by Lisa Jensen, Newsletter Editor (ljensen@balletwest.org |801-628-1824)
UNICEF Potluck Dinner
You are invited!
When: Tuesday, September 26th at 6:00 PM
Where: Mount Olympus Presbyterian Church- 3280 East 3900 So. SLC
“Celebrating Children of the World”
Guest speaker: Professor Kristen Proctor Westenskow will share items from her book, which deals with children and the United Nations and other various stories. Please feel free to bring food to share, bring friends of all ages for a nice evening celebrating and donating to UNICEF.
Special guest performers: The International Children’s Choir
The International Children’s Choir (ICC), founded and directed by Dr. Kathy Sorensen, is a distinguished choral ensemble based in Utah. The ICC performs in over 40 languages for dignitaries and heads of state from around the world, national and international conventions, special events, seminars, workshops, and conferences. Singers wear colorful authentic native costumes representing individual countries, symbolizing diversity, peace and unification through song.
Come enjoy this wonderful evening with friends old and new. We look forward to seeing you.
RSVP or for more information contact Don Wilkerson – 801-277-4987 wilky@xmission.com
Any potluck item welcome. Salad and bread courtesy of Olive Garden.
Donations for UNICEF would be appreciated. Thank you to Harmons for their donation.
Save the Date
Mark your calendars for our upcoming events:
- Tuesday October 24th at 6:00 pm United Nations Day Celebration at University of Utah – Crimson View room with speaker Robert Hokansen LDS Charities and more
- Tuesday November 28th at Millcreek Center speaker Amos Guiora professor of law at University of Utah will discuss bystander complicity and the law.
More information on these events in October newsletter.
Message from the President
Dear UNAU Members,
As we look forward to another season, we want to let you know how much we enjoy meeting with you and hearing from you at our events throughout the year. We are planning another season of engaging and enjoyable gatherings as we all learn more about the work of the United Nations and discuss a variety of related issues.
Thank you for your membership, your input and your attendance at our meetings. Please make sure your membership is up to date, and invite friends to join us also. We would love to hear from each of you with suggestions for events and about the organization. So please feel free to chat with any of the board members, or come to a board meeting and offer your input.
Our first event is pretty well covered in this newsletter and we hope you will be able to attend and bring guests to enjoy the lovely children’s choir and hear from Kristen Proctor Westenskow as she shares stories about children and the UN. Bring whatever food item you would like to share. If you are unable to bring anything, just bring your appetite, we love to have you all there for this first and most sociable event of the season. Tues. September 26th at 6:00 pm. We will have a book give away this year too, so come ready to find some new reading materials.
UNAU is creating a new website with the able assistance of Mimi Ujiie and Xmission. The web address will be www.unautah.org and should be up and running sometime this month. You will 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.
In October, we will celebrate UN Day at the U of U. More info in the next newsletter and at the Sept. event. November meeting will be at Millcreek and will include a dinner catered by Tom Catrow as in the past. The price is now $20 in order to cover gratuities but will be the same delicious meal. In 2018, we will alternate our dinners each month between Tom and various Spice Kitchen meals. In May, Spice Kitchen provided Bhutanese food. We will have a different variety such as Middle Eastern, Bosnian or African meals served in Jan. March and May. We believe this variety will be an interesting change and enjoyed by everyone.
May 2018 we will have elections for UNAU officers, primarily President and President Elect. We invite you to consider running for these positions or serving on the board in other capacities. If you would like more information on these positions, feel free to ask any board member. You will find it can be pretty exciting and really exhilarating as we meet new people and connect with others in the community.
I hope you all had a nice summer and we look forward to getting together again.
Cheers for now,
Katherine St. John – President (kstjohn@burgoyne.com |801-485-5824)
UNAU General Meeting, May 23, 2017
Following the excellent Himalayan meal, UNAU President Katherine St. John thanked Tiffany Ivins-Spence for arranging with Spice Kitchen Incubator and introducing Bina Maharjan and her partners. They explained Spice Kitchen’s format of recruiting refugees/immigrants interested in working in food services. They become familiarized with the basics of the culinary business while gaining access to kitchen space as well as the capital necessary to start their own local business. Their Catering Services and Menus can be found at the Spice Kitchen web site here.
Cherry Wong began the General Meeting by overseeing the election of UNAU officers for Treasurer and Recording Secretary. After receiving no additional nominations from the floor, Doug Stark and Nancy Haanstad were reelected to those respective positions.
President Katherine St. John then inaugurated the second annual Intergenerational Model United Nations (IGMUN) that has been strongly encouragement by UNA-USA. She introduced Acting Secretary General Lohren Gomez, who in turn introduced 7 Model UN students from Woods Cross High School to facilitate the mock Security Council session. With audience participants joining the students to create delegations representing the P-5 countries (U.S., U.K., France, China, and Russia), and consult two background sheets on detailing a crisis scenario regarding North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons. Using a Speaker’s List interspersed with Unmoderated Caucus sessions, the participants created Working Papers on the issue. The three resulting Resolutions were voted on during Voting Procedure.
The U.S. / U.K. paper proposed reopening diplomatic channels within 10 years with N. Korea; asked for the support of other nations; and proposed increasing political sanctions on N. Korea.
The P.R.C. / Russia paper proposed a de-escalation of tensions; starting U.N. sponsored peace talks; inviting N. Korea to clarify and explain its goals; encouraged recognition of China as the protector of N. Korea with the proviso that China and Russia will enact sanctions should N. Korea not comply with any resulting agreements.
The French paper proposed encouraging N. Korea to be more open to diplomatic solutions; promoting assistance from the General Assembly to N. Korea; encouraging enhanced diplomatic talks.
The U.S. / U.K. and the P.R.C. / Russian resolutions were both passed with 4 positives votes absent any veto, while the French resolution failed to attract the necessary positive votes.
UNA-USA has enthusiastically promoted the Intergenerational MUN. IGMUN welcomes input from participants and observers to run an even better IGMUN next May.
Upcoming Events
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.
Message from our Board
UNICEF Humanitarian Action for Children 2017, Overview can be found by Googling UNICEF 2017
Here are a very few facts:
UNICEF planned to assist 81 million people -48 m children- in 48 countries in 2017 using US$3.345 billion. Assistance is given in the areas of nutrition, health and vaccinations for 9.4 m people, safe water for 19.3m people, basic education, child protection, HIV and AIDS, and cash assistance reaching an additional 1.8m people.
The largest dollar amounts assist a billion refugees in Egypt, Iraq and other Middle East and African countries. The countries there including Syria, also receive UNICEF assistance.
The USA leads all others as a source of Humanitarian funds with $407.2m. Germany is the next largest donor followed by the United Kingdom and European Commission.
In 2016 Emergency Response Teams undertook 37 missions in 17 countries totaling 2366 days. UNICEF has partnerships with the Red Cross/Red Crecent and with the World Food Program. They coordinate with many NGOs and government organizations.
IN THE USA : Among the many victims of Hurricane Harvey are 3m children. UNICEF assisted in emergency rescue and recovery and has plans to assist in sending children back to school. There are 1m school children living in shelters. Nearly one in 4 children in the Houstan area lives in poverty.
Submitted by Cherry Wong
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