by Lisa Jensen, Newsletter Editor( ljensen@balletwest.org | 801-628-1824)
United Nations Day
Tuesday, October 24, 2017; 6:15 pm Dinner; 7:15 pm Program
University of Utah Olpin Union – Crimson View Room (parking info below)
Guest Speaker: Robert Hokansen discussing the vast experience of interfaith collaboration with United Nations charitable projects
Entertainment: Jazz music by “Doc” Lloyd Miller Trio
Cost (for dinner): $30 per person, $15 for students – RSVP your dinner choice (Chicken Parmesan or vegetarian) to Don Wilkerson (801-277-4987/wilky@xmission.com) by Thursday, October 19, 2017.
Parking options:
- Option 1: six handicapped spots in front of the Union Building, free
- Option 2: large parking lot in front of the Union Building, $2.00 an hour, advance payment required at the kiosk. Have your license plate number and method of payment handy.
- Option 3: Alumni House North parking lot, free (the building is under construction but the parking lot is available)
- Option 4: some free spots (after 6:00 PM) behind the Union Bldg
Dinner choices:
- Chicken Parmesan crusted with parmesan cheese with house marinara; mixed greens salad; rosemary roasted red potatoes; season vegetables; artisan rolls and butter; lemon berry cheesecake; beverage.
- Jumbo Cheese ravioli (vegetarian); mixed greens salad; butternut squash puree frizzled sage and pecorino with brown butter sauce; season vegetables; artisan rolls and butter; lemon berry cheesecake; beverage.
Agenda
6:15 PM – 7:15 PM: Dinner (served by Chartwells Dining)
7:15 PM: Speaker – Robert Hokansen
Robert Hokanson has been involved in international development and relief in various forms for over 25 years. He holds degrees in Near Eastern Studies, International Development and Organizational Behavior. During college he worked in rural villages of the Bolivian and Peruvian Altiplano, supervising health, water, and agriculture projects. He served as program director and vice president of a microenterprise development organization with operations in five countries. For the last ten years, Robert has worked with LDS Employment Resource Services and LDS Charities where he has overseen initiatives for refugees, clean water and food security. Robert currently serves as acting director of LDS Charities.
Robert is married and the father of five daughters, ages 11 to 21. He enjoys running, backpacking and exploring the great outdoors.
Entertainment: Jazz music by “Doc” Lloyd Miller Jazz Trio
Lynn Curtis, who spoke to UNAU last year, will be also be joining us at our UN Day event and sharing slides of his recent visits to refugee camps in the Middle East with humanitarian charity organizations. This is the UN and Utah together.
Save the Date
UNAU Speaker for November 28th – AMOS GUIORA
University of Utah Law Professor Dr. Amos Guiora will discuss his recent book, The Crime of Complicity: The Bystander in the Holocaust at the November 28th UNAU meeting at Millcreek Community Center Examining his own family’s holocaust experience leads him to argue for the moral and legal responsibilities of bystanders in Nazi Germany as well as in other contemporary issues. Dinner will be catered by Tom Catrow.
Message from the President
Happy Autumn Everyone,
Here we are at the start of another fantastic season.
Meeting and dining with friends and hearing from a variety of specially selected speakers to share their experiences with the United Nations and broaden our view of world issues.
Our first get together of the season was our UNICEF fundraiser, potluck dinner which was held on Tues. Sept. 26th. It was a delicious and delightful evening with music by International Children’s Choir, presentation by Kristen Westenskow and food from all our fabulous members, guests, Olive Garden and Harmons. We haven’t completely calculated it, but we seem to have received several hundred dollars for UNAU to give to UNICEF. Thank you to our excellent speaker and all the children who participated and to all of you for coming.
Another reminder that UNAU is creating a new website with the assistance of Mimi Ujiie and Xmission. The web address will be www.unautah.org and should be up and running sometime soon. You’ll be able to check this site for details of upcoming events and many other things. You will also want to share this site with others to introduce them to UNAU.
We seek your input and your opinions about our programs, our speakers, dinners and any other item you’d like to share. UNAU has been active for many many years and with communication faster and easier than ever, we would like to reach more citizens of Utah with information and United Nations related projects. So please feel free to email or phone me with your suggestions or ideas. I’d love to hear from you. Please support UNAU by attending our UN Day dinner coming up soon, Tuesday October 24th at 6:15 pm at the University of Utah.
Cheers for now, Katherine St. John – President UNAU
801-485-5824 or kstjohn@burgoyne.com
UNICEF Event- October 23, 2017
Mt. Olympus Presbyterian Church
UNAU members and friends of the United Nations gathered at the annual potluck dinner held at the Mr. Olympus Presbyterian Church to celebrate and fundraise for UNICEF. The ubiquitous little orange boxes associated with UNICEF fund-raising, often seen in the hands of Halloween trick-or-treaters, were displayed and filled at each table. UNICEF’s resources go to programs providing clean water, food, protection, health care, shelter and learning opportunities that bring hope and help build a future for young people across the globe. For more info, visit UNICEF website at https://www.unicef.org/.
The evening began with a remarkably professional program by the International Children’s Choir under the direction of its founder, Dr. Kathy Sorenson. Local youth preformed folk music from around the world in traditional costumes and various languages reflecting their own backgrounds. Bell ringers, strings, drums and other instruments enhanced the vocal music. Perhaps the highlight was the final song based on the Ghanaian tradition of including as part of one’s name the weekday of birth–with an invitation to audience members to join the dancing during the celebration of their own day of the week birthday! The birthday song concluded with a nod to the 25th anniversary of the International Children’s Choir.
The buffet style potluck dinner was then enjoyed by everyone. Special appreciation to Harmon’s and Olive Garden for supplementing the variety of homemade desserts, casseroles, salads, and specialty dishes brought by the guests.
Professor Kirsten Proctor-Westenskow provided a unique lens into the UN’s impact for children around the world through her current book project demonstrating the impact of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) through stories of children who achieved success through opportunities represented by the SDGs. She was inspired by the storybook Ruby’s Wish, which describes a young Chinese girl’s achievement with her grandparents support of a university education at a time when it was “unthinkable.” Her story, written by her own granddaughter, illustrate the SDGs to achieving gender equality and empowerment (SDG – 5) and quality education for all (SDG-4). Professor Proctor-Westenskow interacted with the children during her presentation to demonstrate their ability to identify the great differences which children around the world face in seeking to fulfill their dreams.
Vision of nuclear-free world needs global response, says UN chief
Source: Xinhua| 2017-09-27 05:59:02|Editor: yan
UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) — UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday that the vision of a world free of nuclear weapons requires a global response.
Addressing a high-level General Assembly meeting held in commemoration of the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, observed annually on Sept. 26, Guterres said that the only world that is safe from the use of nuclear weapons “is a world that is completely free of them.”
Although the goal of such a world is universally held, he said, it has lately been subject to numerous challenges, including a series of provocative nuclear and missile tests conducted by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
He said that the states possessing nuclear weapons have a special responsibility to lead by “taking concrete steps,” including those agreed at various review conferences of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
Expensive campaigns to modernize nuclear weapons, combined with the absence of planned arsenal reductions beyond the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) between Russia and the United States, make it difficult to see how disarmament can make progress, Guterres said, warning against misguided assertions that prevailing security conditions do not permit disarmament initiatives.
“It is true that we live in challenging circumstances, but this can be no excuse for walking away from our shared responsibility to seek a more peaceful international society,” he said.
The General Assembly declared Sept. 26 as the International Day devoted to furthering the objective of the total elimination of nuclear weapons through a resolution adopted in December 2013.
Also addressing the event was this year’s General Assembly President Miroslav Lajcak, who noted that thousands of nuclear warheads still exist and they are being “stored across three different continents.”
More than half of the world’s population lives in countries, which have nuclear capabilities, or are members of nuclear alliances, he added.
Since the designating the International Day, the world has witnessed three nuclear tests.
“One nuclear test is one too many. Six nuclear tests in the 21st century is, frankly, alarming. So too is the reckless rhetoric we are witnessing. It can bring us all to the verge of a cliff, which we cannot afford to fall off,” he said.
“We can live in a nuclear-free world, as long as we all believe that it is possible. And as long as we are all willing to work to make it possible,” he said.
USNC for UN Women “HeForShe Gala”
USNC for UN Women Utah chapter is happy to announce that planning and preparations are underway for our HeForShe Gala this November. Our Board has been hard at work reaching out to community leaders and businesses to contribute to the event. The Gala is one of our chapter’s staple events, and acts as a fundraiser for our non-profit work. Additionally, the gala raises awareness of the HeForShe global initiative. Read more about HeForShe.
The HeForShe Gala will feature a panel of local leaders who will answer questions on the subject of how men can get involved in the fight for gender equality. We will be able to hear from leaders such as Susan Madsen, Caren Frost and Jim Dabakis. The HeForShef Gala is November 18, 2017 from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm at the Crimson Room, located in the University of Utah Union. Be sure to purchase a ticket, and spread the news of the gala. It will be a wonderful night. You may purchase tickets for the event here.