genocide

The United Nations and Indigenous Peoples: Advocating for Education

Registration is now open for the upcoming CTAUN webinar “The UN & Indigenous Peoples: Advocating for Education.”

You will meet representatives from different Indigenous communities worldwide as they share their stories and path for greater recognition for the rights of Indigenous Peoples. You will hear their voices!

Also on the agenda will be specialists from the UN, a youth forum, suggested resources, and a Question and Answer session.

Major Speakers include:

  • Nina Kantcheva, Senior Policy Advisor, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
  • Elizabeth Rule, Professor of Native American Programs, George Washington University
  • Edwin Schupman, Educator, Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian

More details can be found on www.teachun.org.

There is no charge for this webinar, but advance registration is required.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, please visit facebook.com/NGOCoRIP.

[UN Observance] International Day of Commemoration in Memory of Victims of the Holocaust

Each year on January 27, the United Nations officially recognizes the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust. The UN Charter endeavors that the human rights violations that occurred throughout World War II and the Holocaust must never be repeated, yet we know that they continue to be perpetrated today all over the world. Stay apprised of 2021 events to join us in honoring the memory of victims lost to the Holocaust and lifting up the critical message of peace, security, and human rights for all people here.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Education, Learning, and Literacy, please visit  facebook.com/NGOCELLatUN. For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Freedom of Religion or Belief, please visit unforb.org.

Holocaust Education in Crisis? Challenges and Responses

To mark the anniversary of the November 1938 Pogrom, The Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme and UNESCO are hosting an online discussion Holocaust education in crisis? Challenges and responses to examine the implications of recent surveys about Holocaust education and possible responses to the challenges and opportunities they raise.
Discussions about Holocaust education usually focus on three main questions: what should be taught, how should it be taught, and to what end? Recent surveys have shown that historical knowledge of the Holocaust is in decline, while related dis- and misinformation is on the rise. Simultaneously, research suggests a connection between students’ positive attitudes towards human rights and activism and their exposure to Holocaust education. Our diverse expert panel considers the implications of this research for their field.
Speakers:

Gretchen Skidmore, Director of Education Initiatives, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, United States

Debórah Dwork, Founding Director, The Center for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Crimes Against Humanity, Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies, The Graduate Center – CUNY, United States

Stuart Foster, Executive Director of the Center for Holocaust Education, University College London, United Kingdom

Elke Gryglewski, Head of the Educational Department, Memorial and Educational Site House of the Wannsee Conference, Germany

Yael Siman, Associate Professor at the Department of Social and Political Science, Iberoamericana University, Mexico

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Freedom of Religion or Belief, please visit unforb.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values, and Global Concerns-NY, please visit csvgc-ny.org. For more information on the Decolonization Alliance, please email President Bautista at lbautista@umcjustice.org. 

Educating Against Racism

United Nations

Episode 2: Educating against Racism
In our second episode, we will consider how education and educators can challenge racism, prejudice and discrimination – the legacies of histories of oppression, mass atrocities and genocide. How can teachers facilitate difficult conversations about identity, discrimination, racism and prejudice, and remind students of the other legacy – the legacy of resistance, solidarity and empathy? 
 Beyond the long shadow: engaging with difficult histories is organized together with the Outreach Programmes on the transatlantic slave tradethe Holocaust and the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. The aim of the collaborative series is to develop a deeper understanding of the legacies of these painful histories – and through examining the past, consider how best to build a world that is just, where all can live in dignity and peace.
Date: Thursday, 29 October 2020
Time: 10:00 a.m. EDT

[Cyber Conference] There’s Still Hope and Here’s Why

On Nov. 5, join PEAC Institute and the United Methodist Church-General Board of Church and Society for a cyber conference designed to foster post-election reflections, healing, and mobilization.

Register here: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_OArdeLrcSaO4A4JHpXdDQA

Background: From Tulsa to Hiroshima, from Auschwitz to the Trail of Tears, the scenes of death and destruction are the same. The root causes of these atrocities are the same too: cultures of violence fueling systems of oppression.

What can the people do to reclaim their rightful democratic power when corrupt governments fail to honor the contracts that ensure we live in a civil society with a sustainable future?

This action-driven conversation, co-sponsored by PEAC Institute and the General Board of Church and Society, will explore the challenge of dismantling cultures of violence. Through both historical and contemporary lenses, we will highlight some of the terrifying consequences we’re facing due to not fixing our culture of violence while also offering examples of nature-based solutions that people are successfully executing today. Speakers from multiple continents will include foreign policy experts, peace activists, and volunteer humanitarians reporting from the field.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the Decolonization Alliance, please email President Bautista at lbautista@umcjustice.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security, please visit ngocdps.wordpress.com.

Safeguarding the Right to Freedom of Religion or Belief and Cultural Rights at a Time of Crisis

Safeguarding the Right to Freedom of Religion or Belief and Cultural Rights at a Time of Crisis

Featuring Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, and Karima Bennoune, Special Rapporteur in the Field of Cultural Rights

Thursday, October 22, 2020, 12:00 – 1:15 Eastern Time

RSVP (include name and affiliation) to unforb@gmail.com – registered attendees will be emailed with link & password just prior to the event

Please join us for a conversation in which Dr. Ahmed Shaheed and Ms. Karima Bennoune will discuss their most recent reports to the UN General Assembly as well as several areas in which they have both engaged in their recent work as UN Special Procedures mandate holders. These include their efforts to encourage States to advance the rights to freedom of religion or belief and cultural rights in ways that are consistent with the principle of the universality of rights; their efforts to promote greater recognition of rights defenders in their respective fields; and their concern about the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the essential rights they monitor.

This event is free and open to all. Advance registration is required. For more information about the NGO Committee on Freedom of Religion or Belief, please visit unforb.org.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values, and Global Concerns-NY, please visit csvgc-ny.org.

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

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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.

Day of Indigenous Unity

Join us on October 12th for a day of storytelling, music, and discussion with Tribal Elders and Indigenous Youth Activists from around the world.

Watch the entire broadcast here: https://www.midheaven.network

October 12th, 2020 marks 528 years since Columbus first arrived on the American continent and sparked half a millennium of genocide, denial of human rights, theft and desecration of sacred land, and destruction of the natural environment. This day has been reclaimed as Indigenous Peoples’ Day in the United States, raising awareness of the continued oppression of Native and Indigenous peoples in the continent, and celebrating their contributions to society and the world.

To celebrate US Indigenous Peoples’ Day in this webinar we have invited members of Indigenous Communities from around the world to talk about work as frontline defenders against climate change and the central importance of indigenous knowledge of land management in the fight to limit its effects.

This is the second webinar in our series ‘Building Back Better’ which looks forward to the world after the COVID-19 pandemic and asks what we need to do to create a more peaceful, just, and sustainable future. Alongside zoom and Facebook livestream, this webinar will be broadcast on the Midheaven network as part of their livestream for Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

More information on the Indigenous Climate Summit is available here.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, please visit facebook.com/NGOCoRIP. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the Decolonization Alliance, please email President Bautista at lbautista@umcjustice.org.

[Monthly Meeting] NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

July members meeting via Zoom

Thursday, July 16, 2020, 1:00 – 3:00pm EST/New York

Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2028703180pwd=RWY2dm5QYVRGNEpwM3dmS3FVQVZVdz09

Meeting ID: 202 870 3180

Password: NGOCRIP

AGENDA

1. Moment of Silence in Honor of the Land we are on and the Native Peoples of this land.

2. Welcome

3. Introductions and Updates

4. Review of Agenda

5. Meeting minutes of June 18, 2020

6. Report of the Executive Committee

7. Speakers: Mira Kleist and Udy Bell from the Secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues will provide insights and updates on International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples (Aug. 9, 2020)

8. Other Items and Announcements

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, please visit facebook.com/NGOCoRIP.

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