UNA-USA’s Mission
We are
dedicated to educating,
inspiring and mobilizing
Americans to support the
principles and vital work of the
United Nations, strengthening
the United Nations system,
promoting constructive United
States leadership in that system
and achieving the goals of the
United Nations Charter.
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President’s Letter
By
Pal Palmore
As I
write this letter the terrible
news about the disaster in Japan
caused by the combined
earthquake (the worst in
Japanese history) and tsunami
that not only killed thousands
of people and left tens of
thousands homeless, and is
causing the worst nuclear
disaster since Chernobyl, is
weighing heavily upon me. My
heart goes out to my friends and
their neighbors in Japan.
If
anything good can come out of
this, it may be that people
around the globe may become more
aware of the essential role of
the United Nations in such
disasters. The UN Disaster
Assessment and Coordination
Agency is hard at work doing its
job behind the scenes: assessing
the disaster and coordinating
the relief efforts The UN Atomic
Energy Agency is on the scene
also assessing the situation.
And of course all the other
agencies that help in disasters
are helping: the World Food
Program is providing food; the
World Health Organization is
saving lives; the UN Childrens
Fund (UNICEF) is helping the
children; etc.
What can we do as
individuals? At this point the
main thing we can do is donate
to one of the many disaster
relief funds. One of the
quickest and surest ways to
donate is to go to
www.rapiddisasterrelief.org
and donate on-line. Your money
will be channeled through our
sister organization the UN
Foundation. On behalf of the
stricken people in Japan, I
thank you.
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Lunch and Learn
to Hear About Guantanamo Terror
Trials
In a
highly controversial decision
that will have long term
implications for America’s
politics, judicial system and
foreign relations, President
Obama has decided that the fate
of the 170 detainees still
awaiting trial in Guantanamo Bay
should be determined by military
tribunals. Scott Silliman,
Professor of the Practice of Law
and Executive Director of Duke
University’s Center on Law,
Ethics and National Security,
will discuss military tribunals
versus civilian trials in the
war on terror. An expert on
military law and national
security law, Professor
Silliman, a former Judge
Advocate General for the air
force, is a frequent commentator
on CNN, National Public Radio,
and other national radio and
television news programs on
these issues.
As usual, our
meeting will take place on
Wednesday, April 27, Noon to
2PM, at Carolina Meadows in
Chapel Hill. Reservations should
be made by $18 check to UNAUSA
West Triangle Chapter and sent
to Warren Glick, 83203 Jarvis,
Chapel Hill, NC 27517 by April
22. Further details may be found
at
www.una-westtriangle.org
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UN a Key Player in the Middle
East
By
Simone Lewis, West Triangle
Chapter Editorial Intern
The
Middle East is experiencing yet
another tumultuous time. The
entire world watches in angst to
see the next big news break.
With so much uncertainty about
how it all will end up,
naturally, we’re all looking for
a supra organization to save the
day. While the UN may not be
able to wave a magic wand, it is
almost always the one turned to
by the world to help relieve the
pressure in that much troubled
region. Most prominent has been
the politico/peacekeeping work
of the UN Security Council
in the Israeli-Arab
confrontation over Palestine,
and now the UN’s effort to
protect the Libyan people
against reprisals from their
leader, Col. Muammar Qaddhafi.
But
a great deal of the UN’s work in
the Middle East is carried out
in well tried UN fashion, out of
the limelight in the economic
sphere, by the network of United
Nations specialized
socio-economic agencies. For
example, UNRWA (UN
Relief and Works Agency for
Palestine Refugees) is the
main provider of basic services
such as education, health,
relief and social services, to
4.8 million Palestinian refugees
in the Gaza Strip, the West
Bank, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.
On a similar note, the UN’s
refugee agency, UNHCR (UN
High Commissioner for Refugees),
which protects and assists the
voluntary repatriation, local
integration or resettlement to a
third country of displaced
peoples in the area, has been
assisting some 320,000 refugees
fleeing the Libyan fighting,
with emergency aid by airlifting
tons of aid, including tents for
thousands of people at the
borders and items such as
kitchen sets, blankets, sleeping
mats, jerry cans and tarpaulins.
It has also set up a transit
camp for 20,000 people near the
Libya-Tunisia border at the
request of the Tunisian
government.
Other United Nations agencies -
the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP),
the World Food Program (WFP),
the World Health Organization
(WHO), and a bevy of others
- work towards establishing a
sustainable quality of life for
people (as they do throughout
the world) through helping to
establish democracy, reduce
poverty, and recover from
crises, natural and manmade. The
Middle East is a place where the
UN’s efforts are ever present
and particularly in times of
uncertainty and crisis such as
now, make an especially
meaningful impact to the lives
of millions.
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Education Outreach
By
Jean and Tuck Green
Model U.N. Club News
Our
UNA-USA Chapter encourages the
creation and development of
Model U.N. Clubs throughout the
West Triangle area. For example,
we have offered resource
materials and workshops to
teachers about how to introduce
Model U.N. into the curriculum.
In addition, we provide modest
financial aid to new clubs in
order for them to acquire
resource materials such as
publications about issues before
the U.N. We have arranged for
university students from Duke
and UNC to coach high school MUN
club members.
We
also provide support to help
clubs pay the registration fees
for Model U.N. Conferences.
These Conferences, such as UNC-Chapel
Hill’s MUNCH and Duke’s DUMUNC,
offer clubs the chance to test
the quality of their research,
debate, and negotiating skills
by competing with other schools.
Conference sponsors provide
modest awards for both schools
and individual participants.
Below are reports from local
schools on their recent
conference participation.
David Bennett, advisor for
Chapel Hill High School Model
U.N. Club, reported on his
club’s recent experience at
Duke: “The conference went well.
The students learned a great
deal and felt
they
served very important roles in
their committees.” This was
Duke’s 30th annual conference
and the turnout of over five
hundred included schools from
other states as well as North
Carolina.
Frank Felicelli, advisor for
the Club at Cedar Ridge High
School near Hillsborough,
reported that sixteen members of
his Club attended a conference
at Johns Hopkins University
which drew over 1,500
participants. They came home
with three Honorable Mentions
and one verbal commendation,
their best performance to date.
They finished third for best
small school. Frank was a bit
disappointed that his kids were
so burned out from Hopkins that
only three went to the Duke
conference the following weekend
– but the three that went
performed very well.
Katie Fisher, President of
the East Chapel Hill High
School Club, reported that they
participated in Duke’s
conference, DUMUNC. They
received Honorable Mentions for
their delegates in the Joint
Crisis Committee and the
Organization of American States.
They expect to participate in
UNC-CH’s MUNCH later this spring
as well as the University of
California-San Diego’s
conference.
The
President of Carrboro High
School’s Club, Bradli Crump,
reported that eleven of her
club’s members attended the Ivy
League Conference in
Philadelphia, no mean feat
considering the huge snowfall
that hit that city just days
before the event. She and
several others won Honorable
mentions, a remarkable
achievement for a small
delegation amid some 2,300
others attending the conference.
If you would like
to support this Committee’s
work, please check off
“Education Outreach” on the
Lunch and Learn Registration
form and send your donation in
together with your Lunch fee.
Suggestions? Please contact us
at
cgreen17@nc.rr.com
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UNA-USA's History
By
Amanda Conklin, Communications
Outreach Intern)
(from UN Association web site
-
www.unausa.org )
The
American Association for the
United Nations, UNA-USA's
predecessor organization, grew
from the League of Nations
Association in 1943. A group of
prominent citizens, including
the first executive director,
Clark M. Eichelberger, activated
the Association to promote
acceptance of the Dumbarton Oaks
proposals in the late years of
World War II. Among the
Association's early actions was
a national tour by a number of
US representatives to spread the
word and gain support for
American adherence to the
Dumbarton Oaks proposals, which
led to the creation of the UN.
When
First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, a
member of the Association’s
board of directors, completed
her term as a US representative
to the UN General Assembly in
late 1951, she walked into the
Association’s offices and asked
for something to do. Her offer
was gratefully accepted, and in
early 1953, she established an
office at the Association’s
headquarters.
This
was the quiet beginning of a
major campaign in which Mrs.
Roosevelt carried the message of
the American Association for the
United Nations across the
country through personal
appearances, recruitment
speeches and fund-raising
efforts that continued until her
death in November 1962. She was
elected chairwoman of the board
in 1961.
In
1964, the Association merged
with the US Committee for the
United Nations, a group of 138
national organizations
supporting the work of the UN,
thereby creating the United
Nations Association of the
United States of America. Since
then, several distinguished
Americans have served in
positions of leadership at UNA-USA.
These include Arthur J.
Goldberg, former Justice of the
US Supreme Court and US
permanent representative to the
United Nations; James S.
McDonnell, former chairman of
the McDonnell-Douglas
Corporation; Elliot L.
Richardson, former US attorney
general and US representative to
the Law of the Sea Conference;
William Scranton, former
governor of Pennsylvania and US
permanent representative to the
United Nations; Cyrus Vance,
former secretary of state; and
John C. Whitehead, former deputy
secretary of state.
In
1999, the Business Council for
the United Nations joined UNA-USA
as a division. Founded in 1958
with the blessing of
Secretary-General Dag
Hammarskjold, BCUN worked to
build support for the UN among
business leaders and employers
of major US corporations,
enjoying the early support of
such leaders as former
Secretary-General U Thant and US
Presidents Dwight Eisenhower and
Harry S. Truman.
In
2010, UNA-USA formed a strategic
alliance with the UN Foundation.
Under the new alliance UNA-USA
continues as a robust
membership-based component of
the UN Foundation. Together, UNA-USA
and the UN Foundation are
pooling their talents to
increase public education and
advocacy on the work of the UN.
UNA-USA works closely with the
UN Foundation's sister
organization, the Better World
Campaign, whose mission is also
to strengthen the U.S.-UN
relationship.
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UNA Film Festival - Films as
Catalysts for Social Change
By
Michele Yeo - Coordinator, UNA
West Triangle Film Festival
Film
has become the fundamental
medium that has the power to
inspire people to contemplate on
the social issues of our time.
With this idea in mind, the
United Nations Association Film
Festival (UNAFF) was born.
The UNAFF was established in
1998 in conjunction with the
fiftieth anniversary of the
signing of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights.
UNAFF celebrates the power
of films that deal with a
host of environmental and
socio-economic issues
including population,
migration, women's issues,
refugees, racism, ecological
preservation, universal
education, war and peace.
The collection of films are
impressive, many being
produced by international
independent film makers. The
repertoire of films includes
Oscar Award winners or
nominees while others have
received international film
awards and critical
acclaims. Examples of these
films include The Panama
Deception, Thoth, The Blood
of Yangzhou District, The
Most Dangerous Man in
America: Daniel Ellsberg and
the Pentagon Papers, and God
Sleeps in Rwanda.
The main UNA Film Festival
event is held annually
during the month of October
in Palo Alto, CA on the
grounds of Stanford
University. However smaller
replicates of the main
festival, known as the UNA
Traveling Film Festival, are
held in cities across the
USA. In this way local
communities are able to
share and partake in such
exceptional and unique
films. So far, the West
Triangle Chapter has
successfully organized two
UNA Traveling Film Festivals
in the Triangle area - in
Durham, NC.
Since the beginning of the
twentieth century, the
independent film industry
has confronted, challenged,
and explored various social
issues through its films. We
presently live in a society
where local events cannot be
totally separated from the
broader world community, and
films made by international
producers serve to give us
different and wide
perspectives of events. The
UNA Film Festival therefore
offers a unique opportunity
for everyone to view
extraordinary award-winning
films, to become familiar
with global and local
issues, and perhaps to
acquire a better
understanding of the means
to address these issues.
Plans to hold another UNA
Traveling Film Festival in
Durham are in the making. In
the past we have been able
to garner enough sponsorship
funds such that the film
screenings were free and
open to the public. It is
our aim to have no admission
fee or to keep it low so
that the films are
accessible to everyone in
the community especially
students. If you would like
to support the Traveling
Film Festival, please feel
free to send a donation
cheque to the West Triangle
Chapter. Any amount would be
deeply appreciated.
For more
information about the UNAFF,
please visit the website
www.unaff.org
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(This is the first
installment of a series
addressing the purposes and
functions of the UN’s
intergovernmental Councils,
and the relationships among
them. ed)
Know Your Security
Council
By Amanda Conklin, West
Triangle Chapter
Communications Outreach
Intern
The Security Council was
established for continuous
maintenance of peace and
security in accordance with
the principles and purposes
of the UN. What this means
in everyday terms is that
when a dispute or crisis
arises, the primary task of
the SC is to resolve it
using the powers given to it
by the UN, which this
article will walk through
before moving on to other
functions of the Council,
its organization, and
relation to the United
States.
When resolving a dispute,
the SC has a variety of
tools it can use to
reestablish peace and
security, but it normally
follows a certain order when
using these tools. Its first
action is usually to
recommend to the parties to
try to reach an agreement by
peaceful means. If the
situation continues, the
Council may conduct an
investigation and mediation
by appointing special
representatives or by
requesting the
Secretary-General to do so
or to use his good offices.
Next, it can set forth
principles for a peaceful
settlement. However, these
tools are not always
successful, and fighting can
erupt. If this occurs, it
can try to end the fighting
as soon as possible by
deciding to issue cease-fire
directives or send UN
peace-keeping forces to the
area in which fighting is
taking place. It can also
choose to enact enforcement
measures, such as economic
sanctions or collective
military action. If the SC
decides to take action, it
may make recommendations to
the General Assembly to
suspend the rights and
privileges of a Member State
or even to expel it from the
UN.
In addition to this purpose,
the Council’s other
functions have much
importance to the other
organs of the UN. First, to
the GA, it can also
recommend new Member States
and the appointment of a
Secretary-General. To the
Secretary-General, it
provides an annual report on
its proceedings, and to the
International Court of
Justice, it votes with the
GA to elect new judges.
The Council is composed of
five permanent members –USA,
UK, France, Russia, and
China - and ten
non-permanent members which
hold two-year terms.
Non-permanent members are
elected by the GA on the
basis of their contribution
to the maintenance of
international peace and
security and to the other
purposes of the
Organization, and with
respect to geographical
distribution. Each Council
member has one vote.
Decisions on procedural
matters are passed with nine
affirmative votes, but on
all other matters, nine
votes including the
concurring votes of all five
permanent members, are
necessary. This stipulation
is referred to as the rule
of “great power unanimity”
or the “veto” power. When a
SC decision is passed, all
members of the United
Nations are bound to accept
it and carry it out.
The
United States has had an up and
down relationship with the SC
during the past decade. The down
time came when the US
disregarded the SC as an
important source of legitimacy
for international action and
went to war in Iraq without
waiting for proper SC
authorization. However,
relations turned around with the
Obama administration, which has
recognized the need for
continued legitimacy of the SC
and has called for SC reform to
better reflect 21stcentury
realities of geographical and
political representation. This
is in accordance with the 2010
US National Security Strategy
that favored SC reform that
“enhances the UN’s overall
performance, credibility, and
legitimacy. Other remarks in the
document also looked favorably
on the SC, stating that the
administration was intensifying
efforts with partners on and
outside the Council to “ensure
timely, robust and credible
Council action to address
threats to peace and security.”
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