World Bulletin
Tom Miller |
The President’s CornerAt UNA’s Annual Gala, a Snapshot of the WorldDec. 2 -- Last week, UNA-USA celebrated the 10th anniversary of Global Classrooms® at its annual fund-raiser, popularly known as the UNA gala. The celebration gathered 400 guests at Cipriani 42nd Street, the group consisting of diplomats, national and international civil servants, elected officials, UN press corps, civil society, business leaders, philanthropists and New Yorkers who appreciate the UN. For UNA members who were not present, this President’s Corner is for you.
Among those present were Stephen Spear, a social studies teacher at Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Manhattan; what more appropriate place than that?
“No single educational tool has assisted me more in instilling both the knowledge and principles” in my students than Global Classrooms, Spear told the gala audience His words sum up why UNA excels in its extraordinary use of the UN conference model, teaching students about global issues and the skills they need to solve such complex problems.
Through Global Classrooms, the students learn to “set aside their natural desire to win an argument and replace it with a desire to find common ground and achieve a compromise solution” Spear added.
Global Classrooms is UNA’s own brand of Model United Nations. In the early 1990s, UNA’s education team noticed that Model UN activities tended to take place in mostly suburban and private schools. To diversify the Model UN population, UNA introduced the experience to urban public schools. While teachers were enthusiastic, they were reluctant to introduce a yearlong classroom-based program into an already jammed schedule. Model UN was also an unknown to many of the teachers. With these concerns in mind, UNA developed the Global Classrooms curriculum.
In the last 10 years, Global Classrooms has grown from a New York City phenomenon to a network of students, teachers and other partners in 24 cities around the world. The program operates in nine major school districts across the US as well as in Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America. Chicago Public Schools recently integrated the Global Classrooms curriculum in its mandated ninth-grade world studies classes.
In addition to middle school and high school students, UNA plays a critical role in higher education. Through UNA’s special alliance with the John. C. Whitehead School of Diplomacy and International Relations at Seton Hall University, we sponsor a weeklong UN intensive summer study program for students around the world to explore the inner workings of the UN right here at its New York headquarters. To commemorate our close relationship with the Whitehead School, UNA presented John C. Whitehead, a dedicated UNA board chairman for a decade and a board member for many more decades, with our Global Change award. This honor recognizes Whitehead’s unstinting support of UNA’s work and reflects our gratitude for his leadership and service.
The night was a pleasant reminder of UNA’s welcome place in the UN community. The world celebrated with us on Monday night as we were joined by guests from Argentina, Bahrain, Britain, China, Guinea, Haiti, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Korea, Lebanon, New Zealand, Russia, Spain, Tanzania, Turkey, Uganda and Vietnam. (I know I am leaving a country out!) To view some photos of the gala, click here.
 View a slideshow of photos from the event at Flickr.
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Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, our gracious closing speaker, emphasized that we should not give up our expectations for the UN’s Copenhagen summit as he announced that Indonesia, Russia, Brazil, Japan, Norway, the European Union and Korea have all stepped forward with new proposals for cutting carbon emissions. The recent news that the French and British are backing a plan to build a multibillion dollar fund ($10 billion annually by 2012) to help developing nations cope with climate change and cut polluting gases is one example of the need to press on.
Ban expects at least 65 heads of state to take part in Copenhagen next week – including, as announced by the White House, President Barack Obama. The decision signals Obama’s determination to see progress made on climate change, an important factor in bringing China and India closer to an agreement.
On a personal note, we continue to mourn the loss of an inspirational world citizen in the human rights arena as well as the longest-serving UNA board member, Leo Nevas, who died this summer. His presence was truly missed, as if he had just stepped away from his table and we were waiting for him to come back. We presented the third annual Leo Nevas Human Rights Award to celebrate the outstanding contributions that Sheryl WuDunn – through her powerful new book, written with her husband, Nick Kristof -- has made to advance the rights of girls and women.
While the narratives in “Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide,” show the worst sides of humanity, they have also galvanized a grass-roots movement that proves how a little help and effort by individuals around the world can bring about economic progress for women and girls – half the world’s population -- who need it most.
As Jo-Ann Nevas Price, Leo’s daughter, said in presenting the award to Sheryl, the book inspires us by showing “how we each can do our part and must do our part – a mission my father embraced and espoused his whole life.”
That’s why UNA-USA needs your help more than ever to carry out its mission, as we strive to keep our members informed about the UN. Let us continue our vital role in bridging the US and the UN by supporting UNA today.
To share your views, send your e-mail to yourviewsmatter@unausa.org.
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