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Human Rights Violation: A lecture seminar by Mr. David Hawk March 29th, 2016
UNA Tampa Bay is proud to announce USF St. Petersburg will host Mr. David Hawk to present a lecture on “Documenting and Reporting Human Rights Violation: Case Studies of North Korean Refugees in South Korea and Refugees in Rwanda and Cambodia” on March 29th, 2016 at 6:00 pm at Poynter Corner, Library of USF St. Petersburg.
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Model United Nations April 22nd, 2016
If you have ever wondered where our fundraising event dollars go to, look no further than Model United Nations.
Our chapter is proud to partner with the USF Model United Nations Team in organizing two Model UN Conferences for our Tampa Bay Area Students. The November 13th conference was an enormous success with 196 students attending. The April 22, 2016 Model United Nations Conference provides yet another opportunity for our middle and high school students to engage in global issues and learn valuable skills.
Our Model United Nations Programs are an essential component of the UNAUSA Tampa Bay Chapter’s educational mission. The Conference will take place at the USF Marshall Center in Tampa. This is Model United Nations Conference for middle and high schools in the Tampa Bay area. This year’s conference will coincide with Earth Day! The keynote speaker for this event is Susan Glickman, Florida Director, SACE Action Fund. The topics for the conference include:
High School
UNEP – Climate Change
Security Council – Ecological Terrorism
Middle School
General Assembly – Financing for Development
Economic and Social Council – Youth Empowerment for Sustainable Development
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UNA-USA Annual Meeting, June 12th to June 14th, 2016
The annual meeting of the UNA of the USA will be held in Washington D.C. June 12-13, and 14. The Tampa Bay Chapter will be sending a delegation of Board members to the meetings. All members of the chapter are invited to attend the meetings. Further details will be published in the April newsletter of the chapter.
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8th Annual Ambassador Cup Golf Tournament, October 8th, 2016
The UNA Tampa Bay Chapter has finalized East Lake Woodlands Country Club as the venue for the 8th annual Ambassador Cup Golf Tournament. The tournament will be held on Saturday October 8, 2016 at 1:00 PM. East Lake Woodlands is located in Oldsmar which is easily accessible from all locations in Tampa Bay. We hope you will save the date and join us for this event as a golfer and/or a sponsor. This golf tournament is the major fundraiser for our Chapter. The money raised by this tournament will provide the funds for the Chapter’s sponsoring of the semi-annual Model UN Conferences, CEDAW advocacy efforts, and Human Rights activities in Tampa Bay. Please be on the lookout throughout the year for updates on the preparations and for registration instructions.
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Event Highlights
2016 Florida Regional Model Arab League
The Model Arab League’s (MAL) regional meeting was held at the University of South Florida’s Marshall Center on February 25th and 26th. This event was organized by the National Council on US-Arab Relations headquartered in Washington D.C. and the United Nations Student Alliance organization at the University of South Florida. It was co-sponsored by the School of Interdisciplinary Global Studies and the UNATB chapter. More than 80 students from USF, University of Center Florida, University of Florida, and Stetson University, St. Leo College, and Steinbrenner and Middleton high schools participated in the two-day conference.
Frank Rodriquez, affiliated with Central Command at MacDill Air Force base (CENTCOM) was the keynote speaker and was joined by a panel of three colleagues from CENTCOM. Congratulations to all the award recipients and to the Student Alliance Officers who did such an extraordinary job of organizing and mounting such a well-run MAL. The conference was so successful that the delegates voted to hold the third annual MAL again at USF in February 2017. Stay tuned for more details in the coming months.
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“The Myth of Equality in the U.S. Workplace"
This article appeared in Huffington Post. Read here
- By JoAnn Kamuf Ward & Hillary Scrivani
Despite the United States' array of legal protections, women continue to face barriers to equality and the full enjoyment of their human rights.
Currently, the U.S. is the only industrialized country that fails to ensure workers are provided paid parental leave. As a result, only 12 per cent of the private sector workforce is eligible for paid family leave, offered voluntarily by their employer. Yes, that means the majority of working women do not have access to paid family leave when they have a baby. This has real and tangible psychological, physical, emotional, and economic consequences.
Human rights call for equal pay for men and women; for maternity leave with pay; for policies that enable parents to balance family obligations with work responsibilities; as well as for special workplace protections for pregnant women. These protections are laid out in the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women, a treaty on women's rights, also known as CEDAW. International human rights experts have also specifically called on the U.S. to introduce paid parental leave and to address the pay gap.
There is cause for optimism that the U.S. is moving in the right direction. In the absence of federal movement on paid family leave, paid sick time, and pregnancy accommodations, three U.S. states, namely New Jersey, California and Rhode Island have enacted legislation requiring employers to provide paid family leave insurance to their workers. Four states, Connecticut, California, Massachusetts and Oregon, the District of Columbia, and twenty localities now have paid sick time laws insuring a minimal amount of paid sick time to most workers. Additionally, sixteen states, the District of Columbia, and four localities have protections that offer at least some accommodations for pregnant workers.
These are positive steps, but further action is needed at the state and federal levels. Federal legislation that has been introduced such as the Paycheck Fairness Act, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, the Schedules that Work Act, the FAMILY Act, and the Healthy Families Act would contribute to improving gender equality in the workplace and prove better support for families. If enacted, these laws would bring the U.S. much closer to human rights standards for fair treatment in the workplace.
Grounding our thinking about gender equality in human rights terms offers us a framework to shape the types of laws that will better protect women, children, and families.
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Board Appointment
New Intern Coordinator: Catherine Hidalgo Jara
Please join us in welcoming Catherine Hidalgo Jara to the board of directors. Catherine will be coordinating our internships with local universities and college. Anyone interested in applying for an internship can reach her at internships@unatampabay.org. The board relies on interns from the surrounding higher education institutions to support its work and to develop opportunities for interns to advance their understanding of the United Nations.
Catherine is the Direct Care Advocate for Redefining Refuge in Lutz, Florida and was an intern for Nongovernmental Organization Relations during calendar year 2015. In May 2015 Ms. Hidalgo Jara received two B.A. degrees, one in International Studies and a second in French from USF. Cartherine is bilingual (Spanish and English) and an interpreter for Gulf Coast Jewish Family and Community Services in Clearwater. She participated in the first Model Arab League held in Tampa during 2015 and represented the chapter at the annual meeting of the UNA-USA National Organization in Washington D.C. in June 2015.
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Membership Director
The Membership Director is responsible for managing our membership, which includes student members, general members, and advisers. A primary responsibility of the Membership Director is coordinating with our national chapter to ensure accurate records are cross-checked and updated. The Membership Director will work closely with the Treasurer to ensure accuracy in chapter dues. The Membership Director will also develop and oversee initiatives aimed at improving membership retention and renewal.
Publishing Director
The Publishing Director is responsible for overseeing our Chapter’s print and digital communications and is responsible for the design, implementation, and editing of our marketing materials. A primary responsibility of the Publishing Director is drafting our newsletter. The Publishing Director will work closely with our Strategic Communications Director, as well as the Board at large, to ensure a consistent brand is represented throughout our various print and digital/social media marketing.
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In keeping with the theme of sustainable development for our upcoming event of Model United Nations, we are honored to have Susan Glickman, Florida Director of SACE Action Fund, as a keynote speaker on April 22nd, 2016 at USF Marshall Center.
Susan has worked with Southern Alliance for Clean Energy since 2001 as a consultant and lobbyist and was named Florida Director in August 2013. Susan has a background in running political campaigns and also directs SACE’s Action Fund in the Sunshine State. A native of Florida, Susan has consulted with many national organizations such as Natural Resources Defense Council, Ceres, Advanced Energy Economy, Union of Concerned Scientists, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Vote Solar, Clean Energy Group, Environmental Defense Fund and Clean Air Task Force. She developed and directed The Florida Business Network for a Clean Energy Economy, a coalition of business leaders working together to advance the clean energy economy.
Prior to energy and climate issues, Susan worked to grant the FDA authority to regulate tobacco with the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids; to institute a nation-wide health tracking system with Trust for America’s Health and for the first time to fund prostate cancer research with the National Prostate Cancer Coalition.
Susan was recently appointed by Governor Rick Scott to the Florida Commission on Volunteer Service. She was Founding Chair of The Florida Commission on the Status of Women. Susan grew up in Tampa, attending St. John’s Episcopal Day School and Academy of the Holy Names. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Speech from the University of Texas at Austin and an A.A. from Florida State University. Susan resides in Belleair Beach on Florida’s central Gulf coast.
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