Global Classrooms: New York City student recognized at UNA-USA's Leo Nevas Human Rights Award Luncheon

United Nations Organizations Honor Trinity Student
Trinity College, Trinity News

Ibrahim Diallo ’11 was presented the inaugural Leo Nevas Human Rights Student Advocate Award this week by the New York City-based United Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA) and the Business Council for the United Nations.

A native of Guinea, Diallo, 19, received his award at a luncheon held in the United Nations Delegate Dining Room, where the special guest was Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro.

Diallo, who now lives in Brooklyn, NY, intends to major in human rights and international studies at Trinity, where he founded the African Development Coalition (ADC), an organization dedicated to promoting human rights programs in African countries. The group, which officially became a student group this semester, has received funding from the College’s Center for Urban and Global Studies and from the Student Government Association, of which Diallo is a member.

“It is…hope that led my friends and I to start the African Development Coalition at Trinity College,” Diallo said in accepting his award. “We may not solve Africa’s problems, but as we commit ourselves to raising money and applying for grants to implement our projects in selected African nations, we are certain that we will become better global citizens for it.”

The mission of the ADC is “to raise awareness of contemporary African culture, politics and economic issues on the Trinity campus and beyond, ultimately bringing together a network of civil servants to work towards peace, education and development on the continent.”

Members of the ADC will attend the Model African Union Conference at Howard University in Washington D.C. in spring 2009, and will meet with the ambassadors of Guinea and Sierra Leone.

William Luers, president of the UNA-USA, said Diallo was selected for the prestigious award because of his efforts to heighten awareness of African development and education issues and the rights of U.S. immigrants, and because of his longtime participation in UNA-USA’s Global Classrooms program.

“We are so proud and honored that Ibrahim's work has been recognized by the United Nations Association. As a student leader at Trinity, Ibrahim is deeply engaged in connecting his academic studies to the world around him. The human rights award is a significant accomplishment, showing how smart and committed students can make a difference,” said Sonia Cardenas, Associate Professor of Political Science at Trinity and Director of its Human Rights Program.

The luncheon in New York was held to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the signing of the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The event was hosted by UNA-USA and Newman’s Own Foundation. The keynote address was delivered by Francis Mading Deng, special adviser to the United Nations secretary-general for the prevention of genocide.

The main purpose of the luncheon was to present the second annual Leo Nevas Human Rights Award, which is given to an individual who has worked to promote human rights around the world and is named in honor of Leo Nevas, the longest-serving board member of UNA-USA and a champion of human rights.

This year’s award was presented posthumously to Tom Lantos, who was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1981 until his death in February. Lantos was the only Holocaust survivor to be elected to Congress.

During his legislative career, Lantos was chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and co-chairman of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, where he worked for more than 25 years to protect the rights of the world’s most vulnerable populations. His wife, Annette Lantos, accepted the award on his behalf.

The United Nations Association of the United States of America is a not-for-profit- membership organization dedicated to building understanding of and support for the ideals and vital work of the United Nations among the American people. Its educational and humanitarian campaigns, along with its policy and advocacy programs, allow people to make a global impact at the local level.


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AP: Obama seeks reforms in talk with UN chief

President-elect Barack Obama is urging the United Nations chief to embark on "far-reaching reform" of the world organization to help it address pressing global issues.

At the same time, in a telephone conversation Wednesday, Obama told Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon that the United States "should rededicate itself to the organization and to its mission," said Brook Anderson, chief national security spokeswoman for the Obama transition team.

Last month, Ban called for greater cooperation from the United States.

During his presidential campaign, Obama said in a statement to the U.N. Association of the U.S. and the Better World Campaign that "no country has a greater stake in a strong United Nations than the United States."

Read the full AP article here.

More on Barack Obama and the United Nations

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UNA-USA President Ambassador Bill Luers and thirty-six prominent policy figures urge the president-elect to revitalize the US relationship with the UN.  Read the statement here.

In “A Memo to the President-Elect” (.pdf) Ambassador Bill Luers lays out a broad agenda for the new administration’s engagement in the United Nations.

View President-elect Obama's letter to UNA Board member Josh Weston here. (.pdf)

Obama’s Win Could Mean Stronger UN-US Rapport
by Barbara Crossette

Council of Organizations Briefings

UNA-USA's Council of Organizations offers unique opportunities for leaders from more than 100 nongovernmental organizations to partner with the United Nations and each other. Groups with interests in education, religion, labor, sustainable development, human rights, health and women's issues work together to encourage strong US leadership in the United Nations and play a critical role in educating millions of Americans about the UN's importance in world affairs.   Learn more about the COO at www.unausa.org/council.

Listen to this month's New York briefing below.

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Opportunities for the Incoming President
Thursday November 13, 2008
Location: Church Center for the United Nations

Featured Speakers
Barbara Crossette 
UN Correspondent, The Nation, & Publications Consultant, UNA-USA

Stephen Schlesinger
Author and Fellow, The Century Foundation

With the 2008 Presidential election scheduled to take place a week prior to this monthly UN Briefing, UNA-USA’s Council of Organizations took the opportunity to ask experts on the US-UN relationship to reflect on opportunities for President-elect Obama once he takes office. Will the new President be supportive of the United Nations and present constructive new policies towards the UN on Capitol Hill? How will his policies differ from, or resemble, those of the Bush administration? How can the new President repair relations with other countries over key US foreign policy priorities while working to improve relations with the UN? These questions and more were answered by our experts at this monthly UN Briefing.

One Planet One Chance

UNDP has commissioned Magnum in Motion to create a photo-essay on climate change.

Rich countries are already preparing public health to deal with future climate shocks. For poor countries it is much harder: they need international support to adapt. We are drifting into a world of adaptation apartheid. View the online photo-essay here.

Interested in climate change? UNA-USA's 2009 Essay Contest aims to answer the question 'What can the U.S. do to help ensure environmental sustainability?'

Click here to learn more about the Essay Contest.

Financial Times - Letter to the Editor from Global Policy Programmes

Ayca Ariyoruk, Senior Associate of Global Policy Programmes, responds to Financial Times Russia-Georgia Conflict article, "A bully’s deserts." Read the original article here.

Financial Times
Letters to the Editor
Use and abuse of term ‘peacekeeping’
Published: August 21 2008

Sir, I was relieved to read your editorial “A bully's deserts” (August 19), where you finally took notice of the misuse of the term "peacekeeping" by observers when covering the recent clashes between the Russian, Georgian and ethnic Ossetian troops.

Georgia's parliament officially objected to the presence of the Russian forces in a parliamentary vote in 2006. Consent of all parties is at the heart and soul of peacekeeping, a creative technique the United Nations developed initially to monitor ceasefires. Although peacekeeping has evolved over the years to mean implementing more complex peace agreements where consent is not always obtainable, to classify them as “peacekeeping” is suitable as long as the mandate is blessed by an international organisation such as the UN or is accompanied by an overwhelming international consensus. Considering that neither Georgian consent nor international support is given for the troops currently under the Russian command in South Ossetia, to continue to refer to them as such is a misuse and even an abuse of the term “peacekeeping”.

Ayca Ariyoruk,
Senior Associate, Global Policy Programmes,
United Nations Association of the USA,
New York, NY, US

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008

Global Connections Television with Bill Miller

UNA-USA Board member Bill Miller interviews William vanden Heuvel, former Permanent Representative to the United Nations under the Carter administration. Topics include President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and US & UN relations.