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Upcoming Events
Florida Regional Model Arab League February 25-26, 2016
Hosted by University of South Florida
We cordially invite you and your students to participate in the 2016 Florida Regional Model Arab League, a debate-based simulation of the League of Arab States. This academic and leadership development experience is open to university students. The conference will be held at the University of South Florida on February 25-26, 2016.
Each academic year thousands of students participate in Model Arab Leagues across the United States and the world. Through participation in the Model Arab League |
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program students develop essential skills from leadership and public speaking to critical thinking and writing, all while also gaining practical, immediate knowledge about a critical region – the Middle East and the Arab world.
Forming a team for a Model Arab League conference does not have to be difficult! Whether led by a faculty adviser or student leaders, any size group of students may form a team and register online to receive a country assignment. Your team will then research its country's policies on the most important issues facing the Arab World and Middle East today, found in the MAL Agenda. Finally, you will practice the rules of debate found in the MAL Handbook before attending the conference. The National Council's staff stands ready to assist your team at every step.
You can find conference details, country assignments, and more at: http://ncusar.org/modelarableague/conferences/frmal/ |
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Human Trafficking 4P’s panel discussion
- Marcus Arvan
| On January 11th 2016, UNA-USA Tampa Bay, Florida Coalition against Human Trafficking, and Rescue & Restore held a 4 P’s Panel Discussion on human trafficking at the University of Tampa. There were three panels, focusing on prosecution, prevention, and protection, featuring representatives of the Clearwater Police Department, Pasco County Sheriff’s Office, Statewide Prosecutor’s Office, State Attorney’s Office, US Attorney’s Office, Eckerd Youth Alternative, Miracles Outreach, US Department of Homeland Security, Dunn & Co., and Crisis Center of Tampa Bay. The event was a great success, with several dozen people in attendance and television coverage by a local ABC affiliate. |
International Holocaust Remembrance Day
- Catherine Hidalgo Jara
| On Sunday, January 24th, the Consular Corps of Tampa Bay in cooperation with the UNA-Tampa Bay Chapter, Tampa Sister Cities International and the Florida Holocaust Museum hosted a commemoration ceremony at the Italian Club of Tampa in observance of International Holocaust Remembrance Day. |
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Consul General representatives of 25 different countries, Holocaust survivors, students, as well as local religious and community leaders gathered together to honor all who suffered during or as a result of the Holocaust and to speak out against the intolerance and hate that still exists in our world today. UNA NGO Relations Director Magdalena Fruba-Acara and interns Catherine Hidalgo Jara and Carolyn Morales attended the event as representatives of the chapter.
The event program consisted of a candle-lighting ceremony led by six Holocaust survivors followed by several reflections including those of Dr. Morton Brooks, a WWII veteran and Hitler GI Death Camp Survivor. The winners of a high school and university essay contest on Anti-Semitism were also announced. Lonny Wilk, the Florida Associate Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League in his speech about anti-Semitism, summed up the main theme of Sunday’s event when he stated, “It’s time to make our community no place for hate.”
The International Holocaust Remembrance Day was created by the United Nations General Assembly to honor the victims of the Holocaust and to develop educational programs in an effort to prevent future genocides. It officially falls on the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz - Birkenau concentration camp on January 27th. |
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- Noelle Pol Clark
| The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, or CEDAW, is an international treaty calling for women’s equality around the world. Its purpose is to end gender based discrimination and victimization. CEDAW is considered by many to be the leading international law on point for these issues. CEDAW has been ratified by all but six member states of the United Nations (UN). Our United States (US) is one of those six member states. Due to the lack of ratification by the US, the UN has taken on a bottom-up approach to obtaining ratification of CEDAW. By gathering momentum in support of CEDAW on the local level, they hope state government officials will take notice and propose national action in favor of ratification of the treaty. Our local United Nations Association – Tampa Bay Chapter has taken on this UN initiative for CEDAW. We have been working with local government representatives to lobby for support of CEDAW resolutions in the Tampa Bay area. Thus far, we have had tremendous success. CEDAW resolutions have been passed by both the Tampa City Council and St. Petersburg City Council. However, our fight is not done yet. We will continue lobbying for local legislation in our area but we need your help. By signing our CEDAW Change.org petition and talking to your local representatives, we can speed up our timeline and draw statewide attention right away. All over the world, injustices against women are occurring in every city, in every country, everywhere, including in the United States. Calling our federal government to ratify CEDAW and acknowledge that women’s inequality is still very much a part of our culture must happen. As a United States, we need to send the message that we will not stand for discrimination or violence against women and ratifying CEDAW is the desperately needed first step to ensuring we do just that. |
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Milad Abraham, our NGO Relations Director during 2015 has left for Washington D.C. where he is now project staff assistant with CUBRC, Inc. Milad provides administrative support for an USAID-funded program that funds international, collaborative research grants. The goal of these grants is to build scientific and technical capacity in developing nations by leveraging international collaborations with more resourced partners. Milad will be a member of a team of programmatic and scientific staff who support the USAID client’s execution of this program.
As our NGO Relations Director, Milad assisted NCUSAR in organizing the first Florida Regional Model Arab League (FRMAL) conference and cofounded the first Model Arab league team at USF that received the highest award at the conference. Milad is currently part of a UNA TAMPA committee that is advocating for the “Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women” (CEDAW). The committee hopes to inspire local leaders and the City of Tampa to endorse CEDAW in the near future. Milad aspires to advance his career exploration, academic advancement in diplomacy, and enhance his understanding of International Relations.
Abraham received a B.A. in International Studies with a focus on the Middle East from the University of South Florida in December 2014. His fluency in Arabic, English, and Aramaic merged with knowledge in international politics furthered his interest in international relations. He was selected to participate in a ten-week professional, academic, and career opportunity internship in the Nation's Capital with the National Council on U.S-Arab Relations (NCUSAR). In Spring 2014, he served as an intern with the UNA Tampa Bay chapter under the Program Director.
In 2015 he became our NGO Relations Director and joined the board. During the year he was instrumental in creating our initial outreach to other NGOs interested in our CEDAW initiative. He mentored three interns so effectively that two of them continue to be active participants in the chapter’s advocacy, education, and fundraising work with the local community.
Words cannot capture our gratitude for Milad Abraham. He was selfless and without limit in the time, effort, and quality of volunteerism he gave our chapter. We will miss him and wish him well as he develops his career in the coming years. Thank you Milad! |
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Membership Director
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Responsibilities:
- Contribute to the membership development of the organization’s strategic plans
- Propose to the board ways to integrate members into the chapter’s programs
- Collect and interpret member and non‐member intelligence, including member needs, the member benefit package, entry criteria and competitiveness using membership surveys
- Recruit new members and affiliates
- Oversee membership renewal process
- Monitor and present reports on membership, including monthly reports to the board
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Publishing Director
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Responsibilities:
- Develop, maintain and enhance the quality of all UNA publications and materials, including but not limited to: newsletter, brochures, informational flyers, programs, agendas, advertisements and any other printed or online materials
- Brainstorming and writing articles; verifying the accuracy of articles accepted for publication; and assisting with photo selection and proofreading
- Compose and prepare a monthly newsletter
- Creates and prepare promotional materials for all events and programs
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- Nearly 200 countries, including India and China, have committed to reduce carbon pollution
- Countries are incentivized to review emission goals and set more stringent reductions every 5 years
- Strong transparency and reporting requirements will help make sure that countries stick to their goals
- Will reduce global emissions towards a goal of carbon neutrality by the end of the century
- Lays the foundation for keeping global temperature rise below 2 degrees centigrade
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