JAZZ

"Jazz has been a force for positive social transformation throughout it's history, and it remains so today.
From it's roots in slavery, this music has raised a passionate voice against all forms of oppression. It speaks a language of freedom that is meaningful to all cultures. The same goals guide UNESCO in it's efforts to build bridges of dialogue and understanding between all cultures."
UNESCO

Jazz breaks down barriers and creates opportunities for mutual understanding and tolerance;
Jazz is a vector of freedom of expression;
Jazz is a symbol of unity and peace;
Jazz reduces tensions between individuals, groups, and communities;
Jazz fosters gender equality
Jazz reinforces the role youth play for social change;
Jazz encourages artistic innovation, improvisation, new forms of expression, and inclusion of traditional music forms into new ones;
Jazz stimulates intercultural dialogue and empowers young people from marginalized societies.

It contributes to:

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UPDATE #26

Yusra Mardini, a 19 year old Syrian refugee, who together with her sister, swam for three hours in the Mediterranean Sea off Turkey's coast, pulling a capsizing boat of refugees to safety, has been appointed as the youngest United Nations Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR Refugee Agency.

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UPDATE # 26

“Young Women’s Leadership and Voices at the UN: A Call to Action”
Kaitlyn Cicciariello

The briefing “Young Women’s Leadership and Voices at the UN: A Call to Action” was held in conjunction with the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW61). The focus of this briefing was the marginalization of girls as a demographic when discussing the distribution of aid, resources, and assistance. Interestingly, as Aasha Shaik, a fellow at Douglass Residential College of Rutgers University, pointed out, demographically, girls can belong to several arch groups such as women or children; however, in both cases, being associated with these arch groups may result in girls not receiving the specific type of aid and resources they need.
            Including girls in the women group can create a situation where the type of aid being provided is distributed appropriately in quantity; however, the quality and specific needs are not tuned towards a younger population. For example, educational issues or the issues touching on statutory consent are not a discussion point in the generalized women demographic as they are inherently specific to younger populations. Therefore, the education, growth, and protection of the younger generation is not a focus. On the other hand, while the children demographic is nuanced to provide care for the younger population, often resources are disproportionately distributed or focused on boys as opposed to girls.
            While the intent of all humanitarian aid is beneficial, it is critically important to be vigilant for demographics that are slipping through the cracks, so to speak. After all, these girls will be the future generation of women, and by appropriating the correct resources to their demographic, there will be returns in the form of less dependence on resources further generations down the line.

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UPDATE #27

Photo: Combatants for Peace

This poem by Yehuda Amichai was read by Rabbi Shira Milgrom at the New York City gathering for the joint Israeli and Palestinian Memorial Day, now in its 12th year and always growing. She presented these words to show that hope was also like the bomb, and from a small thing could also grow in ripples, always outward, boundless. This event, held by Combatants for Peace and The Parents Circle, Bereaved Palestinian and Israeli families for Peace and Reconciliation (and with the support of the New Israel Fund) grows each year, and yet this year at the last moment the Israeli government refused entry permits for the Palestinian participants. So while several thousand Israeli convened in Tel Aviv some hundred went to Beit Jala to join with the Palestinians there, and the program was broadcast to those in both places as well as to us in New York and to several other cities across the globe.

Madeleine Segall-Marx

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UPDATE #28

“Youth Voices on Substance Abuse: A Guide for Empowerment and Action”
Kaitlyn Cicciariello

The UN briefing “Youth Voices on Substance Abuse: A Guide for Empowerment and Action” addressed the growing drug epidemic and the youth’s world view surrounding it. There was a panel of speakers from varying backgrounds, but one specific speaker’s message struck me as both universal and pertinent to addressing the root causes of the issue. Michelle McElroy, the Deputy Director of the Southern Tier AIDS Program specifically addressed not only the stigmatization of drug usage in society, but the formative and educational components society has generated to place many generations of youth on a misinformed path about drug abuse.
She addressed programs such as D.A.R.E., and explained her view that their message is not only ineffective, but counterproductive. She felt that such programs oversimplify the issue and misinform their audience to the point of patronization, which in time discredits their valid message of steering people away from drug use. She also discussed other issues such as the Federal government’s classification of drugs that categorizes marijuana and heroin as Schedule 1 drugs, indicating the highest risk level in terms of harm and abuse, while cocaine is considered a Schedule 2 drug. She also noted the inconsistencies across federal, state, and local policies in regard to drug use and treatment.
All in all, her message resonated very strongly. What made it even more pertinent was a recent directive by Attorney General Jeff Sessions to roll back Obama-era policies which minimized penal courses of action towards non-violent drug offenders and treated them as patients as opposed to criminals. Despite actual statistics, research, and data now being available to society about the ineffectiveness of the country’s war on drugs, it appears that the administration at times is either ignorant of the available information, willingly or otherwise, or has other priorities, such as obstructing efforts to reform the criminal sentencing guidelines, which conflict with the efforts of recovery and healing of those impacted by a still growing health epidemic.
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UPDATE#29

Four Members of the WCA UN Program Attended the Annual NGO
Conference at UN Headquarters

Helaine Soller, Martha Nicholson, Liz DiGiorgio, Val Smosna

UN DPI NGO Conference
Martha Nicholson

I, like Liz and Helaine found the DPI NGO conference to be somewhat lackluster compared to prior years. No money, no visas, no easy solutions.
However, I discovered gold at the very last session,and ended the day re-energized and re-engaged.
So......
These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

One
Leaving the security area and having the north side plaza open up big and wide to me. I bend my head back to catch the UN building in my sight. No clouds in the sky. Just the architecture. Thank you Le Corbusier.
I always fee proud to be at the UN.
There is a line of young Chinese girls proudly wearing their official conference t-shirts, arms linked Rockettes style, eager, giggling and innocent. They chat away in Mandarin. Their enthusiasm and excitement are palpable....I smile and enter the building with them.

Two
Helaine, Liz, Val and I are having lunch, high over the river with strong sunlight cutting into the room. We chat amiably about the workshop on Breaking the Intergenerational cycle of poverty. We all agree Cornell Brooks' contributions were the most compelling.
I particularly enjoyed hearing from Val her about first year of law school, which was rapidly approaching. How bright and thoughtful she is. As Val speaks, I sense the quiet pride Liz exudes. Proud Mama!

Three
We split up for the last session. I go to Physical and Mental Wellness.

Shermin Luo introduces herself. She is petite. She has a Dutch Boy haircut and uber hip eyeglasses. As she starts to speak, her exuberance, energy, acuity and ferocity spill out and tumble on to the audience.
She tells an extraordinary story.

There are 58 million Left Behind Children in China. That is their title in China. Their parents have literally left them behind to seek employment in other areas of China. The parents do not return. They are not left with grandparents, relatives or friends. Simply left behind. Left behind to fend for themselves. They suffer from depression, poor self acceptance, anxiety and often behave violently. They attend Chinese government schools called "Sunshine Schools."
Shermin, a freshman at college, took a hard look and felt the urgency to act.

In China there are no social services, no social workers, no psychologists, no psychiatrists.

There is Shermin Luo, who co-designed and initiated an intergenerational program connecting mentors (older teachers, retired principals, grandparents if available, elders) to these children.

She saw the importance of the children developing self awareness, responsible behavior, empathic skills, continuing education and integrating them into the community. It is a simple plan, works with what is available, namely many people, is low cost and is based on an essential aspect of life: the ability to heal and grow through connection to other people.

The program is working well and is growing. A referral system from the schools has been established.

Shermin is about guts and ingenuity. She knows her culture and her people.

Ambivalence, hesitation and procrastination occupy no space inside this woman!! So young, but so purposeful, so clear and so accomplished. Quite impressive!
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UPDATE #30
Kebedech Tekleab, our WCA Representative to the United Nations, recently visited Uganda Refugee camps to talk to migrants, hear their tales, and create a series of artworks reflecting what she had learned. She recently exhibited one of her pieces in Georgia.

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UPDATE #31

Joyce Ellen Weinstein in very potent exhibition:

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UPDATE # 32

Photo: Liz DiGiorgio

"One on One with the President of the 72nd Session of the UN General
Assembly: Miroslav Lajcak"

With Ramu Damodaran: Deputy Director for Partnership and Public Engagement / UNDPI Outreach
Liz Digiorgio

This presentation made clear that Miroslav Lajčák brings enormous skill and experience to the position of President of the UN General Assembly (UNGA). More importantly, he brings a clarity of mind and whole-hearted commitment to the mission of the UN as well.

President Lajčák acknowledeged that in his 30 years as a career diplomat he had often worked with NGOs, and he noted frankly, “You are not always easy partners, but you are a reality check.” He urged the NGO audience to continue doing their important work. He acknowledged that his only agenda is that of making the UN stronger, more relevant and more efficient, and he proceeded to share his principles and priorities, as well as his impressions of the General Debate.

His first principle was to keep the focus on people. He expressed a desire that there be no gap between the work of the UN and its perception, understanding and support by people. His second principle was quality. He noted that delivering statements and rushing off to the next meeting allows no time to listen. He suggested that, instead of expanding the number of meetings, it would be better to focus on improving the outcomes and quality of those meetings. President Lajčák’s third principle was balance. Since countries and regions will always have their own priorities and will never be able to agree upon priorities, he maintained that progress can only be had by giving equal attention to the three pillars of the UN Charter: peace and security, human rights, and development. This vision of putting principles ahead of the narrow priorities of nations and regions stood in contrast to that outlined by Donald Trump two weeks earlier in his statement during the General Debate.

Mr. Lajčák outlined how these principles are transformed into global priorities. He noted that the SDG’s are making some progress, but that work toward peace and security urgently needs to be improved. He questioned how well the UN is using the tools that it has, and wondered about what tools are missing. He acknowledged that the UN has mechanisms for when conflicts break out, but that tools are needed to prevent conflict. He pointed out that preventing war saves lives and money, and that diplomacy, while not free of charge, is cheaper than deploying troops. He referred to an upcoming high-level meeting in April of 2018 on sustaining peace and conflict prevention. He added that he would like it to be a high-visibility event and that he will be counting on NGO participation.

Migration is also a high priority for Mr. Lajčák. He explained that a global compact on migration was mandated by the previous General Assembly to create a document called “The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration” for adoption in September of 2018. Lajčák explained that they are currently shifting from the consultative phase to intergovernmental negotiations. According to Lajčák, there is no existing legal framework for migration, and a document outlining a global approach to manage it is a step in the right direction. He clarifed that refugee issues are addressed through the UN High Commisioner for Refugees, but migration is a separate matter that is addressed by the UNGA.

Lajčák was pleased that 40 member states will present their strategies for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the course of the 72nd Session of the UNGA. He added that the Sustainable Development Agenda will cost trillions of dollars, and that this necessitates commercially successful partnerships with business sectors.

Lajčák spoke of the upcoming launch the International Decade of Water on March 22, 2018 until 2028, calling attention to the crucial role of water (SDG #6) in sustaining peace. He stressed the importance of plain-speaking to attract youth to the side of the Sustainable Development Agenda, cautioning that young people without perspective can succumb to radicalization. In summarizing his hopes for the 72nd Session of the UNGA, Lajčák noted that, “respect for human dignity must be the basic prerequisite for every activity that we undertake.”

Lajčák noted that this year saw 196 statements from member states and observers in the General Debate, the highest number ever. For the first time in 11 years all member states delivered statements. The topic of the SDGs and climate change were discussed most often (by 140 member states), and strong support was voiced for the Paris Climate Agreement and its implementation.

Migration, terrorism and nuclear weapons were prominently featured topics as well. Lajčák appreciated that so many leaders identified with the theme of 72nd Session of the General Assembly of focusing on people, “and striving for peace and a decent life for all on a sustainable planet.” He appreciated the many calls for a strong UN as an active and visible presence for peace and conflict prevention.

The Q and A period brought the focus back to the role of civil society, and it was noted by Ramu Damodaran that the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded that same day to the NGO ICAN, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. Other important topics included the role of the NGO community in stepping up the pace of the Sustainable Development Agenda. Lajčák saw NGOs as crucial to monitoring progress in achieving the SDGs in member states, and to calling attention to where there are problems, gaps and underperformance.

In response to an observation that NGO access to UNGA is shrinking. Lajčák acknowledged this as a longstanding issue, and added, “I don’t want to be an ‘alibist’ and say that it is in the hands of the member states, but it is in the hands of the member states.” Nonetheless, he expressed a desire to explore the issue, setting up a platform to have the discussion. He offered his assistant Nicolai as a liaison to the NGOs.

Among other topics discussed was the recent passing of a resolution by the UNGA calling for abolishing the death penalty for apostasy, blasphemy, and same sex relationships. The particular problems faced by women, widows and young people in refugee situations and the crisis in Yemen were also among the topics raised. In response to an invitation by Queen Mother Dr. Delois Blakely, Ambassador of Goodwill to Africa and the Community Mayor of Harlem, Lajčák expressed his willingness and delight to meet with community members, especially young people, in Harlem.

In response to the closing question, “What was the most hopeful comment, event or trend you’ve experienced so far as President of the GA?” Lajčák cited the fact that so many leaders wanted to take the floor during the General Debate. He expressed appreciation especially for the smaller nations that make up the majority of the General Assembly. He reiterated their understanding of the UN as their only hope and instrument of defense, and he was pleased that they expressed their expectations of the UN. He concluded, “We must not let them down. The UN is the right place.”

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UPDATE #33

Liz DiGiorgio:
Presentation at the 2017 National Conference of the Community College Humanities Association
November 9 – 11, 2017, Baltimore, MD

CCHA Website: https://www.cchumanities.org/
Link to Conference Program: https://www.cchumanities.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/2017-Program-for-Website.pdf
Conference size: 110 sessions, 206 presenters

Session #80: Engaging Students for Leadership Roles in Meeting Community Needs
Faculty Panel: Dr. Meghmala Tarafdar and Liz Di Giorgio, Queensborough Community College, City University of New York.

Dr. Meghmala Tarafdar began the presentation by introducing Global Diversity Learning (GDL), the most recently incorporated high-impact pedagogical practice at Queensborough Community College. High-impact practices (HIPs) are “nationally recognized instructional modalities that are known to increase student engagement and active learning.”(QCC.edu) As defined at Queensborough, “GDL provides a framework for exploring multiple perspectives on viewing the interdependent world.”(QCC.edu) As designed at Queensborough Community College, GDL is comprised of three avenues: Intercultural Learning and Global Citizenship, Human Rights, and Environmental Sustainability. These three avenues have broad applications in a wide variety of disciplines, including the humanities, STEM and health-related sciences.

Liz Di Giorgio presented examples of how she draws upon UN resources when introducing GDL to students in her drawing class through the avenue of human rights. She discussed the importance of starting the course with a review of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. She explained that at Queensborough, where students come from 132 countries of origin, students are likely to have varying levels of awareness of the range of issues encompassed by the Declaration. Consequently, she introduces students to the illustrated version of the Declaration by artist Yacine Ait Kaci, also known as YAK, as the illustrations are especially relevant to students in a studio art course.

Di Giorgio further explained how she utilizes relevant UN resources to provide a context in which to understand artwork that addresses human rights. For example, when discussing artists whose work addresses poverty, such as Vik Muniz, Priscila de Carvalho, and Lily Yeh, she often also discusses the UN World Happiness Report, so that students can become aware that economic issues are only part of what constitutes a satisfying life.

Di Giorgio also discussed the MY World Survey as a powerful tool for exploring global issues. She explained that by accessing the MY World 2030 survey and the MY Analytics section of http://data.myworld2015.org/, students can see how a range of global issues are ranked by citizens in countries and regions around the world. In her presentation, she described the role of the MY World 2015 global survey data in leading to the Sustainable Development Agenda, a fact that she shares with her students, as well. MY Analytics allows students to explore issues that they have long wondered about, and to apply comparative perspectives as they research topics of personal interest. Di Giorgio gave the example of a student from South Korea who had always wondered why food in the US was so expensive and processed, while food in her native country was plentiful, inexpensive and fresh. She also described a student who wondered about differences in education between the US and his country of origin, the Bahamas. The Survey also encourages empathy in that students are encouraged to imagine why priorities would shift depending upon the Human Development Index (HDI) level of the countries or regions that they are comparing.

She talked about how she has used UN DPI/NGO briefings when they were relevant to her course, such as artist Lily Yeh’s presentation on the panel entitled “DPI/NGO Briefing: Art as a Tool for Conflict Prevention.” She discussed how educators in a wide range of disciplines can access UN DPI/NGO briefings in real time, as well as through the UN’s online archive. She emphasized that reflection is key to GDL, as in all high-impact practices, because it promotes deep learning while at the same time providing proof that such learning has occurred. Her presentation made clear that UN resources provide a wealth of material upon which students may reflect. Such resources can also help to spark awareness, engagement and transformation, which is the ultimate purpose of GDL.

Works Cited
Queensborough Community College. www.qcc.cuny.edu/cetl/high-impact-practices.html. Accessed 17 Nov. 2017.
Queensborough Community College. www.qcc.cuny.edu/cetl/global_and_diversity_learning.html. Accessed 17 Nov. 2017.

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UPDATE #34

Statement by Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO
on the Occasion of the Withdrawal by the United States of America from UNESCO

After receiving official notification by the United States Secretary of State, Mr Rex Tillerson, as UNESCO Director-General, I wish to express profound regret at the decision of the United States of America to withdraw from UNESCO. Universality is critical to UNESCO’s mission to strengthen international peace and security in the face of hatred and violence, to defend human rights and dignity. In 2011, when payment of membership contributions was suspended at the 36th session of the UNESCO General Conference, I said I was convinced UNESCO had never mattered as much for the United States, or the United States for UNESCO. This is all the more true today, when the rise of violent extremism and terrorism calls for new long-term responses for peace and security, to counter racism and antisemitism, to fight ignorance and discrimination. I believe UNESCO’s work to advance literacy and quality education is shared by the American people. I believe UNESCO’s action to harness new technologies to enhance learning is shared by the American people. I believe UNESCO’s action to enhance scientific cooperation, for ocean sustainability, is shared by the American people. I believe UNESCO’s action to promote freedom of expression, to defend the safety of journalists, is shared by the American people. I believe UNESCO’s action to empower girls and women as change-makers, as peacebuilders, is shared by the American people. I believe UNESCO’s action to bolster societies facing emergencies, disasters and conflicts is shared by the American people. Despite the withholding of funding, since 2011, we have deepened the partnership between the United States and UNESCO, which has never been so meaningful. Together, we have worked to protect humanity’s shared cultural heritage in the face of terrorist attacks and to prevent violent extremism through education and media literacy. Together, we worked with the late Samuel Pisar, Honorary Ambassador and Special Envoy for Holocaust Education, to promote education for remembrance of the Holocaust across the world as the means to fight antisemitism and genocide today, including with, amongst others, the UNESCO Chair for Genocide Education at the University of Southern California and the UNESCO Chair on Literacy and Learning at the University of Pennsylvania.

Together, we work with the OSCE to produce new tools for educators against all forms of antisemitism, as we have done to fight anti-Muslim racism in schools. Together, we launched the Global Partnership for Girls’ and Women’s Education in 2011. Together, with the American academic community, including 17 UNESCO University Chairs, we have worked to advance literacy, to promote sciences for sustainability, to teach respect for all in schools. This partnership has been embodied in our interaction with the United States Geological Survey, with the US Army Corps of Engineers, with United States professional societies, to advance research for the sustainable management of water resources, agriculture. It has been embodied in the celebration of World Press Freedom Day in Washington D.C in 2011, with the National Endowment for Democracy. It has been embodied in our cooperation with major private sector companies, with Microsoft, Cisco, Procter & Gamble, Intel, to retain girls in school, to nurture technologies for quality learning. It has been embodied in the promotion of International Jazz Day, including at the White House in 2016, to celebrate human rights and cultural diversity on the basis of tolerance and respect. It has been embodied in 23 World Heritage sites, reflecting the universal value of the cultural heritage of the United States, in 30 Biosphere Reserves, embodying the country’s vast and rich biodiversity, in 6 Creative Cities, as a source of innovation and job creation. The partnership between UNESCO and the United States has been deep, because it has drawn on shared values. The American poet, diplomat and Librarian of Congress, Archibald MacLeish penned the lines that open UNESCO’s 1945 Constitution: “Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed.” This vision has never been more relevant. The United States helped inspire the 1972 UNESCO World Heritage Convention. In 2002, one year after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the late Russell Train, former Head of the US Environmental Protection Agency and founder of the World Wildlife Fund, who did so much to launch the World Heritage Convention, said: “At this time in history, as the fabric of human society seems increasingly under attack by forces that deny the very existence of a shared heritage, forces that strike at the very heart of our sense of community, I am convinced that World Heritage holds out a contrary and positive vision of human society and our human future.” UNESCO’s work is key to strengthen the bonds of humanity’s common heritage in the face of forces of hatred and division. The Statue of Liberty is a World Heritage site because it is a defining symbol of the United States of America, and also because of what it says for people across the world. Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed, is a World Heritage site, because its message speaks to policy-makers and activists across the globe. Yosemite, Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon are World Heritage sites, because they are marvels for everyone, in all countries. This is not just about World Heritage. UNESCO in itself holds out this “positive vision of human society.” At the time when the fight against violent extremism calls for renewed investment in education, in dialogue among cultures to prevent hatred, it is deeply regrettable that the United States should withdraw from the United Nations agency leading these issues. At the time when conflicts continue to tear apart societies across the world, it is deeply regrettable for the United States to withdraw from the United Nations agency promoting education for peace and protecting culture under attack. This is why I regret the withdrawal of the United States. This is a loss to UNESCO. This is a loss to the United Nations family. This is a loss for multilateralism. UNESCO’s task is not over, and we will continue taking it forward, to build a 21st century that is more just, peaceful, equitable, and, for this, UNESCO needs the leadership of all States. UNESCO will continue to work for the universality of this Organization, for the values we share, for the objectives we hold in common, to strengthen a more effective multilateral order and a more peaceful, more just world.

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UPDATE#35

News From Dr. Karen Frostig

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UPDATE #36

NO COMMENT NECESSARY

Three Recent Headlines:

Nikki Haley Thinks the UN Can Be 'Fixed' -- and the US Will Do the Fixing
by: Barbara Crossette
Nikki Haley Calls United Nations Human Rights Council 'So Corrupt"
by: Somini Sengupta
White House Seeks to Cut Billions in Funding for United Nations
US Retreat from UN could mark a breakdown of the international humanitarian system as we know it.
by: Colum Lynch
And a surprise:
Nikki Haley Says Trump's Accusers Should Be Heard

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UPDATE #37

Marcia Annenberg Interviewed by Lilith

Creating Art for Our Dire Times
Eleanor J. Bader

Like many of us, artist Marcia Annenberg is worried. First, there’s climate change. Then there’s the growing erosion of U.S. democracy—including the loss of many long-held civil liberties—and the tendency of mainstream media to replace hard news with entertainment and fluff. “We’re in dire times,” the Manhattan-based Annenberg begins. “It’s frightening. The only consolation is that the American system of government was developed to protect us from efforts to subvert our institutions in negative ways.” Annenberg’s work—color-driven abstracts and installations and paintings meant to jolt the viewer’s political awareness—are in numerous permanent collections: The London Jewish Museum; the Vad Yashem Art Museum in Jerusalem; the Vilna Gaon Jewish State Museum in Lithuania; and the Florida Holocaust Museum, among them. In New York City, she is represented by the Flomenhaft Gallery, one of Chelsea’s most respected women-owned exhibition spaces. Annenberg sat down with Eleanor J. Bader on a blisteringly hot June morning. Surprisingly, despite the heavy subject matter, the pair found a great deal to laugh about as they discussed what it means to call oneself a progressive, humanist, activist-artist at this particular moment. Eleanor J. Bader: Has your artwork always been concerned with political themes? Marcia Annenberg: Yes and no. My first solo show was at the Rockland Center for Holocaust Studies in upstate New York. One of the paintings depicted a young girl holding a doll and looking out at the barbed wire of the camp. Another painting, In the Still of the Night, addressed the massacre at Babi Yar. But I am a colorist at heart. Exploring color makes me feel more positive. It reminds me that although there is a lot of misery in the world, there is also a lot of joy. There is sadness, but there are counterweights to all that is regrettable about the human condition. Still, over the past decade or so, my work has increasingly focused on political themes. One of my prompts came from a New York Times article by David Barstow about the relationship between General Electric, the company that owned WNBC-TV from 1986 to 2011, and war profiteering during the early years of the Iraq War. I started to wonder why a company like GE that was involved in weapons’ manufacturing was allowed to own a TV station, and why their news coverage never disclosed this connection. The turning point for me, though, came after passage of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The Act was signed into law by George W. Bush in 2006 and gave the government the power to put people suspected of terrorism away indefinitely. What got to me, in addition to the fact that this was signed into law in the first place, was the fact that this was not on the front page of every newspaper in the country. I saw this as part of a trend that had begun in the 1990s to replace hard, factual, information with true crime, cooking, and celebrity news. Here we are, a supposedly free society based on a free press, but we have to research what’s going on independently if we want to learn what’s happening. The NDAA seemed like a violation of everything I grew up believing. What about the right to a trial by jury? What about being considered innocent until proven guilty? These questions influenced a few of my installations, including “No News is Good News” and “Checkmate: Foxy Moxy.” Both look at media consolidation and bias. EJB: Did you grow up in a political household? MA: My parents were very political. They subscribed to I.F. Stone’s Weekly and I knew from an early age that there were official and unofficial versions of the news. I was aware as a child that not everything I heard on the TV or radio or read in the papers was true. My parents also watched the BBC News and I remember when I was about five years old seeing newsreels of the liberation of the concentration camps. I was terrified, but there was no conversation about what we were seeing. If you combine this with the fact that I was forced to participate in schoolroom drills where we hid from Russian invaders by going underneath our desks, the message was clear: Either the Russians or the Germans were after us. I grew up in a state of terror about what would happen next. I think that this fed right into the “live for the moment” ethos of the 1960s that many post-war children gravitated to. EJB: Were you part of the movement opposing the Vietnam War? MA: I went to the City College of New York as an undergraduate and we closed down the school three times! After seeing the now-famous photo of the little girl running with napalm burning her back, I really “got” the power of an image. That realization has influenced my art. Things were different then. Protest was a cultural phenomenon. None of us felt isolated. We did things in groups, where everyone felt a sort of natural connectivity, as if a force drew us together with a shared understanding of what we had to do. EJB: After college did you pursue art making full-time? MA: No. I taught art for 25 years and worked at a public school in Washington Heights from 1987 until 2006. When I began working there, there was no art program for special education students so I started one. It made me feel that there was a purpose to my being there. It was really gratifying. I also continued to study. I took figure drawing classes at the Art Students’ League after college and later got a Master’s degree from New York University. The beauty of teaching, for me, was that most days I was done at 3:00 p.m. so I could then paint or draw until 6:00, as well as during summers and on weekends. Even after my husband and I adopted our daughter in 1996, I kept this up. EJB: Tell me a little bit about the adoption. MA: We adopted our daughter from an orphanage in Russia. She was two. The transition from a facility to a home was not easy and we saw a lot of hyperactivity and difficult behavior. In retrospect, I now see that it was a blessing that I had been a teacher before becoming a mother because I knew how to structure time and dispense discipline in a loving way. My daughter is now 23, and she and I are going to Russia later this summer on a trip sponsored by Russian Ties, a group for adoptive parents and their Russian-born children. We’re excited! EJB: How did you become involved in the environmental movement? MA: What really got to me was something I noticed right after Hurricane Sandy. When the weather people talked about the destruction and discussed the need for sea walls, they never mentioned why the water levels were rising. This was a suppression of critical news. Even today, so many people have no idea that we’re facing an environmental emergency. It’s mind-boggling. Of course, groups like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have documented the crisis, but the U.S. is still largely in denial. Once I understood this, I became involved in 350.org and the Jewish Climate Action Network. I’m also part of the environmental group at my shul, B’nai Jeshurun on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Several of my art projects—including “Check, Checkmate, Game Over”—are a response to environmental calamity. EJB: Are you also involved in feminist work? MA: Not in a formal way. It’s funny. My mom passed the bar exam in 1945 and was a very independent woman. She spoke about the discrimination she and other women experienced in the law field and was a fantastic role model, a woman who broke glass ceilings and barriers. I guess because of her example, I never personally felt constrained or hindered by my gender. I just assumed I could do whatever I wanted to do. At the same time, some of my art touches on sexism and misogyny. I created a sculpture called “Little Red” as a tribute to Aisha Ibrahim Duholow, a 13-year-old girl who was stoned to death in a stadium in Somalia. Aisha had been raped but instead of arresting the men who attacked her, Al-Shabaab (a militant Taliban-like group) killed her as she traveled to her grandmother’s house. Another installation, called “Helen of Troy,” focuses on the concept of beauty as culturally determined and informed. EJB: How did you become affiliated with the Flomenhaft Gallery? MA: A few years back I was part of an exhibition called Women Call for Peace where “Little Red” was displayed. As part of the exhibit, the organizers scheduled a panel discussion. Eleanor Flomenhaft, who’d opened the Flomenhaft Gallery in 2004, was there because she used to represent Faith Ringgold and wanted to hear what she had to say. Apparently, Eleanor liked what I had to say, too, because, after the panel she came up to me and invited me to participate in a group show she was pulling together. I’ve been one of her artists ever since. EJB: What’s next for you? MA: I’m now working on a large public art project about the environment, but it’s in process so I can’t talk about it yet. Oh, and some of my work will be included in a book about Jewish artists being compiled by Ori Z. Soltes of Georgetown University’s Center for Jewish Civilization.

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UPDATE # 38

International Caucus/UN Program Honor Roll Recognizes Dr. Karen Frostig
It is with extreme pride that IC/UN Program announces Karen Frostig as the International Caucus/UN Program Honor Roll Awardee for this year. There are not enough superlatives to describe her contributions to Women's Caucus for Art, women's issues, as well as the healthy and affirming light she is shining into some of the darkest recesses of our collective human history.

Exiled Memory Project: Seventy Years of Estrangement. Photo: Karen Frostig

______________________________​​UPDATE #3Welcome Our New United Nations Youth Representatives​Art Students from CUNYThree Youth Reps this year! Art students from CUNY. And a wonderful young man who is such a strong feminist that he wanted to take part.​ Maureen Burns-Bowie

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_______________________________​UPDATE #5"International Day For Commemoration Of Victims Of The Holocaust" Lea Weinberg

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_______________________________​UPDATE #10WCA, EcoCaucus, UN Program Member, and Recipient of IC Honor Roll Award,​Felicia Young, speaks at NYU Climate Conference

_______________________________​UPDATE #11With so much pain in the world today, it is difficult to think of happiness. However, a high quality of life for everyone is what we are striving for. We need to keep our eyes on the prize. Maureen Burns-Bowie​International Day of Happiness

______________________________UPDATE # 12​​"Israel and Palestine: Through the Lens of Biography and Memoir" Madeleine Segall-Marx

______________________________UPDATE # 13 ​" WHAT THEY TOOK WITH THEM" YOU TUBE VIDEO released by UN Refugee AgencyPoem by Jenifer Toksvighttps://www.unhcr.org/en-us/what-they-took-with-them.html

______________________________UPDATE #14​Commission on the Status of Women

______________________________​UPDATE #16The Trump administration proposes deep cuts in foreign aid amid four famines with 20 million people at risk. The UN calls this situation the largest humanitarian crisis since the founding of the United Nations.

______________________________UPDATE #16​March 25 Remembrance of Victims of Slavery

______________________________UPDATE #17Felicia Young on Art and Activism

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_______________________________​​UPDATE #21"Finding A New Home: The Role Of Faith-Based Organizations​In Refugee Assistance And Refugee Resettlement Work"

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_______________________________​UPDATE#29​Four Members of the WCA UN Program Attended the Annual NGO​Conference at UN Headquarters

______________________________​UPDATE #31Joyce Ellen Weinstein in very potent exhibition:

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