United Nations Association of the U.S. - Wisconsin Division

04/14/2015

Very timely program on Cuba tonight at 7pm, on the third floor at the Downtown Madison Library, presented by the United Nations Association of Dane County. It's entitled, "Impressions on a Trip to Eastern Cuba," and will be presented by Alberto Vargas and Jon Heinrich. Alberto is Associate Director of the Latin American, Caribbean & Iberian Studies Program at UW-Madison, and Jon is with the Madison-Camagüey Sister City Association. With President Obama's decisiion to resume diplomatic relations with Cuba (they ended in 1959, the year I was born), there are many new openings. Madison is already one of the communities taking the lead on building upon meaningful relationships long ago established by Madison community leaders, like Cardinal Bar owner Ricardo Gonzalez, and resonant with the historic visit of Paul Soglin with Fidel Castro in the 1970s, and the legacy of films about Cuba produced by UW alumnus Saul Landau. Please come out and join us tonight, for a great presentation by these folks who've traveled there in recent months, and interactive discussions about the opportunities that lie ahead! www.unadane.org

Alberto Vargas, Associate Director of the Latin American, Caribbean & Iberian Studies Program at UW-Madison and Jon Heinrich, Madison- Camagüey Sister City Association. The Madison - Camagüey...

04/01/2015

Former UNA-Dane president Bonnie Block went to jail for justice today to protest the consequences of drone warfare. This practice that kills countless innocent people worldwide must end: that's the theme of this powerful interview with a courageous woman I recorded on Monday, in the second cablecast and video podcast version of Forward Forum produced at the Sun Prairie Media Center. Please take a moment to hear what she has to say. At 2:30 pm this afternoon, Bonnie Block, a Madison-based peace activist--and a very dear friend and mentor of mine--began serving a five day jail sentence in Mauston, a development being followed by people of conscience nationwide. Bonnie is choosing this act of civil disobedience in lieu of paying a fine, because this cause is that important to this committed grandmother, and the fate of the earth that her grandchildren will inherit. Charged under dubious circumstances with trespass (occurring in the context of an open house at Volk Field), the court system and the military had conspired to prevent Bonnie from explaining before a jury of her peers why she could not have been trespassing, and the reasons that led her to protest the use of a Wisconsin military facility as a training post for military officers who will control future drone strikes affecting civilian populations worldwide. Please hold Bonnie in your thoughts and prayers, and please reach out to her on Facebook, or write to me at [email protected], and I'll convey your messages of support.

Forward Forum: 3/30/15

01/12/2015

Tuesday Night, Jan. 13th, 7pm, Downtown Madison Library
Experiences in Mali and lessons for American Lives and Culture
Mike McCabe, Public UNA-Dane Lecture
Former executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign

January 13, 2015 * Madison Public Library * Room 301 7:00 – 8:30 PM

Mike McCabe recently retired as executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, a nonpartisan watchdog group that tracks the money in state politics, fights government corruption and works for reforms that make people matter more than money in politics. During his time with the Democracy Campaign, he has led several successful efforts to make government more transparent for its citizens. He formerly was communications director and legislative liaison for the Madison Metropolitan School District, a legislative aide, State Assembly candidate and newspaper reporter.

Mike was raised on his family's dairy farm in Clark County and is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, with degrees in journalism and political science. He served as a Peace Corps volunteer in the West African country of Mali from 1989 – 1991. The experience was life-changing, and he and his family have journeyed back to Mali repeatedly in recent years, and keep in close contact with friends there. Recent unrest in Mali was partially quelled by the presence of UN Peacekeeping troops.

Mike authored the book "Blue Jeans in High Places: The Coming Makeover of American Politics" published in 2014. He previously coauthored a textbook, "The Framework of Your Wisconsin Government," that still is widely used in elementary and secondary schools in Wisconsin, and "Democratic Renewal: A Call to Action from America's Heartland" published by the Midwest Democracy Network.

All UNA-USA Dane County Programs are free and open to the public.

08/18/2014

Indigenous people's rights and the UN, and how local Indian Country initiatives here resonate with developments worldwide.... Featured topic on today's "A Public Affair," Noon CT, WORT. Guests include Barb Munson, Oneida tribal leader and WI Net for Peace and Justice chair, and Hawaii-based Indigenous rights leader Joshua Cooper, as well as Joe Elder on the tribal people of northeast India. Fascinating show; hope you can join us. 89.9Fm and wortfm.org. More on the UN's role here: http://undesadspd.org/IndigenousPeoples.aspx

Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

08/11/2014

LGBT International Human Rights and the UN, on today's A Public Affair, Noon CT on 89.9FM and wortfm.org . Guests include Marianne Mollman Director of Programs at the International Gay and Le***an Human Rights Commission in New York City, and Amy Auguston, Communications Director of the United Nations Association-USA, also from New York. We'll also be joined by UNA Advocacy Chair Herb Behrstock from Oakland, and Septina Flormente who grew up in both Sierra Leone and Nigeria, now living in Raleigh, North Carolina. Septina and I are the two co-chairs of the UNA-USA's new LGBT Human Rights Affinity Group, which I founded last month at our national conference in Washington, DC.

We'll likely be joined by folks from all across the US for this show, who will join via streaming audio. More on our primary guest is below. Please join us for what will be an eye-opening look at the status of LGBT people living worldwide, and the powerful leadership of Ban Ki-Moon and others to place LGBT human rights front and center, at a time of both enormous promise and overwhelming challenge as the UN engages these issues for the first time in powerful ways. A reminder of both how far we've come and also how far we have to go.

Marianne Mollmann previously was a senior policy advisor with Amnesty International's International Secretariat in London where she focused on freedom of expression and sexual rights issues, and a women's rights researcher and advocate with Human Rights Watch in New York. Ms. Mollmann specializes in sexual rights, reproductive rights, women in conflict, economic rights, and anti-discrimination.

Ms. Mollmann has lived and worked in several countries and continents. She is the former co-coordinator of the Women's Working Group of the International Network for Economic Social and Cultural Rights and the former executive director of the Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA). Ms. Mollmann holds an LL.M. in International Human Rights Law from Essex University and speaks fluent Spanish, French, and Danish.

Last month, UN Sec. Gen. Ban Ki-Moon granted full marriage rights benefits to all UN employees worldwide. More on this and other UN-related benefits at the website of our sister organization, UN Free and Equal at www.unfe.org .

08/04/2014

Live from the Middle East at noon CT on WORT Community Radio: a report from Usama Nicola, a Palestinian human rights advocate speaking from his vantage point in Bethlehem. Guests also include local peace activists Bonnie Block and Rev. Joan Deming. Please join me (John Quinlan) for today's A Public Affair, 89.9 FM and livestreaming and podcast at wortfm.org. Podcasts of my recent shows are at http://wortfm.org/?s=John+Quinlan. Join our conversation by calling us at 608-256-2001.

Do you know of anyone in your life such as a friend or family member who committed su***de? Do you know how to heal from that experience? Listen to this edition of APA to find out more! more »

08/04/2014

On Monday's A Public Affair at noon CT on WORT radio, updates and responses to developments in the Gaza. Guests in studio are peace activist Bonnie Block, and the Rev. Joan Deming, Madison director of the Pilgrims of Ibillin, and we're working to secure a live report from the Gaza and/or the West Bank. 89.9 FM and streaming and podcast at www.wortfm.org . Read Bonnie's prescient CapTimes letter, "Military Occupations Don't Work," here: http://bit.ly/1kxLAos More on the Pilgrims of Ibillin, located in northern Israel, which works to spread understandings, here: http://www.pilgrimsofibillin.org/

The University of Wisconsin Law School, WisPolitics.com and radio station WORT will host a debate between the Democratic candidates for Wisconsin attorney general on Aug. 5 at noon. The hour-long debate will be held in room 2260 of the UW Law School. The public is welcome to attend.

07/16/2014

Final Reminder:

Nominations for 2014 Global Citizen Award
For the seventh year UNA Dane County will honor one or more persons who have worked to improve the lives of others internationally or to highlight the mission, value and goals of the United Nations. The award will be presented at the regular monthly meeting in October 2014. This award honors global work that improves the health, equality, environment, education, legal rights, living conditions, distribution of resources, rule of law and conflict resolution for people anywhere. It may also honor someone's work to enhance the knowledge and understanding of the work of the United Nations.

You do not need to be a member of UNA Dane County to receive this award or to make the nomination. Nominees are not required to live in Dane County, but they must work in Dane County.

Past honorees have been:

2013 Vince Kavaloski for teaching the philosophies of peace and social justice

2012 Sarith Ou and Roger Garms for the Cambodian School Project

2011 Lisa Fernandez for founding the Nicaragua Wheelchair Project

2010 Norma Berkowitz for assisting the people affected by Chernobyl

2009 Jennifer Lowenstein for her work in Palestine

2008 Mike Boehm for his work in Vietnam
You are invited to submit nominations by July 18, 2014 (Note deadline has been extended).

In your nomination include the following information:

(1) Name, address and phone number of the person you are nominating as a Global Citizen

(2) In 500 words or less, please explain why you believe this person exemplifies a Global Citizen and describe the work s/he is doing. (You may attach brief supporting information such as a CV, if desired.)

(3) Your name, address, and phone number
Submit this information to Charles Snyder 1830 Rowley Av., Madison WI, 53726 or by email at [email protected].

We prefer that you submit nominations in electronic format.

04/06/2014

UNA-Dane's April guest on the radio. On the Monday, April 7th "A Public Affair," at noon on WORT John Quinlan's guest is Florence Reed, exec. director of Sustainable Harvest International. Its mission: to provide farming families in Central America with training and tools to preserve tropical forests while overcoming poverty. Florence will be visiting Madison the following week, including a presentation for UNA-Dane at Edgewood College's Predolin Hall on Tuesday, April 15th at 7pm; reception to follow (see poster).

Sustainable Harvest Int'l has worked with families in rural farming communities in Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama since 1997. Using organic vegetable gardens, wood-conserving stoves, biogas digesters and a host of other projects, SHI's local field trainers work together with families, individuals and communities to restore the environment while dramatically improving their quality of life. This simple approach helps to alleviate poverty, improve health, reverse deforestation, mitigate global climate change, reduce pollution and much more.

Florence Reed founded Sustainable Harvest International (SHI), a nonprofit organization dedicated to working with rural Central American communities to implement sustainable land-use practices. She has received multiple awards and recognition for her work. In November 2011, Florence was named a Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow by The Council of Independent Colleges. A former Peace Corps volunteer who was stationed in Panama in the late 1990s, she was presented with the National Peace Corps Association’s prestigious Sargent Shriver Award for Distinguished Humanitarian Service in June 2012.

www.sustainableharvest.org. Airing on WORT 89.9FM in Madison and livestreaming and podcast at wortfm.org .

The mission of Sustainable Harvest International (SHI) is to provide farming families in Central America with the training and tools to preserve our planet's tropical forests while overcoming poverty.

10/25/2013

Please check out the latest from Madison and Milwaukee's Oct. 24th celebrations of UN Day. Milwaukee's celebration was marked by the appearance of UN Ambassador and Milwaukeean Joan Prince, and Madison's celebration honored UNA-Dane Global Citizen Vince Kavaloski while showcasing themes resonant with this year's UN International Year of Water Cooperation. Congratulations to the UNA-Milwaukee and UNA-Dane leaders who made these events a marvelous success. http://wisconsinunausa.blogspot.com/

At the March 25 board meeting of the United Nations Association-USA Wisconsin Division, those in attendance engaged in a vigorous and thought-provoking discussion about the implications of UN and US military intervention in Libya.

10/24/2013

Today is United Nations Day. I hope you will take time out of your busy days and lives to do something to support the life-changing work of the UN family of organizations (WHO, UNICEF, World Food Programme, and the UN Development Programme just to name a few.) If you are in Madison, please join UNA-USA Dane County at to celebrate UN Day this evening from 5:30-7:30 pm at the University Club, 803 State Street. More information at http://unadane.com/

7:30 Music by Daithi Wolfe Registration: $20 Adults * $10 Students * Children 12 and under are free On-Line Registration http://events.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e86cbqyjd5703be1 To make contributions to UNA-USA Dane County if you cannot attend, use the PayPal link on this site Co-s...

07/12/2013

Malala Yousafzai speaking today at the UN, on her 16th birthday.

United Nations, New York, 12 July 2013 - Education activist Malala Yousafzai marks her 16th birthday, on Friday, 12 July 2013 at the United Nations by giving...