PRESIDENT’S LETTER
By
Pal Palmore
Please note: This is the holiday
season, and we don’t want to
interfere with yours. Therefore,
in to allow you to both
celebrate Christmas with your
friends and loved ones and to
attend our December Lunch &
Learn meeting, the meeting
will take place on Wednesday,
December 15, a week earlier than
normal. I hope you will be
able to attend because Jerry
Berke and I have planned a
special presentation by me (see
elsewhere in this issue for
details) and because we
will combine our Lunch and
Learn meeting with our Annual
Business Meeting in which
you will be asked to approve
(or question) our proposed
budget and to elect officers and
board members for 2011.
Here
is our proposed budget for your
consideration:
Income
Lunch & Learn $16,500
Dues rebate 2,600
Donations 2,500
Total Income $21,600
Expenses
Luncheons $13,700
Speakers expenses 200
Children’s Health 500
Education 4,000
Communications 2,200
Administration 1,075
Total expenses $21,675
Balance (Income minus
expenses) - $75
We
had to reduce the amounts
budgeted for some items
(especially Education) because
of declining membership and dues
rebate. Also note that we are
dependent on $2,500 from your
donations to our annual fund
raising letter, which you should
have received by now.
We
will also be asking you to
approve the following nominees
for reelection to our Board:
Ivan Remnitz, Jerry and Barbara
Berke, Bjoern Hennings. The
nominees for officers to be
reelected are: President, Pal
Palmore; Vice President, Gregg
Flood; Secretary, Jean Green;
and Treasurer, Ann Sherman.
Other nominations may be made
from the floor.
Get
your
reservation in early so
you will be sure to have a seat
at this important meeting.
See you there!
Pal Palmore
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Lunch and Learn
to Discuss Global Aging
Blessing or Curse for the
World?
The
number of people in the world is
not only growing, but due to
scientific and nutritional
advances the population of all
countries is aging. These trends
are placing increasing demands
on national resources and, as
illuminated by the recent
elections, government finances.
Both trends hold the potential
for national destabilization and
international unrest as
governments try to meet the
demands of their populations. On
the other hand, greater
longevity can be a blessing and
provide unprecedented
opportunities. Through a variety
of specialized agencies the
United Nations is assisting
governments to deal with the new
socio-political paradigm
resulting from aging populations
globally.
Erdman (Pal) Palmore, Professor
Emeritus at the Duke Center for
the Study of Aging and President
of the West Triangle UN
Association, will discuss
"Global Aging: Blessing or
Curse?" at the chapter’s meeting
on Wednesday, December 15.
The
meeting will take place from
Noon to 2:00PM at Carolina
Meadows on Whippoorwill Lane in
Chapel Hill. Reservations should
be made by check for $18.00 to "UNA-USA
West Triangle Chapter, sent to
Warren Glick. 83203 Jarvis,
Chapel Hill NC 27517 by Friday
December 10.
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The Midterm Election’s Potential
Impact on US-UN Relations
(the
following is a synopsis of
articles appearing on UNA-USA’s
web site --ed.)
The
mid-term election results will
have significant repercussions
for United States relations with
the United Nations system going
forward. While the Obama
Administration will certainly
continue to pursue its policy of
active engagement in
international organizations, a
Republican-dominated House of
Representatives will likely view
the more than $2 billion annual
appropriation of US assessed and
voluntary contributions to the
UN system and peacekeeping with
a critical eye. It is not
unreasonable to assume that
continued funding of UN
activities, whether in the areas
of peacekeeping, humanitarian
aid, or disaster relief, among
so many others, will come under
increased scrutiny and,
ultimately, under attack.
In
the Senate, a Democratic
majority will be forced to find
ways of accommodating the views
of Republican members who, in
recent years, have been able to
postpone action on controversial
issues before they can ever be
voted on by the chamber.
Finally, the election of House
and Senate members affiliated
with the "Tea Party" movement
will inject a new variable into
the debate over America's role
in the world manifested by the
movement's suspicion of
international institutions that
are seen to diminish American
sovereignty.
For members and
supporters of UNA-USA, it will
be as important as ever for all
of us to be able to articulate
the case for active US
engagement in the work of the
United Nations both locally and
nationally. We can count on the
continued support of the Obama
Administration, but it is clear
that the Obama Administration
will depend on us to make the
case for sustained involvement
in the UN in order to muster the
necessary support on Capitol
Hill to make our country’s
continued involvement possible
as well as to enhance it. In our
new role as an integral member
of the United Nations Foundation
family, UNA-USA will be on the
“front line” in the effort to
inform and educate the public
about America’s stake in an
effective United Nations.
Working in communities across
the country and in the nation’s
capital, UNA-USA will be called
upon to play a prominent and
visible role—as it has done on
so many occasions in its
history--in the coming national
debate concerning our country’s
role in the United Nations.
For a full
analysis of the impact of the
midterm elections on USA-UN
relations, go to
http://www.unausa.org/midterm
-ed
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Responsibility to Protect
By Amanda Conklin, WTC Outreach
Intern
“Responsibility
to Protect” (RtoP) is a new
international security and human
rights norm focused on
addressing the international
community’s failure to prevent
and stop genocides, war crimes,
ethnic cleansing and crimes
against humanity by building an
international coalition of NGOs
from around the world to
strengthen consensus for the
initiative. “RtoP” was first
introduced in the 2001 report of
the International Commission on
Intervention and State
Sovereignty, which questioned
the relevance of state
sovereignty in the face of
violations against humanity and
international law within a
country. In recent years,
ongoing humanitarian disasters
fostered more support in the UN
for the initiative, and it was
advanced in reports by both the
former and current
Secretary-Generals as well as
included in the African Union
Charter, giving the Union the
right to intervene in a Member
State during times of war
crimes, genocides, and crimes
against humanity. World leaders
finally recognized the
importance of this commitment at
the 2005 World Summit, and the
first debate on “RtoP” in the
General Assembly took place in
July 2009, during which many
countries showed support for the
norm, resulting in the adoption
of a resolution to continue its
consideration of “RtoP”.
Fueled by the lack of or late
response to the 1990s genocides
in Armenia, Bosnia and Rwanda,
“RtoP” has focused its efforts
on preventing further crisis in
the areas of Burma, Darfur, DRC
and Sri Lanka among others. The
initiative believes that future
humanitarian crimes can be
reduced by 1) committing to
“enhancing early-warning”
systems, 2) implementing
“national plans of actions on
how to protect populations”, 3)
strengthening collaborations in
the prevention of mass
atrocities, 4) providing
“assistance for improving the
capacity to protect mechanisms”,
and 5) committing “to take
timely and appropriate action”
in situations where crimes and
violations threaten to occur.
However, stopping ongoing human
rights violations could
sometimes come at the cost of
nullifying a state’s sovereignty
by the use of international
force without government
permission. Critics are wary
that the reasoning behind this
last tenet could
also be used to justify
violations of the sovereignty of
a number of developing countries
who struggle with keeping all
segments of their populations
under the rule of law.
It will be difficult for the UN
to decide which crises the
initiative applies to and if a
crisis is best served by simply
putting pressure on the state,
assisting the state in its
administrative capacity,
carrying out a multilateral
intervention, or allowing
another state to intervene
unilaterally. Yet, it seems to
be the consensus, after the
genocides of the 1990s, that the
direction provided by “RtoP” on
how and when to intervene and
under whose authority is better
than waiting for the crisis to
resolve itself.
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Education Outreach
Model UN - Teaching About the UN
By Jean and Tuck Green
Second “mini”MUNCH at the
Carolina Center for Educational
Excellence (CCEE)
Fifty students from the
three Chapel Hill/Carrboro high
schools, the two Orange County
high schools, Durham Academy and
South Point High School in
Belmont, NC gathered at the
Carolina Center for Educational
Excellence at UNC-Chapel Hill (CCEE)
for the second “miniMUNCH”.
Designed as an informal training
conference to help MUN newcomers
in high schools become
accustomed to MUN procedures.
miniMUNCH was chaired by
officers of the the Chapter’s
campus affiliate, UNO at UNC,
and the high schools themselves.
The conference was organized by
AJ Horowitz, president of UNO at
UNC club, and our Board member,
Björn Hennings, who is the
Director of CCEE.
The briefing consisted of three
simulations:
- Security Council I, debating
what the UN should do about the
Taliban in Afghanistan;
- Security Council II, debating
what to do about nuclear
proliferation and bioterrorism;
- ECOSOC, debating interney
censorship and ap-and-trade as
way to control pollution.
As the debates progressed, they
were faced with at least one
crisis devised by a crisis team
located in another room. For
example, Security Council II
received an electronic bulletin
from the BBC that North Korea
had invaded South Korea While
they were debating what to do
about that, North Korea dropped
a nuclear weapon on Seoul (both
situations uncomfortably close
to the real life situation
today). Such simulated crises
are designed to test students’
ability to think quickly on
their feet as well as respond
creatively to crisis situations.
Duke International Relations
Association (IRA)
This Fall Duke’s Model UN
“Away Team” participated in
Columbia University’s Conference
in New York and the Georgetown
National Collegiate Security
Conference in Washington.
The President of Duke’s IRA,
Chris Edelman, gave us a
brief tour of their
International Security
Conference, held in Duke’s
Law School in early
November. This Conference is
for college students and it
drew about ninety of them.
This year the Conference
focused on East Asia.
Students simulated the
cabinets of China, Japan,
India, United States,
Russian Federation,
Afghanistan, and Pakistan as
well as the UN Security
Council.
Duke’s high school Model UN
Conference, their 30th
over as many years, will be
held February 17-20 and is
expected to draw over 500
students. They also plan a
faculty panel and
international potluck
dinner.
We talked with Chris about a
number of ways in which our
Chapter and Duke’s IRA might
collaborate, including UN
Day, a U.N. film festival,
and coaching Durham middle
and high school students for
Model UN Conferences.
World View
Another outreach effort of
the chapter which is
conducted by the Education
Outreach Committee, is
liaison with World View,
Based on UNC’s campus, World
View provides a variety of
programs to help schools and
community colleges globalize
their curricula. Our Chapter
is one of several exhibitors
at World View events where
we provide information about
UNA as well teaching
resources about the UN.
This year World View’s K-12
(October 20-21) and
community college (November
9-10) global education
symposia explored
Technology and Innovation in
a Global Age. At both
programs experts from
universities, colleges,
schools, business, and other
organizations worked with
North Carolina educators on
strategies for using
technology and innovative
practices to help their
students learn about and
with the world.
If you would like to support
this committee’s work,
please check “Education
Outreach” on the Lunch and
Learn registration form and
send your donation together
with your lunch fee.
Suggestions? Please contact
us at
cgreen17@nc.rr.com .
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Keeping Them Honest: UN
Human Rights Council
Rapporteurs
By Simone Lewis, WTC
Editorial Intern
The titles designating
members of an exceptional
group of United Nations
officials are more
illustrious and mysterious
than descriptive: Special
Representatives; Independent
Experts; Special Rapporteurs.
However, these unknown men
and women form a network
that is the foundation of
the operation of one of the
United Nations’ most
critical bodies - the UN
Human Rights Council.
These individuals work
either independently or in
small groups to address a
variety of human rights
infractions. Once a
complaint is filed, their
job is to investigate the
allegations, but only in
countries where they are
welcome (a sometimes
frustrating hallmark of
United Nations functioning).
The United Nations Human
Rights Council sets the
mandates they follow. They
may be country mandates,
which require examination,
monitoring, and advising on
human rights violations in
specific territories, or
thematic mandates which aim
to address major phenomena
worldwide. Once identified,
Special Rapporteurs alert
the appropriate governments,
investigate the issue, help
craft solutions, and raise
awareness. Topics of
interest include
trafficking, torture,
educational injustice, and
right to food, to name a
few.
While their positions are
extremely vital to carrying out
the United Nations’ goals and
mission, it is an exclusive
group. Currently, there are only
35 Special Rapporteurs, each
appointed by the United Nations
Secretary General and chosen for
high moral character and
expertise in human rights
issues. They work independently
of any government, since
impartiality is key. They also
work independently of any
payroll – the experts are not
financially compensated for
their efforts, which often
consist of one to three years of
work. We should applaud these
individuals for their passion
and commitment to defending
human rights in order to fight
poverty.
Curious to find out what governs
the behavior of UN Special
Rapporteurs? The Manual that
dictates their code of conduct
is right online at the Office of
the United Nations High
Commissioner’s website!
Certainly we could all learn
something from this critical
group.
Archived November Newsletter
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