2016 UNA-USA Annual Leadership Summit
As it is done every year, UNA-USA selects several advocacy priorities of which to create awareness for at the Annual Leadership Summits. These priorities are chosen in order to inform of new, trending global issues that require our attention. Several of these priorities fall under one or more of the 17 Global Goals:
Peace, Security and Non-Violent Conflict Resolution:
The UN currently oversees 16 peacekeeping operations with nearly 125,000 personnel, constituting the largest deployed military force in the world. The UN’s first peacekeeping deployment was authorized in 1948 when military observers were sent to the Middle East to monitor the Armistice Agreement between Israel and its Arab neighbors. Since then, 71 peacekeeping operations have been deployed with participants from more than 120 countries. While originally aimed at maintaining ceasefires, UN peacekeeping has since expanded to include multidimensional missions to stabilize conflict zones and prevent the collapse of fragile states by protecting civilians from violence, disarming and reintegrating former combatants into society, facilitating the delivery of humanitarian assistance, training police forces, and supporting free and fair elections.
What's Next? Over the past seven years, Congress has led the way to full funding UN peacekeeping and this year, it's more important than ever that we fulfill our funding obligations to set the stage for a new Administration and Congress. UNA-USA asks that Congress stand with their constituents and support paying our UN peacekeeping dues of $2.445b on time and in full.
Funding for the United Nations
While the UN’s work covers a broad array of issues and impacts U.S. interests in virtually every corner of the globe, the total amount of U.S. contributions to the UN consumes a very small portion of our nation’s budget. Overall, only 1.4% of the federal budget is devoted to foreign aid. Our peacekeeping and regular budget dues account for just 0.1% of the annual U.S. federal budget. While the U.S. is the largest single contributor to the UN’s regular and peacekeeping budgets (responsible for paying 22% and 28% of these budgets respectively), other UN member states pay the vast majority of costs associated with the activities funded by these assessments.
Refugees and Humanitarian Crises:
There are currently more than 60 million refugees and forcibly displaced people in the world – the highest number since World War II. According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), one in every 122 humans is now either a refugee, internally displaced person, or seeking asylum. 80 percent of all refugees live in the developing world. Most shockingly of all, half of these refugees are children. In December 2015 the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21) met in Paris.
As a result of COP21, 195 member countries adopted a universal goal to limit global temperature increases to 1.5 degrees Centigrade. Previously agreed-to actions would have permitted the global temperature to rise 3.5 degrees Centigrade, so much work remains to be done.
What's Next? The U.S. has been one of UNCHR and WFP’s top donors, but due to escalating demands, the budgetary needs of these organizations have risen dramatically. UNA-USA asks that Congress continue to work with multilateral partners to increase funding for these critical humanitarian aid agencies.
Sustainable Developments Goals:
Climate Change
In 2015 the world did something extraordinary. Building on the successes of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s), the United Nations came together to adopt a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (or Global Goals) to put an end to extreme poverty, fight inequality, and protect the environment.
What's Next? UNA-USA asks that the U.S. Congress fully support the 5-year review
process agreed to by UN member countries at COP21; funding for climate action in developing countries; and development, funding, and implementation of the USEPA “Clean Power Plan”.
Health
While the UN’s work covers a broad array of issues and impacts U.S. interests in virtually every corner of the globe, the total amount of U.S. contributions to the UN consumes a very small portion of our nation’s budget. Overall, only 1.4% of the federal budget is devoted to foreign aid. Our peacekeeping and regular budget dues account for just 0.1% of the annual U.S. federal budget. While the U.S. is the largest single contributor to the UN’s regular and peacekeeping budgets (responsible for paying 22% and 28% of these budgets respectively), other UN member states pay the vast majority of costs associated with the activities funded by these assessments.
What's Next? The U.S. Congress has the ability and obligation to support The
Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the President’s Malaria initiative, as well as the work of UN agencies like the World Health Organization,
UNICEF and UNHCR. UNA-USA urges Congress to continue funding efforts that will support the UN Sustainable Development Goal #3 to ensure healthy lives and promote the well-being for all at all ages.
These priorities aim to follow in the footsteps of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which resulted in significant strides being made in increasing life expectancy and reducing some of the common killers associated with child and maternal mortality. Major progress has been made on increasing access to clean water and sanitation, reducing malaria, tuberculosis, polio and the spread of HIV/AIDS. However, many more efforts are needed to fully eradicate a wide range of diseases and address many different persistent and emerging health issues.
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World Refugee Day
Written by: Magdalena Fruba-Acar
Each year during the week of June 20th, events are held across the world to commemorate World Refugee Day. This day is a tribute to the resilience of refugees who have fled persecution in their home countries and are either waiting nearby or being resettled to start a new life in a brand new country.
On Friday, June 17th, the Tampa Bay Refugee Task Force along with Pinellas Technical College (PTC), the US Citizen and Immigration Service and United Nations Association Tampa Bay hosted a local commemoration of World Refugee Day. Al Reuchel of Bay News 9 let the program. Afterwards, the Mayor of St. Petersberg, Rick Kriseman extended a warm welcome from the city, followed by the screening of a short student film created by PTC students, Refugees: Road to Success. The event was concluded with a moving citizenship ceremony of 30 former refugees from around the world.
We would like to thank all those who joined us in
celebrating this inspiring event!
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Written by: Noelle Polk Clark
On Tuesday, June 14, 2016, several United Nations Association Tampa Bay (UNA TB) chapter members representing our local chapter spent the better part of their day advocating for United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Washington, D.C. on Capitol Hill. Advocating on the Hill was the culminative output following two days of trainings, networking and sharing at the United Nations Association USA 2016 Leadership Summit.
UNA-USA armed local chapters with the information and opportunity needed to address UN national concerns. In addition to advocating for full funding for the UN, peacekeeping efforts and for support for refugees, UNA-TB chapter’s local priority issue was the ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women. We, as a local chapter, along with our national chapter affiliates, hoped to encourage nationally elected officials to hold the Senate’s feet to the fire on the issue and require the Senate to hold a vote on the United States’ ratification of CEDAW.
Through the assistance of the UNA-USA, UNA-TB was able to meet with Representative Dennis Ross, Representative Judy Castor, Representative Alcee Hastings, Representative Frederica Wilson, Representative Gus Bilirakis, Senator Bill Nelson and Senator Marco Rubio or their staff.
Each meeting provided insight into the Congress member’s position and willingness to assist with our CEDAW efforts. Since our meetings, we have followed up on conversations with the Representatives and staff and are working to establish long last relationships as well as assistance with our CEDAW mission. Uniformly, there was a show of support for women’s equality legislation and through our continued contact; UNA-TB’s hope is that support will translate into action on CEDAW. Time will tell.
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Air Pollution: Africa’s Invisible, Silent Killer
Air pollution remains a major challenge in Africa. About 600,000 deaths every year across the continent are associated with this invisible killer. With 23%of global deaths (12.6 million) linked to environmental factors, WHO estimates that air pollution is responsible for 7 million deaths every year.
Air pollution is caused by harmful particulates and gases, released in high quantities into the air. These pollutants cause disease and death to humans, damage to other living organisms such as animals and food crops, and harm our ecosystems. Air pollution is caused by indoor and outdoor activities though the latter, which is largely a result of burning fossil fuels to produce electricity and to power vehicles, is responsible for most of the world’s air pollution. Large and small scale industrial activities also cause air pollution by emitting substances into the air, which are harmful to human health and are the root cause of many of the respiratory diseases and cancers in humans.
Air pollutants include black carbon and greenhouse gases, one of which is carbon dioxide (CO2), a common component of vehicle exhaust emissions. Greenhouse gases cause global warming by trapping heat from the sun in the earth's atmosphere. CO2 is a good indicator of how much fossil fuel is burned and how many pollutants are emitted as a result. The burning of charcoal used for cooking in homes also produces black carbon and another gas, carbon monoxide, which is extremely dangerous and is a major cause of death in many households.
Black carbon also harms human health. It is a primary component of fine particle air pollution (PM2.5), and can cause or contribute to a number of adverse health effects, including asthma and other respiratory problems, low birth weights, heart attacks, and lung cancer.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO),[...continue reading].
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Student Organization Highlight
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USF Model United Nations
Written by: Francesca Rivera
The University of South Florida’s Model United Nations (USF-MUN) team was founded in the fall of 2014 by Amy Currotto & Jordon Liggett. The organization aims to engage in global issues on the local and international community, as well as being a resource for middle and high school MUN teams.
This year USF-MUN joined the United Nations Association Student Alliance, in hosting and participating in the second Florida Regional Model Arab League Conference. In addition, the team has held several MUN conferences at USF for university and high school students alike. More recently, they have invited middle school students to grow and engage through the semi-annual Bull’s Model United Nations conference. USF-MUN also took part in both the Florida Regional and New York International MUN conferences, placing in first and second place respectively.
They are hoping to soon create a regional MUN conference for universities in the Central Florida region. USF MUN strives to increase participation from students from this region who are unable to travel to larger conferences. This team is dedicated to helping every member achieve better communication of ideas and collaboration with others.
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