Unitarian Universalist Association

An NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security Discussion: Spending to Increase Nuclear Danger

Join the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security as we discuss how in the midst of an economic and public health crisis, the US is set to spend hundreds of billions on new nuclear weapons which could never be used, add nothing to national security, and actually increase the risk of nuclear war. Funding for these extremely dangerous weapons systems will come up soon in Congress. The NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace and Security presents three leaders to clarify the key issues and discuss possible plans of action.

Register here!

Speakers:

Bruce Knotts has directed the Unitarian Universalist Office at the United Nations since 2008. Before that, he served as a diplomat with the U.S. Department of State with notable service during the Nairobi Embassy bombing 1998, Embassy Khartoum, Sudan, Regional Refugee Coordinator for West Africa and Deputy Chief of Mission in The Gambia. His final tour was in the Bureau of International Organization at the Department of State.

Dr. John Burroughs is Senior Analyst for the New York City-based Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy. He has represented LCNP in Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty meetings and negotiations on the Treaty to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons. His articles and op-eds have appeared in publications including Fordham International Law Journal, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Arms Control Today, Newsweek, and Newsday.

Jackie Cabasso has been Executive Director of the Western States Legal Foundation, based in Oakland, California, since 1984. In 1995 she was a “founding mother” of the Abolition 2000 Global Network to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons, and she continues to serve on its Coordinating Committee. Since 2007 she has served as an Executive Advisor to Mayors for Peace. In the U.S., she is a National Co-convener of United for Peace and Justice. Jackie was the 2008 recipient of the International Peace Bureau’s Sean MacBride Peace Award.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security, please visit ngocdps.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Peace (Vienna), email its Chair,  Helga Kerschbaum at helga.kerschbaum@aon.at

An NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security Discussion: Spending to Increase Nuclear Danger

Join the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security as we discuss how in the midst of an economic and public health crisis, the US is set to spend hundreds of billions on new nuclear weapons which could never be used, add nothing to national security, and actually increase the risk of nuclear war. Funding for these extremely dangerous weapons systems will come up soon in Congress. The NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace and Security presents three leaders to clarify the key issues and discuss possible plans of action.

Register here!

Speakers:

Bruce Knotts has directed the Unitarian Universalist Office at the United Nations since 2008. Before that, he served as a diplomat with the U.S. Department of State with notable service during the Nairobi Embassy bombing 1998, Embassy Khartoum, Sudan, Regional Refugee Coordinator for West Africa and Deputy Chief of Mission in The Gambia. His final tour was in the Bureau of International Organization at the Department of State.

Dr. John Burroughs is Senior Analyst for the New York City-based Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy. He has represented LCNP in Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty meetings and negotiations on the Treaty to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons. His articles and op-eds have appeared in publications including Fordham International Law Journal, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Arms Control Today, Newsweek, and Newsday.

Jackie Cabasso has been Executive Director of the Western States Legal Foundation, based in Oakland, California, since 1984. In 1995 she was a “founding mother” of the Abolition 2000 Global Network to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons, and she continues to serve on its Coordinating Committee. Since 2007 she has served as an Executive Advisor to Mayors for Peace. In the U.S., she is a National Co-convener of United for Peace and Justice. Jackie was the 2008 recipient of the International Peace Bureau’s Sean MacBride Peace Award.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security, please visit ngocdps.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Peace (Vienna), email its Chair,  Helga Kerschbaum at helga.kerschbaum@aon.at

Our Goal of World Community: The UN at 75

Our Goal of World Community: The UN at 75

This year, the United Nations is celebrating its 75th birthday, and the Unitarian Universalist Association Office at the UN, in collaboration with the Canadian Unitarian Council, will be commemorating that anniversary with a special virtual event co-sponsored by the NGO Committee on Human Rights: “Our Goal of World Community: the United Nations at 75.” In the current moment of simultaneous global political, social, economic, health, and climate crises, continued involvement with and investment in international cooperation could not be more critical. During this event we’ll talk about how Unitarian Universalists can make our mark for global justice.

Featured speakers:

  • Rev. Dr. Susan Frederick-Gray, President, Unitarian Universalist Association
  • Rev. Alicia R. Forde, Director, Unitarian Universalist Association International Office
  • Hawa Diallo, United Nations Department of Global Communications
  • Chris King, United Nations Office of Disarmament Affairs
  • Bruce Knotts, Director, Unitarian Universalist Association Office at the United Nations
  • Craig Mokhiber, Director, New York Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
  • Bobbi Nassar, Co-chair, Nongovernmental Organization Committee on Human Rights at the United Nations
  • Vyda Ng, Executive Director, Canadian Unitarian Council
  • Gillian Sorenson, International Rescue Committee, formerly Assistant Secretary General at the UN, then with the UN Foundation

Register for the event here.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bknotts@uua.org or bobbinassar@gmail.com.

Our Goal of World Community: The UN at 75

Our Goal of World Community: The UN at 75

This year, the United Nations is celebrating its 75th birthday, and the Unitarian Universalist Association Office at the UN, in collaboration with the Canadian Unitarian Council, will be commemorating that anniversary with a special virtual event co-sponsored by the NGO Committee on Human Rights: “Our Goal of World Community: the United Nations at 75.” In the current moment of simultaneous global political, social, economic, health, and climate crises, continued involvement with and investment in international cooperation could not be more critical. During this event we’ll talk about how Unitarian Universalists can make our mark for global justice.

Featured speakers:

  • Rev. Dr. Susan Frederick-Gray, President, Unitarian Universalist Association
  • Rev. Alicia R. Forde, Director, Unitarian Universalist Association International Office
  • Hawa Diallo, United Nations Department of Global Communications
  • Chris King, United Nations Office of Disarmament Affairs
  • Bruce Knotts, Director, Unitarian Universalist Association Office at the United Nations
  • Craig Mokhiber, Director, New York Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
  • Bobbi Nassar, Co-chair, Nongovernmental Organization Committee on Human Rights at the United Nations
  • Vyda Ng, Executive Director, Canadian Unitarian Council
  • Gillian Sorenson, International Rescue Committee, formerly Assistant Secretary General at the UN, then with the UN Foundation

Register for the event here.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bknotts@uua.org or bobbinassar@gmail.com.

Islamophobia & Race: What Are We Afraid Of?

Islamophobia and Race: What Are We Afraid Of?

October 23, 2020 at 10AM EST 

Join the Unitarian Universalist Association at the United Nations (UUA), the NGO Committee on Human Rights, and the Burma Task Force for a global conversation on faith-based discrimination and ethnic genocide. This discussion will explore the experiences of the Muslim community worldwide, while examining the intersectional ways in which Islamophobia and racism interact to perpetuate harmful preconceptions and prejudice. Speakers representing Myanmar, Sudan, Tibet, and the United States will reflect on their unique sociocultural identity and how Islamophobia continues to intricately impact multiple dimensions of their lives. Our esteemed panelists include: Zaw Win Nyunt, Intercommunal Peacemaker in Burma; Mariam Abdalgadir, Sudanese community activist and artist based in Bay Area, California; and Mariam Osmanu, Ghanaian and Nigerian graduate student from NYU Silver School of Social Work based in the Bronx, New York. As we interrogate structural and interpersonal bias against those who practice Islam, we should be asking ourselves: What are we afraid of?

Register in advance for this meeting: https://uua.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYkceuprDIsHNTk4eU8OiubL-GmdvgA_-r3

______________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bknotts@uua.org and/or bobbinassar@yahoo.com. For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com.

Islamophobia & Race: What Are We Afraid Of?

Islamophobia and Race: What Are We Afraid Of?

October 23, 2020 at 10AM EST 

Join the Unitarian Universalist Association at the United Nations (UUA), the NGO Committee on Human Rights, and the Burma Task Force for a global conversation on faith-based discrimination and ethnic genocide. This discussion will explore the experiences of the Muslim community worldwide, while examining the intersectional ways in which Islamophobia and racism interact to perpetuate harmful preconceptions and prejudice. Speakers representing Myanmar, Sudan, Tibet, and the United States will reflect on their unique sociocultural identity and how Islamophobia continues to intricately impact multiple dimensions of their lives. Our esteemed panelists include: Zaw Win Nyunt, Intercommunal Peacemaker in Burma; Mariam Abdalgadir, Sudanese community activist and artist based in Bay Area, California; and Mariam Osmanu, Ghanaian and Nigerian graduate student from NYU Silver School of Social Work based in the Bronx, New York. As we interrogate structural and interpersonal bias against those who practice Islam, we should be asking ourselves: What are we afraid of?

Register in advance for this meeting: https://uua.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYkceuprDIsHNTk4eU8OiubL-GmdvgA_-r3

______________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bknotts@uua.org and/or bobbinassar@yahoo.com. For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com.

Recent Posts