Torture in Our Name: A Moral Call to End Solitary Confinement

Please join us for a film screening and discussion about how survivors of solitary confinement and religious communities are working together to abolish torture once and for all. Join live via Zoom or Facebook!

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_hIAox0YhQOCLvRJgLqxMHA

Religions for Peace (RFP) USA is the largest and most broadly-based representative multi-religious forum in the United States, with participants from more than 50 religious communities, representing each of the major faith traditions. The organization identifies shared commitments among religious communities in the U.S., enhances mutual understanding among these communities, and facilitates collaboration to address issues of common concern.

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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 or bobbinassar@yahoo.com. For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit crngo.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values, and Global Concerns, please visit csvgc-ny.org. For more information on the Alliance of NGOs on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, please visit crimealliance.org.

Torture in Our Name: A Moral Call to End Solitary Confinement

Please join us for a film screening and discussion about how survivors of solitary confinement and religious communities are working together to abolish torture once and for all. Join live via Zoom or Facebook!

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_hIAox0YhQOCLvRJgLqxMHA

Religions for Peace (RFP) USA is the largest and most broadly-based representative multi-religious forum in the United States, with participants from more than 50 religious communities, representing each of the major faith traditions. The organization identifies shared commitments among religious communities in the U.S., enhances mutual understanding among these communities, and facilitates collaboration to address issues of common concern.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bknotts@uua.org or bobbinassar@yahoo.com. For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit crngo.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values, and Global Concerns, please visit csvgc-ny.org. For more information on the Alliance of NGOs on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, please visit crimealliance.org.

Common security, nuclear risks and the OSCE in the wake of the Ukraine conflict

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_yqRRAyjZR8KLbjkYmMi7Xw

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is impacting significantly on the European security framework. The European Union has facilitated a sweeping package of economic sanctions against Russia, unlike anything undertaken by the EU in any previous conflict. The invasion has elevated the risks of nuclear war, and stimulated Sweden and Finland to abandon their historical neutral status and apply to join NATO – a nuclear alliance.In light of Russia’s violation of the UN Charter and security arrangements such as the Budapest Memorandum and Minsk agreements, it would be tempting to conclude that common security frameworks such as the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) are becoming irrelevant to address security concerns. However, this event will highlight the opposite – that it is in times of such conflict and high tension that common security approaches and other mechanisms for diplomacy and nuclear risk-reduction are vital and should be strengthened, not abandoned. Common Security refers to building security between nations through international law, diplomacy and conflict resolution. It is based on the notion that national security cannot be achieved or sustained by threatening or reducing the security of other nations, but only by ensuring that the security of all nations is advanced.For more background see For Our Shared Future: Common Security 2022 Report, Olof Palme International Centre. Also of relevance is the recent resolution of the U.S. Conference of Mayors Forging a Path to Peace and Common Security.

Co-sponsors: Basel Peace Office, Détente Now, Initiatives pour le désarmement Nucléaire, G100 (Group of 100 Women Leaders) Defence and Security Wing, Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament, World Future Council, Youth Fusion

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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 Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bobbinassar@yahoo.com or bknotts@uua.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Children’s Rights-NY, please visit childrightsny.org.

Common security, nuclear risks and the OSCE in the wake of the Ukraine conflict

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_yqRRAyjZR8KLbjkYmMi7Xw

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is impacting significantly on the European security framework. The European Union has facilitated a sweeping package of economic sanctions against Russia, unlike anything undertaken by the EU in any previous conflict. The invasion has elevated the risks of nuclear war, and stimulated Sweden and Finland to abandon their historical neutral status and apply to join NATO – a nuclear alliance.In light of Russia’s violation of the UN Charter and security arrangements such as the Budapest Memorandum and Minsk agreements, it would be tempting to conclude that common security frameworks such as the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) are becoming irrelevant to address security concerns. However, this event will highlight the opposite – that it is in times of such conflict and high tension that common security approaches and other mechanisms for diplomacy and nuclear risk-reduction are vital and should be strengthened, not abandoned. Common Security refers to building security between nations through international law, diplomacy and conflict resolution. It is based on the notion that national security cannot be achieved or sustained by threatening or reducing the security of other nations, but only by ensuring that the security of all nations is advanced.For more background see For Our Shared Future: Common Security 2022 Report, Olof Palme International Centre. Also of relevance is the recent resolution of the U.S. Conference of Mayors Forging a Path to Peace and Common Security.

Co-sponsors: Basel Peace Office, Détente Now, Initiatives pour le désarmement Nucléaire, G100 (Group of 100 Women Leaders) Defence and Security Wing, Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament, World Future Council, Youth Fusion

__________________________________________________________________________________________

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 Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bobbinassar@yahoo.com or bknotts@uua.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Children’s Rights-NY, please visit childrightsny.org.

[monthly mtg] NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Agenda for June 16, 2022

Zoom link: https://fordham.zoom.us/j/85797881478

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

2. Welcome and Review of Agenda

3. Meeting Minutes of April 21, 2022

4. Report of the Executive Committee

5. Guest Speaker: Dan Baron Cohen is a community performance educator and eco-cultural activist of Welsh-Quebecois origin and has lived in Brazil since 1998 and in the Brazilian Amazonian city of Marabá since 2009. He has developed numerous programs with indigenous peoples of the Amazon/Brazil and worked with UNESCO and UNICEF. See below for more.

6. Update on Indigenous Health Subcommittee [Rashmi]

7. Update on the Education Subcommittee [Rick]

8. Other Items and Announcements

Guest speaker bio for Dan Baron Cohen, community educator and eco-cultural activist:

Dan works with Afro-Indigenous Youth in Amazonian region of Para, Brazil. The Rivers of Meeting education project, began by awakening sleeping cultural roots and human rights through Afro-Contemporary percussion, dance and lyrics workshops. Over 12 years, excluded youth were nurtured to become community workshop leaders and coordinators of medicinal plants, street library/cinema projects, dance and audiovisual companies, annual festival and workshop courses in their Community University of the Rivers, to defend the River Tocantins and nurture an eco-village based on eco-pedagogies for sustainable community.

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CoNGO Notes: The NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is a Substantive Committee of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations. Likewise, for more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bobbinassar@yahoo.com or bknotts@uua.org.

[monthly mtg] NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Agenda for June 16, 2022

Zoom link: https://fordham.zoom.us/j/85797881478

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

2. Welcome and Review of Agenda

3. Meeting Minutes of April 21, 2022

4. Report of the Executive Committee

5. Guest Speaker: Dan Baron Cohen is a community performance educator and eco-cultural activist of Welsh-Quebecois origin and has lived in Brazil since 1998 and in the Brazilian Amazonian city of Marabá since 2009. He has developed numerous programs with indigenous peoples of the Amazon/Brazil and worked with UNESCO and UNICEF. See below for more.

6. Update on Indigenous Health Subcommittee [Rashmi]

7. Update on the Education Subcommittee [Rick]

8. Other Items and Announcements

Guest speaker bio for Dan Baron Cohen, community educator and eco-cultural activist:

Dan works with Afro-Indigenous Youth in Amazonian region of Para, Brazil. The Rivers of Meeting education project, began by awakening sleeping cultural roots and human rights through Afro-Contemporary percussion, dance and lyrics workshops. Over 12 years, excluded youth were nurtured to become community workshop leaders and coordinators of medicinal plants, street library/cinema projects, dance and audiovisual companies, annual festival and workshop courses in their Community University of the Rivers, to defend the River Tocantins and nurture an eco-village based on eco-pedagogies for sustainable community.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: The NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is a Substantive Committee of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations. Likewise, for more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bobbinassar@yahoo.com or bknotts@uua.org.

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day

This year’s observance of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD) at 1:30pm (NYC time) on June 15 coincides with the fourth review of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Ministerial Conference on Ageing in Rome, Italy. While there will be an in-person WEAAD observance, we are pleased to invite everyone to participate virtually.

Details and registration here: World Elder Abuse Awareness Day

In preparation for the event, this month the NGO Committee on Ageing-NY participated in the review and appraisal cycle of MIPAA in Rome. A new preamble paragraph has been added to recall the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, and the convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, among other treaties and covenants. The fact remains that older persons remain invisible and unprotected. The pandemic’s excessive toll on older persons has documented that human rights of older persons are not being protected. We must continue to advocate for a legally binding document to protect the human rights of all older persons.

Please note: The UN International Day of Older Persons (UNIDOP) will be held once again in person at the UN (and live webcast). The exact observance date is pending due to space availability at the UN. The NGO Committee on Ageing-NY is collaborating on the theme with its counterparts in Geneva and Vienna on addressing older women and issues of climate change, pandemic and other issues, but from the perspective of the resilience and contributions of older women. Robin Fenley is chairing this year’s observance.

Note: The new chair of the Vienna Committee on Ageing is Shantu Watt and in Geneva, the new chair is Kelly Fitzgerald.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: The NGO Committee on Ageing-NY is a Substantive Committee of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations. Likewise, for more information on the NGO Committee on Ageing-Vienna, please visit ngoageingvie.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Ageing-Geneva, please visit ageingcommitteegeneva.org.

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day

This year’s observance of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD) at 1:30pm (NYC time) on June 15 coincides with the fourth review of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Ministerial Conference on Ageing in Rome, Italy. While there will be an in-person WEAAD observance, we are pleased to invite everyone to participate virtually.

Details and registration here: World Elder Abuse Awareness Day

In preparation for the event, this month the NGO Committee on Ageing-NY participated in the review and appraisal cycle of MIPAA in Rome. A new preamble paragraph has been added to recall the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, and the convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, among other treaties and covenants. The fact remains that older persons remain invisible and unprotected. The pandemic’s excessive toll on older persons has documented that human rights of older persons are not being protected. We must continue to advocate for a legally binding document to protect the human rights of all older persons.

Please note: The UN International Day of Older Persons (UNIDOP) will be held once again in person at the UN (and live webcast). The exact observance date is pending due to space availability at the UN. The NGO Committee on Ageing-NY is collaborating on the theme with its counterparts in Geneva and Vienna on addressing older women and issues of climate change, pandemic and other issues, but from the perspective of the resilience and contributions of older women. Robin Fenley is chairing this year’s observance.

Note: The new chair of the Vienna Committee on Ageing is Shantu Watt and in Geneva, the new chair is Kelly Fitzgerald.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: The NGO Committee on Ageing-NY is a Substantive Committee of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations. Likewise, for more information on the NGO Committee on Ageing-Vienna, please visit ngoageingvie.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Ageing-Geneva, please visit ageingcommitteegeneva.org.

Committee of Religious NGOs at the UN (CRNGO) Annual Membership Meeting

Venue: Online and Baha’i International Community (866 UN Plaza, Suite 120)

RSVP required: https://bic-org.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEvf-uorDkuH9GvRCtVkcF-JfCsuk8EOTY5

As we emerge from a pandemic-induced hiatus during which the Committee of Religious NGOs at the UN (CRNGO) largely carried out its activities through the CRNGO Climate Working Group, the CRNGO Bureau invites its members to come back together, in community, in a moment of reflection, to be together for its first Annual Membership Meeting in three years.

The event will be hosted in a hybrid format in recognition of the fact that the pandemic is still ongoing, and each individual’s comfort level with gathering in physical space is different.

The purpose and objective of the Annual Membership Meeting is to help foster community and facilitate learning and interaction among religious and spiritual NGOs working at the United Nations as well as those interested in engaging with the UN.

The Annual Membership Meeting will open with welcoming remarks by members of the Bureau, followed by a consultative process where participants are invited to reflect on how their organizations have successfully engaged with the UN in the past three years, and share their perspectives on some of the challenges to creating change at the UN.

At the meeting, annual membership dues will be collected, the results of the election of the new Bureau will be presented and it will launch a process to create our 2022 to 2024 programme of work, striving to deepen the Committee’s religious community engagement with the UN.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: The Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations is a Substantive Committee of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations. Likewise, for more information on the NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values, and Global Concerns, please visit csvgc-ny.org.

Committee of Religious NGOs at the UN (CRNGO) Annual Membership Meeting

Venue: Online and Baha’i International Community (866 UN Plaza, Suite 120)

RSVP required: https://bic-org.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEvf-uorDkuH9GvRCtVkcF-JfCsuk8EOTY5

As we emerge from a pandemic-induced hiatus during which the Committee of Religious NGOs at the UN (CRNGO) largely carried out its activities through the CRNGO Climate Working Group, the CRNGO Bureau invites its members to come back together, in community, in a moment of reflection, to be together for its first Annual Membership Meeting in three years.

The event will be hosted in a hybrid format in recognition of the fact that the pandemic is still ongoing, and each individual’s comfort level with gathering in physical space is different.

The purpose and objective of the Annual Membership Meeting is to help foster community and facilitate learning and interaction among religious and spiritual NGOs working at the United Nations as well as those interested in engaging with the UN.

The Annual Membership Meeting will open with welcoming remarks by members of the Bureau, followed by a consultative process where participants are invited to reflect on how their organizations have successfully engaged with the UN in the past three years, and share their perspectives on some of the challenges to creating change at the UN.

At the meeting, annual membership dues will be collected, the results of the election of the new Bureau will be presented and it will launch a process to create our 2022 to 2024 programme of work, striving to deepen the Committee’s religious community engagement with the UN.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: The Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations is a Substantive Committee of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations. Likewise, for more information on the NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values, and Global Concerns, please visit csvgc-ny.org.

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