NEWSLETTER

2006 General Membership Meeting

Attention all members, this December brings with it a number of important events, not the least of which being our Annual General Membership Meeting. While UNA-MD strives to provide enriching and entertaining events throughout the year, the organization does need to take care of its business matters once in a while. Items to be addressed at this meeting include a review of the CY2006 activities of UNA-MD, the election of six members for the Executive Board, and a review of the budget for CY2007.

In addition, a speaker or panel will supplement the program, with the topic yet to be determined. Please expect a follow-up contact from UNA-MD for updates on this important event. For more information, visit our web site at http://www.unamd.org/content/view/58/47/.

YPIC Plans Career Development Event

The Young Professionals for International Cooperations (YPIC) of UNA-MD cordially invite you to a session designed to help you get your future moving in the right direction: How to start your career in foreign affairs: Jobs with the U.S. government. This event will feature a number of speakers - young professionals like you - that will offer their personal experiences on how to get into foreign affairs with a US government position.
 
This event will take place on Wednesday, December 13, 2006, from 7:00-8:30pm in the Wilde Lake Interfaith Center in Columbia, MD. The list of speakers for this event and online registration will be available soon. Admission for non-UNA members will include the cost of an introductory membership! For more information, visit our web site at http://www.unamd.org/content/view/57/45/.

UNA-USA High School Essay Contest

High school students are eligible to enter the 2007 United Nations Association of the United States of America's (UNA-USA) essay contest. This year, the contest asks students to consider the following question:
 
What can the United States do to help improve maternal health around the world?
 
Up to three students from Maryland* will be selected to compete at the national level for cash prizes. The first place winner receives $3,000 and airfare to attend the UNA-USA Member's Day activities in New York, the second place winner receives $1,500 and the third place winner receives $750. Entries must be postmarked by Friday, December 15, 2006.
 
For more information, please visit our web site at http://www.unamd.org/content/view/14/39/ or you may contact Roxanne Hughes-Wheatland via phone at 410.992.7872 or email at rwheatland@unamd.org. The contest flyer is available for download at http://www.unamd.org/media/07EssayContest.pdf.
 
* Residents of Montgomery and Prince Georges counties are ineligible for the Maryland contest. They must apply to the UNA-NCA chapter. For more information, see the UNA-NCA web site at http://www.unanca.org/.

UNA-MD Holds Upbeat UN Day Forum

On October 25, the United Nations Association of Maryland and Towson University's International Studies Program and Women Studies Department held an upbeat forum on "Enhancing the Health, Education and Well-Being of Women Around the Globe: The Key to Meeting the Millennium Development Goals." Four women spoke about how they are helping women around the world and in our own communities overcome the social, health, and economic hurdles associated with poverty.

Keynote speaker, Yolonda C. Richardson, CEO and President of the Centre for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA), spoke about her organization's role in training women around the world to assume leadership roles in their communities. She emphasized that when it comes to women's issues, we finally have the rhetoric right; but that when it comes to implementation at the programmatic level, much remains to be done.
 
Ann Flagg spoke about the work that the International Rescue Committee does to help refugees around the world as well as refugees that the IRC is helping settle right here in Baltimore. She also talked about the many opportunities that exist for those who would like to help women refugees adjust to their new lives here in our own community. For more information about these volunteer opportunities, please email Ann Flagg at annf@theirc.org.
 
Nancy West, an American Red Cross Disaster Volunteer, spoke on "Women and Poverty: Lessons Learned in the Aftermath of Katrina." She stressed the need for outsiders to recognize how being poor and especially being poor and female reduces one's crisis response options. Programs designed to help these individuals must take these option deficits into account.
 
Dr. Cholpon Imanalieva, currently a Humphrey Fellow at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, discussed the progress being made to improve maternal health in her homeland, the Kyrgyz Republic. Dr. Imanalieva serves as a consultant for her country's National Health Care Reform Program. She noted how funds received from various UN agencies are helping the Kyrgyz Republic meet its health challenges.
 
In keeping with the upbeat theme of the evening, we distributed a handout entitled "WHAT YOU CAN DO to help improve the lives of women living in poverty." (This handout can be found on our web site at http://www.unamd.org/media/UNDay_Handout_06.pdf. If you would like us to send you a copy, please call Ruth Smith at 410 821-5487). If we all pitch in, we can win this battle against global poverty. For more information, visit our web site at http://www.unamd.org/content/view/56/47/.

UMBC Diplomat for a Day Recap

One cornerstone event that helped to celebrate the work of the United Nations for UN Day 2006 was the Diplomat for a Day workshop held by the Model United Nations Alumni Society at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC).

Diplomat for a Day took place on the UMBC campus on Saturday, October 21 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Diplomat for a Day is a Model United Nations training workshop for high school students consisting of two major components: morning sessions that aid students in understanding how to participate effectively and accurately in a United Nations simulation; and an afternoon simulation of the United Nations General Assembly Plenary.

In the event's previous two years, topics addressed included genocide and the reconstruction of Afghanistan. This year's topic was piracy on the high seas, or maritime terrorism. To provide students with a deeper insight into the realities of this little reported issue, Lt. Michael Bahar, U.S. Navy, briefed high school students from across the state on current trends in naval piracy. Lieutenant Bahar was the Staff Judge Advocate for the NASSAU Strike Group between April 2005 and June 2006. During that time, he directly advised the Navy's first seizure of pirates in generations.
 
Overall, this was a banner year for the program as more than 100 students participated, making the General Assembly representation extremely diverse. UNA-MD has worked to support the Diplomat for a Day program throughout its history and this year provided our very own Roxanne Hughes-Wheatland as a speaker on the UNA-USA High School Essay Contest. The program itself was largely constructed and directed by UNA-MD members Jennifer Searfoss-Miller, Steven Handy, and Melissa Kirkendall. For more information, visit our web site at http://www.unamd.org/content/view/55/47/.

Baltimore Recognizes UN Day

It gives us great pleasure to announce that for 2006, the 61st anniversary of the United Nations, the City of Baltimore and Baltimore County have both issued proclamations indicating their support for the United Nations and the various activities in the Baltimore area celebrating United Nations Day, October 24, 2006. On our website we have posted some highlights from each of the proclamations, as well as high resolution scans of the proclamations themselves. Here is a sample from the City of Baltimore proclamation:
 
Whereas, the United Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA), in cooperation with other organizations, such Baltimore's Sister Cities, has declared "Maternal Health and Well-Being" as its theme for the 2006 United Nations Day commemorations; and
 
Whereas, the citizens of Baltimore are honored to recognize the United Nations for its outstanding contributions to world peace and governmental stability, and we salute its efforts toward promoting social, cultural and geo-political progress throughout the world.
 
For more information, visit our web site at http://www.unamd.org/content/view/54/47/.

A Brief Word on the Nobel Peace Prize

We should take more opportunities to report on good news. One particular piece that stood out recently was the decision of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee to affirm the belief that economic justice promotes peace.
 
By awarding the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize to Bangladesh's Grameen Bank and its founder, Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel Committee gives credence to the belief that economic justice is the way to achieve a peaceful world. The Grameen Bank provides small loans to the world's poorest residents to help them start their own small businesses. Loans are made without collateral. Microfinance, as this approach is called, has helped many people, especially women, to break the cycle of poverty for their families and to promote community development. For more information, check out the official announcement at http://nobelpeaceprize.org/eng_lau_announce2006.html.
 
This article, by Ruth Smith, and others like it can now be found on our web site at the new Commentary page at http://www.unamd.org/content/view/53/56/.