Is a More Equitable Society a More Peaceful Society? UNAI-sponsored Conference Examines the Links between Poverty and Conflict
On 11 and 12 January 2016 more than two dozen scholars from universities, think tanks and non-governmental organizations gathered at United Nations headquarters for a two day conference examining the role poverty and inequality play in fostering conflict.
The conference, co-sponsored by United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI), George Mason University's School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution and People Programme International, brought together scholars from various disciplines including economics, sociology, psychology, politics and cultural analysis to discuss the causes of poverty and inequality, what could be done to combat these issues and what role the United Nations could play in the process.
The United Nations celebrated its 70th birthday last year and adopted the Sustainable Development Goals in September, providing an opportunity to focus global attention on inequality as an impediment to achieving peace and security.
Call for Applications: 2016 Reham Al-Farra (RAF) Memorial Journalists Fellowship Programme
The United Nations Department of Public Information is currently seeking applications from young journalists and broadcasters for the 2016 Reham Al-Farra (RAF) Memorial Journalists Fellowship Programme.
The Programme provides journalists with an opportunity to gain first-hand experience in the work of the United Nations. It is also an opportunity to meet journalists from other countries and exchange ideas with UN communication professionals.
Selected journalists and broadcasters will spend four weeks at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, from 8 September through 5 October, 2016
Upon completion of the Programme, participants are expected to continue working in journalism or broadcasting and help promote better understanding of the United Nations in their home country.
Happy New Year from UNAI
Happy New Year from UNAI!
We're looking forward to another year of knowledge, education and engagement with all our member schools!
Cross Cultural Collaboration to Achieve the SDGs
Open communication, collaboration and cultural understanding are the hallmarks of international diplomacy, and a new initiative launched by Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia, USA and Effat University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia looks to advance these principles through a newly launched partnership between the two schools.
On 7 December 2015 students and faculty from the two schools gathered in person and via videoconference at the United Nations in New York for their inaugural meeting to discuss areas of mutual interest and give students from both schools an opportunity to share their cultural backgrounds. Attendees also discussed how the universities could collaborate to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals that were adopted by the United Nations on 25 September. This collaboration is the first experience of this kind for both schools.
Global Education Motivators initiate funding drive to help victims of Chennai flooding
On December 2, 2015, torrential rains in Chennai, India triggered the region's worst flood in over 100 years, killing 300 and leaving the city of 4.8 million people underwater.
The Chennai disaster is being called a 'perfect storm,' a shining example of what can happen when climate change meets poor urban planning, wrote Sreedhar Potarazu, founder of a software company focused on providing data science applications to assess health care delivery, in an op-ed on CNN.com.
As the city of Chennai begins the process of drying out and cleaning up, students and teachers at the Omega School have been doing the same.
Their library that housed more than 10,000 books now has only 20.
The Omega School was established for the purpose of teaching children not only what they need to succeed in the real world by way of practical skills, but also to teach them the values that they need to cherish and uphold all their lives.
UNAOC Call for application for the Youth Event for our Global Forum in Baku
The United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) invites young people from around the world who are members of youth led organizations/networks/initiatives to apply to the Youth Event at the 7th UNAOC Global Forum in Baku on April 25-27, 2016. The event, entitled Living Together in Inclusive Societies is an amazing opportunity for participants to interact with key stakeholders, experts and other youth involved in social action and to contribute to shaping the global narrative on social inclusion.
Nations Reach Historic Agreement on Climate Change
On 12 December, 195 nations adopted an historic, legally binding agreement to combat climate change and unleash actions and investment towards a low carbon, resilient and sustainable future. The Paris agreement for the first time brings all nations into a common cause based on their historic, current and future responsibilities.
The overarching aim of the agreement is to limit temperature rise in this century to two degrees Celsius and to drive efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The 1.5 degrees Celsius limit is a significantly safer defence line against the worst impacts of a changing climate. Additionally, the agreement seeks to strengthen the ability to deal with the impacts of climate change.
Promoting and Protecting Freedom: Human Rights Day 2015
Amid large-scale atrocities and widespread abuses across the world, Human Rights Day should rally more concerted global action to promote the timeless principles that we have collectively pledged to uphold. –Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General
This Thursday, 10 December, is Human Rights Day, a day that commemorates the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948.
The Fast Track to End AIDS
Each hour nearly 140 people die from AIDS-related causes. There are nearly 37 million people living with the disease and there were 2 million new infections reported in 2014. Much has been done to address the AIDS epidemic in the last 10 years, but there is still work to do to halt the spread of HIV, ensure that people have access to life saving medications and address HIV/AIDS within the larger framework of the Global Sustainable Development Goals.
December 1 is World AIDS Day and provides an opportunity to raise awareness about what has been accomplished and the challenges that remain. The theme for World AIDS Day 2015 is 'On The Fast Track to End AIDS:Ending the AIDS epidemic as part of the Sustainable Development Goals'.
World Leaders Meet in Paris to Tackle Climate Change
Today 150 heads of state from around the world are meeting in Paris to take on one of the most pressing issues of our time: climate change. The meeting marks the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) , or COP21. This year presents an historic and unprecedented opportunity to bring the countries and citizens of the world together to decide and embark on new paths to improve the lives of people everywhere by reaching a new universal agreement to protect the planet and its people. .
The Preventable Pandemic: Sexual and Gender-Based Violence
25 November marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and the start of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence.
Violence against women and girls has been described by the World Health Organization as a global public health pandemic, with 1 in 3 women around the world experiencing physical or sexual violence in their lifetime.
Did you know:
World Toilet Day Raises Awareness About Sustainable Sanitation
An international day devoted to toilets? Many people around the world think you're joking when you tell them that 19 November is World Toilet Day. But access to clean water and sanitation is no laughing matter.
A few facts:
A Tree Grows in Bridgeport: A Celebration of UN70
Dr. Rima Salah [Second Row Center], Member of the Secretary General's High Level Panel on Peace Operations with students, faculty and Administration from the University of Bridgeport [Photo by Triton Marks].
On 30 October 2015 the University of Bridgeport in Bridgeport, CT USA celebrated the 70th Anniversary of the United Nations. The ceremony paid special tribute not only to the UN, but also to an event that took place at University some sixty years prior. October 24, 1955, the University's Student Council planted a sapling to mark the tenth anniversary of the United Nations and to commemorate its achievements. The University took advantage of the UN's seventieth anniversary to rededicate the tree and to install a new plaque to replace the one that had weathered many a Connecticut winter.
Eduardo Ulibarri Bilbao discusses his new book: The UN that I lived
The UN that I lived
When, in August 1, 2010, I arrived to New York as the new Permanent Representative of Costa Rica to the United Nations, my to do list was full of unavoidable tasks, but it also included a loose aspiration: to write a book about my experiences in the Organization.
As weeks, months and years passed – a total of four, my diplomatic commitments took over my literary drive. I deeply immersed myself in the structures, processes, negotiations, challenges, hopes and realizations of the UN, and put the idea of the book on hold. However, every time I wrote a report, recommended a stance, casted a vote, argued a position, talked to a colleague or worked towards consensus, my mind and my notes collected those experiences in a spontaneous way.
Most of the time I focused on documenting the issues, but it also was unavoidable to add my reflections, collect anecdotes and depict characters.
Launch of Annual World Risk Report Highlights Dangers of Food Insecurity
Today the Alliance Development Works and the Institute for Environment and Human Security of United Nations University launched the World Risk Report 2015. The 74 page report, launched in Berlin in both English and German, details the intersectionality between disaster risk reduction and reducing food insecurity among vulnerable populations around the world.
The World Risk Report 2015 looks at food security within the context of the World Risk Index which systematically considers a country's vulnerability, and its exposure to natural hazards (e.g. flood, storm, earthquake) to determine the disaster risk ranking of 171 countries around the world. Food insecurity can increase disaster risk, for example by forcing people to move to higher risk areas more vulnerable to natural hazards in search of food or arable land.