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News and comment on the United Nations and UNA-UK Autumn 2007 | £3.00 NEW WORLD
“the international Magna Carta” The Universal Declaration of Human Rights sixty years on
Bush and Human rights Action on multilateralism heroes Darfur
page 6 page 13 page 31
PLUS The responsibility to protect – and prosecute? page 8 Updates on Burma, Sudan, Sri Lanka and education page 9 Rights of indigenous people page 16 Mike Wood leaves UNA-UK page 24 Model UN, Ghana-style page 32
UNA-UK UNITED NATIONS ASSOCIATION OF THE UK | 3 Whitehall Court, London SW1A 2EL | www.una.org.uk un 2.qxp:Layout 1 10/10/07 20:12 Page 2 Photo © GettyImages
Do something. Visit www.una.org.uk/burma to take action un 2.qxp:Layout 1 10/10/07 20:12 Page 3
NEW WORLD Contents DIRECTORY 4 Meet the Interns 4 Letter from the Editor Is Bush UN MISCELLANY 5 In 2008 the Universal Declaration of Human Rights turns 60. ushering in a
Photo © GettyImages new wave of This issue of New World kicks off UNA-UK’s commemoration DISPATCHES international of this important anniversary by taking stock of the legacy of the George W. Bush, Father of the 6 cooperation? declaration, which one of its drafters, Eleanor Roosevelt, called New Internationalism? Who woulda “the international Magna Carta for all men everywhere”. Jeffrey Laurenti thunk it? And there is another anniversary to celebrate: it has been Time to Change Hearts, Minds 7 three years since New World was revamped. During this pe- and Laws on Disability riod we have sought to professionalise the look of the maga- Thomas Schindlmayr p.6 zine and raise the quality of its content in order to make it an The Responsibility to Protect – 8 incisive publication with appeal to our members, our partners and Prosecute? and untapped audiences. This issue builds on these improve- Ramesh Thakur ments and introduces a sleeker, more modern format with some exciting new features. UPDATES One highlight is the introduction of opinion pieces from Burma 9 some of the world’s leading UN analysts. To start us off, Sudan 9 A return to Jeffrey Laurenti gives cause for hope that the US may be re- Sri Lanka 10 business as embracing the internationalism of Harry Truman and Education 10 usual? Franklin Roosevelt. Thomas Schindlmayr tells us what the UN envoy returns new UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with ESSAY from Burma as Disabilities will mean in practice. And Ramesh Thakur argues Sixty Years of the Universal 11 international community fails to that the responsibility to protect needs to be complemented Declaration of Human Rights adopt hard-hitting by a ‘responsibility to prosecute’. Stefanie Grant measures.
Veronica Lie, Editor FEATURE p.9 Human Rights Champions 13 Over Six Decades
BRIEFING The Rights of Indigenous Peoples 16 Natalie Samarasinghe Who is your PARLIAMENT 18 human rights hero? RESOURCES We name ten human rights Books 19 champions. Why UN Online 19 not tell us who we’ve missed out? LETTERS 20
TRIBUTE p.13 Arthur Ross 21
UNA-UK The Membership at Work 22 Mike Wood 24 Listings 25 Noticeboard 28 Annual Annual Conference 2008 29 Conference 2008 Debate the issues, YPN and help shape Working for Peace 30 UNA-UK policy at Action on Darfur 31 Exeter University next March. UNYSA Model UN, Ghana-style 32 From the UNA-UK journal United Nations News, March/April 1949 Freshers Fairs 34 p.29
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UNA-UK Meet the interns . . . 3 Whitehall Court, London SW1A 2EL Fax: 020 7930 5893 NICK BRANSON www.una.org.uk I recently joined the UNA-UK team as a membership and fundraising intern. I answer members’ enquiries, update EXECUTIVE OFFICE the membership database, and assist with Flag Day events. Executive Director In addition to this, I will be overseeing the registration of Sam Daws delegates for UNA-UK Annual Conference 2008. The up- 020 7766 3457 coming Annual Conference is being held at Exeter University, and I hope that [email protected] being an alumnus will put me in good stead to help with questions about the venue. Executive Assistant At Exeter I read history and French and I am now studying towards a Masters in Natalie Samarasinghe International Studies and Diplomacy at the School of Oriental and African Studies, 020 7766 3457 London. I have also studied at the London School of Economics, in France and in [email protected] China. Nick can be reached on Wednesdays and Fridays only, on [email protected] or MEMBERSHIP & FINANCE 020 7766 3448. Finance Manager Ajay Vasa CYNTHIA PARK 020 7766 3454 My communications internship with UNA-UK started in July, [email protected] when I was brought on to help with continuing structural Fundraising & Membership Administration Officer improvements to the UNA-UK website while Matt Ripley Katherine Ronderos (3 days per week) was doing an internship with the UNODC in Vienna. I also 020 7766 3456 compile Membership Matters, among other things! [email protected] Though my background is in science, I have always taken an active interest in world affairs. Working at UNA-UK seemed like an excellent way to learn more about London & South-East Region Development Officer the UN and international relations more broadly, while putting my web skills to use. Bruce Robertson (not based at head office; 2.5 days per week) My previous experience of marketing and websites stems from working for bands 020 8983 4215 and record labels during my undergraduate days. I graduated in 2006 with a de- [email protected] gree in physics. My dissertation was on quantum cryptography and I did extended lab work on the Zeeman effect and the mass of galaxy M31. I have just begun POLICY & ADVOCACY studying towards an MSc in Science and Security at King’s College London. Head of Advocacy Cynthia can be reached on [email protected] or 020 7766 3459. Veronica Lie 020 7766 3451 ISELIN VALE [email protected] I started my internship at UNA-UK in September and have Campaigns & Education Officer been writing news stories for the website, helping to im- Mark Rusling prove the Association’s media outreach, and uploading new 020 7766 3459 content to the website. [email protected] I decided to do a communications internship at UNA-UK because it seemed a perfect means of combining my two fields of interest and John Bright Peace & Security Programme Officer expertise: journalism and international relations. I have a BA from Bournemouth Tim Kellow University in Multimedia Journalism, and an MA from King’s College London in 020 7766 3446 International Relations. [email protected] Originally from Norway, I have spent four of the last five years in the UK. The Communications Consultant other year I spent in Russia, working in Moscow as a television journalist for an Matthew Ripley English language news channel. I also lived in Switzerland for six years, and thus 020 7766 3459 speak fluent Swiss German. [email protected] Iselin can be reached on [email protected] or 020 7766 3459.
UNA Wales | CCU Cymru New World is published by To advertise please call Subscription: UNA-UK, 3 Whitehall Court Veronica Lie on 020 7766 3451 Copies of New World are The Temple of Peace/Y Deml Heddwch London SW1A 2EL included in the membership Cathays Park/Parc Cathays, Cardiff/Caerdydd CF10 3AP www.una.org.uk The deadline for submission fee for UNA-UK of material for the next issue 029 2082 1055 Editor: of New World is noon on The United Nations www.wcia.org.uk/unawales Veronica Lie, [email protected] 3 December 2007 Association of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a Research, drafting The next issue will cover the company limited by OFFICERS/SWYDDOGION and copy-editing period 1 January to guarantee (registered Tim Kellow 31 March 2008. no. 2885557) Secretary/Ysgrifennydd Cynthia Park Stephen Thomas Matt Ripley All contributions should be typed Designed by Mark Rusling and sent by e-mail where possible SoapBox [email protected] Natalie Samarasinghe to [email protected]. Photos should www.soapboxcommunications.co.uk Iselin Vale ideally be 300 dpi resolution 020 7766 3462
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Under resolution 1770, UNAMI will with the exception of those who volun- now advise and support the Iraqi govern- teered to be reviewed and those whose ment in promoting human rights; na- term on the Council was due to expire tional reconciliation; regional dialogue on soon. The UK is among the first to be issues such as border security, energy and reviewed. refugees; and judicial and legal reform. Meanwhile, the US remains critical of The mission will be led by the newly ap- the Human Rights Council since voting pointed Special Representative of the against its establishment in March 2006. Secretary-General for Iraq, Staffan de In early September, the US Senate Mistura, who succeeded Ashraf Jehangir passed a foreign appropriations bill for Qazi, now the senior UN envoy to 2008 with an amendment stating that Sudan. none of the US contributions to the UN Resolution 1770 was passed almost ex- should be made available to the actly four years after 22 UN staff mem- Council. The legislation was introduced bers were killed by a suicide bomb attack by Republican Senator Norm Coleman on UN headquarters in Baghdad. The who argues that the body has persisted wider mandate the resolution confers en- in focusing disproportionately on Israel tails only a small increase in international while neglecting serious violations else- UN Miscellany staff – from 65 to 95 – but the UN Staff where. Union is opposed to the expansion. At a The move is largely symbolic. As the memorial to those who died in the Human Rights Council is funded Baghdad blast, Secretary-General Ban Ki- through the UN’s regular budget, UN and EU mission to protect moon told employees, “Your safety is and Congress cannot actually target the civilians in Chad and CAR always will be a paramount concern.” Council for budget cuts: it can only hold back an amount equivalent to the US’s On 25 September, the Security Council Taiwan turned down – again portion of the body’s budget. agreed resolution 1778, authorising the establishment of the UN Mission in the In September, Taiwan’s bid for UN mem- Secretary-General convenes Central African Republic and Chad bership was rejected for the 15th consec- high-level event on climate (MINURCAT), along with an EU mili- utive year, after the committee setting the change tary operation to provide security sup- agenda for the annual General Assembly port. The aim of the mission is to pro- session decided not to recommend the On 24 September, Secretary-General Ban vide security for the villagers and refugees item for discussion. Ki-moon convened a one-day conference who live near the Darfur border and so A UN spokesperson said that the rejec- on climate change, a cause he has made a are under threat from cross-border incur- tion was based on General Assembly res- centre-piece of his leadership of the UN. sions by fighters from Sudan. olution 2758 of 1971, which recognises Over 150 states were represented at the The UN contingent will consist of the People’s Republic of China as the meeting, 80 of them by heads of state; around 300 police and 50 military liaison only legitimate representative of China to the event has been touted as the largest- officers along with some civilian person- the UN. ever gathering of world leaders on this nel. The EU force of 3,000 mainly For the first time, the application was issue. French troops is authorised under lodged under the name of Taiwan rather The summit, held on the eve of the Chapter VII of the UN Charter to use than the Republic of China. The General Assembly’s annual high-level seg- “all necessary measures” to protect civil- President of Taiwan, Chen Shui-bian, has ment, aimed to build political momen- ians in danger, guarantee humanitarian announced plans for a referendum in tum towards a key meeting in Bali in access, and ensure the freedom of move- March to gauge public support for a UN December, when mapping out a succes- ment and safety of UN personnel. seat for the island. Both the US and sor regime to Kyoto will be on the agen- MINURCAT, to be based in the China oppose the planned vote. da. According to the UN, a ‘son of Chadian capital of N’Djamena, will work Just 24 countries officially recognise Kyoto’ agreement needs to be in place by closely with the governments of Chad Taiwan, which China views as a break- 2009 in order to to secure national ratifi- and the Central African Republic to pro- away province. cations in time for 2012, when the emis- mote human rights and the rule of law, sions targets contained in the Kyoto and put an end to the use of child sol- UN Human Rights Council Protocol expire. diers. gets ready for peer review The Bali meeting will also address strategies for helping the most vulnerable UN responds to request The Human Rights Council has pub- countries – the poorest states and the to step up its engagement lished the timetable for its Universal small island developing states – to adapt in Iraq Periodic Review, a new mechanism to the effects of climate change, including under which the human rights records through the deployment of clean tech- On 10 August the Security Council of all UN member states will be scruti- nologies. Delegates will also discuss the unanimously agreed to renew for a year nised, starting with Council members. role of carbon markets in incentivising a the mandate of the UN Assistance The schedule was decided by choosing shift to lower carbon practices and ways Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), while also states from each regional group by lot, of financing effective responses to climate giving it a wider political role. and then arranging these alphabetically, change.
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Dispatches
unique responsibility for dealing with among a handful of Darfur. Most conservatives scoff at any re- Western powers that no one could co- sponsibility to protect African populations, ordinate – a triumph of national-sover- George W Bush, but advocacy groups' persistent clamour for eigntist ideology over common-sense mul- Father of the New action finally made the atrocities in Sudan tilateralism that even administration offi- impossible politically to ignore – hence, the cials now acknowledge has contributed to Internationalism? United Nations. the Afghan relapse. Impatient to 'solve' Iraq in 2003 – a To the consternation of conservative country whose population was, if nothing hardliners, Bush has called for ratification else, secure from rampant killing at the of the Convention on the Law of the Sea, Jeffrey time – the administration scorned the ardu- long a bête noire of the right. Even their ous process of building support for military stalwart allies in the oil industry are desert- Laurenti action among UN member countries. But ing them, fearful of being cut out of oil ex- it found that this same time-consuming ploration in contested waters. Pricked by Is the Bush administration ushering process made perfect sense in Sudan, de- in a new wave of multilateralism? Who spite daily raids and massacres. woulda thunk it? Darfur also occasioned the President's ‘Americans Yet the evidence is accumulating that the first retreat from his fierce campaign to American public, the Washington policy abort the newly established International increasingly welcome elites more reluctantly, and the Bush ad- Criminal Court (ICC). With his consent, international ministration itself – most reluctantly of all the Security Council in 2005 authorised restraints on – are rediscovering the indispensability of the court to take action against perpetrators the global frameworks pioneered by of the killings in western Sudan. Washington’s Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman. Having earlier made common cause with war hawks’ President Bush, of course, had famously hard-right congressional allies such as Jesse consigned the United Nations to irrele- Helms to 'slay this monster' by mandating vance when its members refused to autho- cut-offs of aid to countries that ratified the Russia's expansive claims in the Arctic, the rise his war against Iraq. He adamantly ICC statute without promising to exempt Senate appears on track to approve ratifica- barred the United Nations from leading American officials from its reach, Bush then tion as early as this winter. Iraq's reconstruction after the triumph of waived the ban in 2006. Even the Last month the Congress stunned UN American arms. Republican Congress itself quietly eliminat- officials by budgeting $300 million more to Yet in August the United States asked the ed its bar to military aid to such countries: pay for the American share of UN peace- Security Council to approve a major new the conservative crusade against the ICC keeping this coming year than the (deliber- UN presence in Baghdad to help untie was ousting the Pentagon from countries ately low-balled) amount the President had Iraq's political knots and pull the country where it needed a presence. requested. back from the abyss. The Bush team had swept aside the offer And the same administration that had The President had much earlier come of the NATO alliance to join in collective ignored the restrictions of the international around to embrace the United Nations' self-defence to oust Al Qaeda and the conventions against torture and on war Taliban from captives as 'obsolete' obeyed the ruling of Afghanistan, con- the International Court of Justice against vinced that a multilat- executions of foreign nationals tried and eral operation would convicted of capital offences without notice crimp the US military's to their governments. President Bush him- freedom of manoeuvre. self declared that "the United States will Now it anxiously wants discharge its international obligations under NATO allies' forces to the decision of the International Court of cope with a renewed Justice…by having state courts give effect Taliban insurgency. to the decision". Washington kept the This does not mean that the President United Nations to a has experienced an epiphany for interna- near-invisible 'light tionalism; the change in the administra- footprint' in tion's direction almost surely reflects com- Afghanistan's recon- pulsion rather than conviction. Washington struction, preferring to conservatives have lost none of their zest for divide up reconstruc- denouncing a UN 'permission slip' for at- tion responsibilities tacking other countries, which so spooked un 2.qxp:Layout 1 10/10/07 20:12 Page 7
Democratic strategists during the 2004 elec- American interests first at all times, even public appears to be far outpacing the tion campaign. But polling data suggest that ...acting alone". By a 66-to-28 per cent Washington debate in rejecting conservative Americans increasingly welcome interna- margin, they rejected conservatives' muscu- fantasies of hard-power dominance. tional restraints on Washington's war lar doctrine of military preemption. By a Presumably the next administration will hawks, blaming Bush bellicosity for the dra- 54-to-37 percent margin, they affirmed the more enthusiastically advance the public's matic plunge in America's global standing – United Nations as important for security new internationalism. and Bush unilateralism for the costly war in rather than ineffective or corrupt; and, by a Iraq. similar margin, they opposed intervention Jeffrey Laurenti is a senior fellow at In a recent in-depth survey, respondents against hostile regimes in other countries. The Century Foundation and the director by a 63-to-32 per cent margin told the The belated emergence of Republican re- of its foreign policy programmes. American Security Project that they want alists in the waning years of the Bush ad- Previously policy director at UNA-USA, America to "cooperate with other countries ministration is itself a signal of Americans' he now sits on its Board of Directors. [and] compromise" rather than "put tidal shift toward multilateralism. But the
to some places? We now have a human ment, health, political participation, access rights treaty that can make a substantial to justice, accessibility and mobility in so- difference. ciety. In practice, this would result in such Time to change My experiences are nothing compared things as making electoral booths accessi- to many of the other 650 million persons ble, anti-discrimination practices in the hearts, minds and with disabilities in the world who are workplace, and children with disabilities often shunned by their families and os- attending mainstream schools. laws on disability tracised by society. Most have no means of Already, the Convention is making its obtaining an education, with little chance mark. For instance, Jamaica has drafted a of getting a job, living independent lives National Disability Act and Panama has Thomas and fully participating in society. With few incorporated the Convention into its legis- opportunities to be self-sufficient they are lation. Disability activists from Spain to Schindlmayr left to live at the margins, hidden away India and Nigeria have called on their gov- and forgotten. ernments to ratify and implement the Persons with disabilities are still widely treaty. There is a growing recognition of More than once I have been asked viewed as troublesome at best, a burden at the need for change. to leave establishments because my pres- worst. Negative attitudes remain the largest One hundred and seventeen countries ence would 'lower the tone'. On trains, obstacle towards the acceptance of persons have signed the Convention and so far there have been times when I have had to with disabilities into society, along with a seven countries have ratified it. Thirteen ride in freight cars among mail bags, bi- lack of opportunities, societal barriers and more are needed for the Convention to cycles, and farm animals. I have been re- inadequate legal protection. The fact is that enter into force. As parliamentarians fused entrance to restaurants and night- in over two thirds of countries there is still everywhere consider whether to enact the clubs for 'security' reasons, or I have been no anti-discrimination legislation. treaty, they should recognise that, for too admitted only on nights when nobody It takes time for attitudes towards per- long, individuals with disabilities have else was there. sons with disabilities to change. But it is a been treated as lesser people. Far from im- The reason is that I am in a wheelchair process that can be vastly accelerated by a plementing policies that cater for all peo- and have been ever since I was in a car change in the legal framework; and, now, ple in society, many have discriminated the countries of the world have unani- against persons with disabilities. Often de- mously agreed on a legally binding treaty. cisions have been made on our behalf, and ‘The new The new United Nations Convention on not necessarily in our best interests. Convention ensures the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was The Convention is long overdue but it that persons with adopted by the General Assembly in is never too late to enact measures that December 2006 after three years of negoti- will ensure that the world's largest minori- disabilities enjoy ations involving the disability community, ty enjoys its human rights. It may take the same rights governments and international organisa- time to realise, but everyone benefits when tions. In March, 80 countries demonstrat- all people, including persons with disabili- as everyone else’ ed their commitment by signing the Con- ties, are given the same opportunities as vention on the day it opened for signature. everyone else. It is now up to countries to accident over 30 years ago when I was The new Convention ensures that per- ratify and implement the Convention to four years old. In many ways and in some sons with disabilities enjoy the same rights ensure that persons with disabilities no places, times and attitudes are changing, as everyone else. It offers a minimal stan- longer face the practices and behaviour and I am no longer looked upon as the dard that the international community has that I and others have endured. pariah I once was. Legal rights that pro- agreed upon and, for some, real human hibit discriminatory practices and behav- rights for the first time. The Convention Thomas Schindlmayr works for the iour against persons with disabilities have covers a number of areas where persons UN Department of Economic and already gone a long way in some coun- with disabilities have not enjoyed their Social Affairs on disability issues. tries. But why should this only be limited human rights, such as education, employ-
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aiming to ensure peace and security, eco- placement from armed conflict is now nomic cooperation and respect for paramount. Diplomats, international or- human rights. The second was backward- ganisations and NGOs alike will be judged The responsibility looking, aiming to punish those who on how well they discharge or dishonour started the war and committed horrific their international responsibility to protect. to protect – and crimes against humanity. Nuremberg and The way to apprehend and punish the Tokyo were instances of victors' justice. perpetrators of conscience-shocking prosecute? Yet by historical standards both tribunals crimes on a mass scale is through an in- were remarkable for giving defeated lead- ternational legal framework that estab- ers the opportunity to defend their ac- lishes the notion of 'universal jurisdic- Ramesh tions in a court of law instead of being tion', where jurisdiction depends not on dispatched for summary execution. the place where crimes are committed Thakur The Genocide Convention, adopted but on the nature of the crime itself. The by the General Assembly on 9 December fates of Augusto Pinochet (Chile), 1948 – one day before the Universal Slobodan Milosevic (Serbia) and Charles In an echo of the famous lines from Declaration of Human Rights – was a Taylor (Liberia) are but some of several 'The Second Coming' by William Butler milestone in defining genocide as a dramatic twists and turns in the last few Yeats, the UN-centred multilateral sys- crime against humanity and was thus a years in the search for universal justice. tem of global governance is in danger of mater of universal criminal jurisdiction. An international criminal court with falling apart. In that case, the problem of The crime of genocide was included in universal jurisdiction has been the miss- international anarchy will intensify. Yet the statutes of the International Criminal ing link in the system of international in part the system is starting to unravel Tribunal for Rwanda, the International criminal justice. The ICC will enable an because of the spread of anarchy within Criminal Tribunal for the former escape from the tyranny of the episodic the sovereign jurisdiction of member Yugoslavia, and the International of the ad hoc tribunals in Rwanda and states, some of which have abused sover- Criminal Court (ICC). the former Yugoslavia, and should be an eignty as a licence to kill with impunity. Two of the most significant normative efficient and cost-effective alternative Some others lack the essential attributes advances since 1945-1948 have been the with respect to time, money and energy. of sovereignty that would enable them to establishment of the ICC in 1998 and The ICC's jurisdiction is activated protect the lives and safety of their citi- the UN's adoption of the 'responsibility only when states are unwilling or unable zens against a range of armed predatory to protect' norm in 2005. Discussions of to investigate or prosecute. Similarly, the groups. the protection of civilians and the prose- responsibility to protect requires states Revulsion at the murder of large num- cution of perpetrators have hitherto pro- first to protect their populations, and bers of civilians in a range of atrocity ceeded along separate lines. In fact they triggers international intervention only are two sides of the same coin. after governments have proved unable or The backdrop to both is the profound unwilling to do so, or complicit them- ‘The need to help and changes in the world since 1945, includ- selves in the crimes being perpetrated. protect civilians at ing in the changing nature of armed Both agendas require substantial dero- conflict that has put civilians on the gations of sovereignty, the first with re- risk of death and frontline of conflict-related casualties; spect to the norm of non-intervention displacement from the rise of a powerful human rights and the second with respect to sovereign movement and the parallel growth of in- impunity up to the level of heads of armed conflict is now ternational humanitarian law, leading to state. Both also require sensitive judg- paramount’ the emergence of a humanitarian com- ment calls: the use of external military munity dedicated to championing the force to protect civilians inside sovereign cause of civilian protection; the emer- jurisdiction must first satisfy legitimacy crimes – the drowning of the ceremony gence of a robust civil society that is criteria rooted in just war theory, while of innocence – has led to a softening of transnational rather than sovereignty- the prosecution of alleged atrocity crimi- public and governmental support for the bound; and globalisation, which (1) has nals must be balanced against the conse- norms and institutions that shield the shrunk distances, and brought images of quences for the prospects and process of perpetrators of atrocity crimes from in- human suffering into our living rooms peace, the need for post-conflict recon- ternational criminal accountability. The and onto our breakfast tables in graphic ciliation and the fragility of international failure to act can indeed be interpreted detail and real time, while simultaneous- as well as domestic institutions. as the best lacking the courage of their ly expanding our capacity to respond conviction while the worst engage in meaningfully, thereby increasing calls to mass murder with passionate intensity. do so; and (2) made total state control of Ramesh Thakur is a Distinguished Fellow 'Mobilising political will' is a more pro- border crossings by people, goods, fi- at the Centre for International Governance Innovation in Waterloo, Canada. He was saic way of saying that the best need to nance, information, disease, drugs and so formerly Senior Vice-Rector at the UN rediscover and act on their convictions. on physically impossible, thereby severely University and a commissioner on the Darfur is the current poster child for cal- curtailing the exercise of sovereignty in International Commission on Intervention lous international indifference. practice. and State Sovereignty, which produced the The Second World War gave birth to Against this background of the changed seminal 2001 report 'The Responsibility to the UN Charter and the Nuremberg world since 1945, the need to help and Protect'. Charter. The first was forward-looking, protect civilians at risk of death and dis-
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Updates issues in the spotlight
Burma A Return to Business as Usual? UN envoy returns from trip as international community fails to adopt hard-hitting measures
Shwe, the head of the country’s military transparency and public participation, junta, and Aung San Suu Kyi, the pro- demands were likely to continue for democracy opposition leader who has “an acceleration of the transition to been under house arrest for almost 12 of democracy and civilian rule”. Photo © iStockPhoto the past 18 years. There is disagreement among the The Burmese authorities claim that 10 veto-wielding members of the Security demonstrators were killed but diplomats Council over what action to take in re- and activists fear that this figure could be lation to Burma, and indeed over several times higher. There have also whether the Council should act at all. been reports of beatings, arbitrary arrests, China and Russia, who blocked a US- mass relocations and night-time raids. sponsored draft resolution on Burma in Upon his return to the UN Mr January, argue that the abuses alleged to Gambari briefed the Secretary-General have occurred in the country do not and the Security Council about his visit threaten international peace and securi- to the country. In his briefing to the ty, and so do not fall within the remit Council, Mr Gambari explained that, of the Council. while the protests had been sparked by According to a statement by the socio-economic hardship, there was Secretary-General, the Burmese au- At the end of September, UN also an important political factor driv- thorities have assured Mr Gambari of a Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon des- ing the discontent. He said, “What is follow-up visit, some time in patched special envoy Ibrahim Gambari clear is that since 1988 the democratic November. At the time of going to to Burma in response to the military aspirations of the people of Myanmar press, General Than Shwe had report- junta’s violent repression of the peaceful have been systematically denied by the edly agreed to talks with Ms Suu Kyi, demonstrations which began in mid- government in the name of stability provided she met certain conditions, August. During his four-day visit Mr and security.” He warned that, unless including relinquishing her call for in- Gambari met with both General Than the government took steps to increase ternational sanctions against Burma.
Sudan A Mixed Bag Progress on Darfur must not be held up by recent violence
On 29 September, 10 African Union ing the much-awaited UN-AU peace- peacekeepers in Darfur were killed in an keeping operation to Darfur, approved attack on their base in Haskanita, a town in a unanimous Security Council vote in southern Darfur. In early October, on 31 July. The force, to be known as Photo © iStockPhoto Haskanita, controlled by the govern- UNAMID, will at full strength com- ment, was burned to the ground. It is prise around 20,000 troops and 6,000 unclear who carried out the incidents, police. To deploy next year, UNAMID but a splinter faction of the SLA rebel is expected to be the largest, and most group has been named as a possible per- expensive, UN peacekeeping operation petrator of the raid on the AU troops. in history. The incidents occurred at a sensitive The Security Council met on 25 time: peace talks between the Sudanese September to discuss troop contribu- government and rebel groups are tions to UNAMID. It was agreed that scheduled to take place in Libya in late the force – which will absorb the exist- October, under the joint auspices of the ing AU mission – will consist of pre- UN and AU. In early August, rebel dominantly African troops, though groups met to prepare for these talks, non-African states will provide some but leaders of some of the key factions specialist units and logistics equipment. have since threatened to boycott the China, which has been perceived as negotiations. being too conciliatory towards These potential setbacks come as Khartoum, has agreed to supply an en- preparations are underway for deploy- gineering contingent.
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Updates issues in the spotlight
Sri Lanka Failing Grades Calls grow for a UN human rights monitoring mission to Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka came under criticism at ances, the forcible return of displaced the sixth session of the UN Human persons to insecure areas, the restric- Rights Council, with Portugal, which tion of press freedoms and extrajudi-
Photo © iStockPhoto holds the EU Presidency, calling for the cial killings. dispatch of a UN human rights moni- The LTTE continues also to be toring mission to the country. linked to serious human rights viola- National institutions set up to monitor tions, including the targeting of civil- human rights are widely seen to have ians, political assassinations and the re- failed, and many have put this down to cruitment of child soldiers. a lack of cooperation from both the Sri Lanka’s representative on the government and its rival, the militant Human Rights Council responded to group the Liberation Tigers of Tamil the EU’s criticism by stating that “the Eelam (LTTE). government cared no less for the popu- The EU statement echoes the rec- lation than those who expressed the ommendations of a September 2007 criticism” and that “the citizens of Sri Human Rights Watch report which Lanka had always been cared for”. criticises the government for “serious The UN High Commissioner for back-sliding” with respect to human Human Rights, the UN Special rights, and for showing itself “unable Rapporteur on Torture and the Special or unwilling to stem the tide of ongo- Representative of the UN Secretary- ing human rights violations by state General on Internally Displaced forces”. The report implicates govern- Persons are all due to visit Sri Lanka ment forces in enforced disappear- this year.
Education More Wins for UNA-UK UNA-UK defends UN’s position in the national curriculum
ship. Following lobbying by UNA-UK level entails learning about the role of and its partners, the proposal was international humanitarian law in pro- dropped. All students thus continue to viding protection for victims of conflict learn about the “UK’s relations and child soldiers. Photo © iStockPhoto with…the United Nations and the In September UNA-UK submitted world as a global community”. input to the QCA public consultation Further gains have been made in en- on the subject criteria for the new suring that students are taught specifics GCSE-level citizenship curriculum. We about the UN’s work. As a result of the suggested that all citizenship topics – Key Stage 3 citizenship consultations, such as human rights, justice, democra- which ended in April 2007, it has be- cy, development and conflict – needed come compulsory to learn about the to be considered in not only local and UK’s relationship with the internation- national but also international and al community “in the context of topical global contexts. events such as conflict situations”. Another change, in the Key Stage 4 (14-16 years) citizenship curriculum, is UNA-UK’s educational work has a the specification that pupils study “in- strong international focus, and includes ternational disagreements and conflict, support for Model UN initiatives in de- As reported in New World, a and debates about inequalities, sustain- veloping countries. To read more about Qualifications and Curriculum Auth - ability and use of the world’s resources”, this, see page 32. For more informa- ority (QCA) consultation in 2006 pro- as well as “investigating the effective- tion about UNA-UK’s educational work posed that all references to the UN be ness of the United Nations in support- contact Mark Rusling on removed from the Key Stage 3 (11-14 ing human rights and addressing in- [email protected] or 020 7766 3459. years) programme of study for citizen- equalities”. A new requirement at this
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Essay
legal rights got under way, and once the two covenants – the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) – had made human rights a matter of legal obligation, the Commission was joined by other, and eventually many other, UN institutions – Sixty years of the Universal political, legal and technical – in the work of developing and interpreting human Declaration of Human Rights rights. Women, children, migrant work- ers, and – most recently – those with dis- abilities now have their own treaties, which take the general rights in the Declaration, define the special protection Stefanie Grant needs of a particularly vulnerable group, and then set out the rights which individ- uals should enjoy, and states should pro- Some reflections This problem lay at the centre of the tect. concerns of the Declaration’s drafters: they Much has been written about the fail- As the recent demonstrations began in sought to prevent “a repetition of what ures of human rights within the UN sys- Burma, human rights violations were re- happened in 1933, when Germany began tem. But it is easy to forget the political ported by e-mail, text message and digital to massacre its own nationals, and every- constraints imposed by member states, photograph. ‘Citizen journalists’ recorded body…bowed, saying ‘Thou are sovereign and especially the obstacles placed in the – often by the hour – the arrest of demon- and master in thine own house’”. Today, way of country monitoring. In the early strators, attacks on monks and shootings. the situation in Darfur gives René Cassin’s years of the Human Rights Committee, These events were then reported by the in- words a continuing and tragic relevance. which monitors implementation of the ternational press, NGOs and some gov- The Declaration was itself a compro- ICCPR, Amnesty International delivered ernments, as clear violations of the rights mise document. The Human Rights its country reports personally to members, defined in the Universal Declaration of Commission’s original proposal included almost as samizdat documents, because Human Rights. an international human rights court, and a the Secretariat was not allowed to distrib- While this information made the out- UN agency to monitor the human rights ute them. Ongoing controversy within side world acutely aware of what was hap- situation in member states. These were set the Commission, and now the Council, pening, it could not transform knowledge aside in favour of a non-binding declara- has focused on country mandates, and is a into rights protection. Nor did it prevent tion of rights. The UK was one of those reminder both of the lengths to which the Burmese government from cutting in- which initially favoured a legally binding states will go to avoid being named as ternet links and blocking mobile phones. convention, fearing a declaration would human rights abusers, and of what will be The speed at which information travels is be too vague, and a “perpetual source of achieved if the Universal Periodic Review new, but the old dilemma remains: how mischief”. is allowed to establish itself as an impartial can the citizens of a sovereign state be pro- Throughout much of the Cold War pe- monitoring mechanism. tected against rights violations by their riod, support for human rights within the own government? Can political leaders be UN was at best passive, articulated in Dag The Last Ten Years deterred from using torture by the knowl- Hammarskjöld’s metaphor of “a flying edge that they may one day be prosecuted speed below which an airplane will not re- For much of the last decade, the Universal under the expanding arm of international main in the air”; he believed the human Declaration has not been served well by criminal law? rights programme should remain “at that some of its oldest supporters, notably the Since its adoption 60 years ago, the his- speed and no greater”. Until the mid- US with its policies on human rights and tory of the Universal Declaration of 1970s, states were content to leave con- the ‘war on terror’. But within the UN Human Rights has been one of continuing cern with human rights to the Human there have been important gains. Central effort to protect rights and overcome the Rights Commission – then, as later, a to these was the 2005 UN World argument – made in the Security Council largely political body which often acted as Summit’s endorsement of a new Human today, just as it was in the Commission on a weathervane of the international politi- Rights Council, as well as its strong polit- Human Rights in 1947 – that responsive cal climate. ical backing for human rights ‘main- action constitutes an interference in do- But once the work of translating the streaming’ in all the UN’s work. mestic affairs. broad principles of the Declaration into One result of Kofi Annan’s initial –
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nomic issues as well as expertise in human rights. But again, and despite these obsta- cles, important work has been done on,
Photo © GettyImages for example, the right to health, through the combined efforts of UN Special Rapporteur Paul Hunt, the World Health Organization, and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. At the World Summit, states acknowl- edged a responsibility to protect, specifical- ly against genocide, crimes against human- ity, war crimes and ethnic cleansing. Speaking recently in New York, Louise Arbour argued that the responsibility to protect comes with a set of obligations which focus not on those with “the so- called right to intervene” but on those who need protection. This leads to a new under- standing, in which sovereignty is no longer a shield against accountability and scrutiny, but carries the responsibilities which come with the ‘privilege of governing’. She suggested that the responsibility to protect includes the responsibility to pre- vent, to react, and to rebuild – including 1997 – call for mainstreaming was a tions in states, and already set an impor- through punishment. In institutional terms, process in which lawyers and development tant compass course for national action. the duty to prevent would ‘sit’ in the Human economists were forced to sit at the same Criticism of selectivity and double stan- Rights Council; the responsibility to react table, and find a common language in dards should not obscure the work done should be in the Security Council; and the which to translate normative principle by some of the Human Rights responsibility to rebuild in the International into operational action. Included in this Commission’s – and now the Council’s – Criminal Court and similar bodies, and in was the move to transform the Office of thematic procedures. When the the Peacebuilding Commission. the UN High Commissioner for Human Commission defined a new mandate for Rights from a small and technical support internally displaced people, this popula- The Challenges Ahead service for the Commission and treaty tion – of more than 20 million – was un- bodies into an intelligent and effective counted, unrecognised in human rights One challenge for the next decade will be agency which could work in the field, terms, and without legal definition. to develop analysis, action and political using human rights principles to prevent Francis Deng’s work, and that of Walter consensus along these lines. Another is to violations and protect victims, as it now Kälin, Deng’s successor as the UN accept that – again in Louise Arbour’s does in Nepal and Colombia. Secretary-General’s Special Representative words – we have done a “pretty good job” By appointing Mary Robinson, and on Internally Displaced Persons, has set articulating the international human then Louise Arbour, Annan defined a protection standards and given visibility rights framework, but a “mediocre job” at powerful role for the new High to a group which had been excluded implementing even the most basic of these Commissioner for Human Rights. The from national or international protection. rights. A useful first step would be for International Criminal Court has closed Outstanding protection work has been members of the Human Rights Council to the perverse gap between protection under done in relation to human rights defend- direct their energies away from political human rights law and punishment under ers. Individual experts – on torture, and division and towards enforcement of the international criminal law, in the case of on violence against women – have shown recommendations of the Council’s own the gravest breaches – genocide and crimes how much can be done to monitor the experts and of the treaty bodies. A third is against humanity. Through their accession situation in member states, even with to reverse the damage – direct and collat- to some or all of the human rights treaties, meagre resources, and in politically con- eral – inflicted on the values of the all states are now legally bound to protect tested territory such as that surrounding Universal Declaration by the situation in human rights in their countries, and to detention in Guantánamo. Iraq and the Middle East. subject themselves to a review process Ten years ago, the Commission took There is much work to be done. which, if adequately funded (which it is the innovative decision to create thematic not), and if states were willing to elect mandates on social and economic rights. only highly qualified members to the This was at first difficult to implement be- Stefanie Grant is a lawyer specialising in mi- gration and refugee issues. She served former- treaty bodies (which they are not), would cause little substantive work had been ly with the Office of the United Nations become a solid and dynamic building done to define the practical meaning of High Commissioner for Human Rights, as block for the international human rights rights such as that to health, food and ed- head of its research and development branch. court proposed in 1947. Despite the ucation, or to understand poverty in She was previously director of Amnesty handicaps, these reviews can act as an early human rights terms; and it was not easy to International’s research department. warning mechanism for escalating viola- find individuals with a knowledge of eco-
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Ludwig Guttmann
German-born neurologist who fled to Britain in 1939. After World War II Guttmann began using sport to rehabilitate veterans with spinal injuries. He set up competitions between his patients and those at other hospitals. In 1960, he took 400 wheelchair users to the Olympics The legacy in Rome, and the ‘Parallel’ Olympics – or ‘Paralympics’ – was born. Guttmann, who of Eleanor died in 1980, is considered one of the early champions of disability rights. Roosevelt The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was adopted by the Jewish Sports Legends/International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, Netanya, Israel
UN in December 2006. ©
Human rights champions Photo over six decades
Steve Biko
2008 marks the 60th anniversary Noted anti-apartheid activist in South Africa Photo © GettyImages of the Universal Declaration of in the 1960s and early 1970s. In 1973, the Human Rights. On 10 December apartheid government imposed a ban on 2007, UNA-UK will join the UN him, restricting his movement and prohibit- in beginning a year-long com- ing him from speaking to more than one per- memoration of the Declaration. son at a time. In 1977, he was arrested at a roadblock and later died in police custody. The police claimed that his death was caused by an extended hunger strike but it was dis- covered that he had in fact sustained serious On 10 December 1948, the UN head injuries. The policemen accused of killing Biko were never prosecuted. This General Assembly adopted the Universal – and Biko’s fame – raised public awareness of the extent of the brutality and in- Declaration of Human Rights, the first justice of the South African apartheid regime. major international articulation of the rights The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial owed to “all members of the human family”. Discrimination, adopted by the UN in 1965, specifically condemns apartheid The Declaration does not impose legal ob- policies. ligations upon states, but it has served as the edifice for constructing international human rights agreements which are legally binding. And so, today, states are required under in- Peter Benenson ternational law to guarantee for their citizens a raft of basic rights and freedoms, spanning British lawyer and founder of Amnesty Amnesty International
civil and political rights, economic and social International. In 1961, Benenson read of the arrest © rights, racial equality, the rights of women, and sentencing to seven years in prison of two Photo children’s rights and much else – all of which Portuguese students, who had simply raised their were extrapolated from the Declaration. glasses to ‘freedom’. Galvanised by this he wrote to The Declaration was born out of the ef- the Observer. His letter, entitled ‘The Forgotten forts of many individuals, but one person Prisoners’, was published: it asked that readers stands out: Eleanor Roosevelt, who as the write letters of support for the students, and AI first chair of the UN Commission on was set up that same year to coordinate the cam- Human Rights led the team which drafted paign. Today AI is one of the most influential and the Declaration. She has innumerable suc- respected non-governmental organisations in the world. cessors – individuals who have campaigned, struggled and, in all too many cases, died to secure respect for human rights. On these pages we pay tribute to a few of these human rights champions – some fa- mous, some virtually unknown. un 2.qxp:Layout 1 10/10/07 20:12 Page 14
Azucena Villaflor
Argentinian activist and one of the founders of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, set up Photo © GettyImages during the ‘Dirty War’ to raise awareness of the ‘desaparecidos’, or the ‘disappeared’. These were victims of enforced disappearance, abducted and often killed, their bodies disposed of so as never to be found. Villaflor herself became one of the disappeared: she vanished on Human Rights Day (10 December) in 1977, after the Mothers went public interna- tionally with a list of their missing children. Her body was identified in 2005, the injuries consistent with a fall from a ‘death flight’, when prisoners were drugged, stripped and flung out of a plane. In 2006, the UN adopted the International Convention on the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance, which will enter into force after it has received 20 ratifications.
Ken Saro-Wiwa
Nigerian poet, novelist and environmental and social activist. In the early 1990s, Saro-Wiwa led Greenpeace/Lambon a non-violent campaign to protest against the environmental damage caused by multinational ©
oil companies, and to demand a fair share of the profits from oil exploitation for the Ogoni peo- Photo ple of the Niger Delta. In 1995, after a show trial, he and eight others were executed by the Nigerian military, sparking international outrage. The day after the executions, Nigeria was ex- pelled from the Commonwealth and the EU imposed sanctions on the country. Common Article One of the two International Covenants – on Civil and Political Rights and on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights – states that “all peoples may, for their own ends, freely dispose of their natural wealth and resources”.
Anna Politkovskaya Arch Tait ©
Russian journalist and human rights activist well-known for her outspoken reporting from Photo Chechnya, and for her opposition to President Putin. Once arrested and subjected to a mock execution by Russian military forces, she also survived a suspected poisoning attempt in 2004. In 2006, at 48 years of age, she was shot dead in the elevator of her apartment build- ing. Several people have been arrested in connection with her murder but the investi- gation has so far been inconclusive. Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights guarantees “the right to freedom of expression [which] shall include the right to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds”.
Shirin Ebadi
Iranian lawyer and outspoken ad- vocate for democracy and greater Photo © GettyImages rights for Iranian women and children. Ebadi was her country’s first female judge but was forced to step down with the overthrow of the Shah in 1979 and the in- stallation of the Islamic Republic, when it was decided that women were unsuitable for such positions. She set up a law practice and has often acted in politically contentious cases, bringing her into conflict with Iran’s conservative clerics and winning her the respect of the interna- tional community. In 2003 she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the first Muslim woman to achieve this distinction. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women was adopted by the UN in 1979.
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Olayinka Koso-Thomas
Nigerian gynaecologist and advocate for the abolition of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Sierra Leone, where the practice is secretive, legal and widespread, and where the practitioners – mostly women – wield formidable power in politics and society. Koso-Thomas has been campaigning against FGM for 15 years despite threats and harassment. FGM is most often carried out on girls between the ages of four and eight and has serious health risks, including chronic infections, intermittent bleeding, complications during birth, and even death. Article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights recognises the right of all individuals to “the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health”.
Sheila Watt-Cloutier
Inuit activist and political representative who has argued that human-induced climate change could contravene human rights. In 2005 Watt-Cloutier filed a legal petition Photo © GettyImages claiming that the US government’s climate change policies were violating the human rights of the Inuit people, whose way of life is under threat because of global warming. The Inuit are an indigenous people whose survival as a group depends on its relationship to the Arctic, where temperatures are rising at approximately twice the global average. In September 2007, the UN adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which confirms the right of indigenous groups to self-determination and recognises their rights with respect to land and resources.
Aung San Suu Kyi Who is your Burmese pro-democracy Photo © GettyImages human rights activist and leader of the National League for hero? Democracy, which deci- sively won the country’s general elections in 1990 Send us 100 words arguing but was then blocked by the case for a particular the military from forming human rights champion. the government. Suu Kyi You could choose someone was subsequently detained from these pages, or a and has been under house arrest for almost 12 of the last 18 years. In 1991 she woman, man or group you was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her non-violent struggle against the mili- think is conspicuously tary dictatorship. missing.
One entry will be chosen, and the submitter will win a free copy of THE OXFORD HANDBOOK ON THE UNITED NATIONS, edited by UNA-UK Executive Director Sam Daws and Professor Tom Weiss of City University, New York.
‘Human Rights Hero’ submissions should be sent to Natalie Samarasinghe at [email protected] or UNA-UK, 3 Whitehall Court, London SW1A 2EL
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Briefing Prepared by Natalie Samarasinghe, UNA-UK Executive Assistant
ary law may be created. The Development Goals. The result is that Declaration is thus significant for two development initiatives are neither reasons: for recognising and seeking to geared to deliver gains for indigenous address the special vulnerability of in- peoples nor configured to preserve in- digenous people; and for giving impe- digenous ways of life. tus to collective rights, an incipient The Declaration aims to address human rights norm. this marginalisation. It calls for im- proved political participation by in- The Declaration digenous peoples and access to infor- Indigenous peoples as a mation – for example, by providing on the Rights of vulnerable group for the right to establish indigenous media. States are asked, furthermore, Indigenous Many of the Declaration’s provisions are to obtain the free, prior consent of in- not new. Rather, they relate existing digenous peoples before adopting any Peoples: what is rights – specifically those enshrined in legislative or administrative measures the International Covenant on Civil that may affect them. its significance? and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, A step towards greater Social and Cultural Rights – to indige- recognition of group rights nous individuals. In so doing, the “Indigenous communities, peoples Declaration recognises that existing in- The international law of human rights and nations are those which, having ternational law has not been able to se- has been defined as “the law that deals a historical continuity with pre-inva- cure adequate rights protection for in- with the protection of individuals and sion and pre-colonial societies that digenous peoples. It also recognises groups against violations of their inter- developed on their territories, con- that guaranteeing the rights of this nationally guaranteed rights, and with sider themselves distinct...and are group calls for a dedicated human the promotion of these rights”. But determined to preserve, develop rights instrument, as has happened in while human rights have an individual and transmit to future generations the case of women, children and the and a collective dimension, the latter is their ancestral territories, and their disabled. less clearly defined. The Declaration ethnic identity, as the basis of their Indigenous peoples, of whom there on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, continued existence as peoples" an estimated 370 million, are among with its explicit reference to group Jose R. Martinez Cobo the world’s most disadvantaged. rights, lends normative weight to the Study of the Problem of Discrimination Indigenous peoples make up 5 per cent status of collective rights within inter- against Indigenous Populations, 1986 of the global population but constitute national law. 15 per cent of the world’s poor. In their Only two groups are currently countries, they suffer markedly higher recognised as rights-bearing in inter- Introduction rates of landlessness, malnutritution national human rights law: the ‘fami- and internal displacement, and have ly’ and the 'people', the latter a term On 13 September, the UN General lower levels of literacy and access to that has not been defined in any UN Assembly adopted the Declaration on health services. The International instrument. Common Article One of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Fund for Agricultural Development the two international covenants states document received strong support, (IFAD) has said that living conditions that all peoples have the right of self- with 143 states voting in favour, 11 ab- on Canadian 'Indian' reserves are on a determination. They can freely deter- staining, and four voting against. The par with a country ranked 78th in the mine their political status and dispose endorsement follows more than two Human Development Index. In the of their natural resources, and must decades of contentious negotiations. same index, Canada, as a whole, placed not be deprived of their own means of The Declaration sets out the individ- sixth. subsistence. Before the Declaration ual and collective rights of the world’s Compounding this marginalisation was adopted this constituted the only indigenous peoples, calls for the protec- are widespread discrimination, system- explicit expression of collective rights tion of their cultural identities, and em- atic rights-violations, exclusion from in the international human rights phasises their right to pursue develop- decision-making bodies and a lack of regime. ment in keeping with their own needs. information in indigenous languages. The Declaration gives substance to Like all declarations, the document is The UN Permanent Forum on Common Article One through multi- not legally binding. However, declara- Indigenous Issues notes that indige- ple collective rights. Article 3 reiter- tions do carry moral and normative nous peoples are still largely 'invisible' ates the right to self-determination. force, and can influence the conduct of from civil society consultations and Article 4 addresses autonomy. Article states; to the extent that states do alter data collection, even within UN-led ef- 5 provides for the right to maintain their behaviour, international custom- forts to reach the Millennium distinct political, economic, social and
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cultural institutions. Article 26 grants rights to lands and resources. The
Declaration also provides for redress – Photo © UN Photo for the violation of both individual rights and collective land ownership. Again, the Declaration is the first to offer mechanisms of redress for a group.
Why the delay?
Indigenous issues made it onto the in- ternational agenda in 1986, upon the completion of a seminal study by José R. Martinez Cobo, the first UN Special Rapporteur on indigenous issues. His efforts led to the creation of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations, which then began work on a draft declaration. In 1993, the com- pleted draft was forwarded to the then- Commission on Human Rights. It was only in 2006 that the newly created Human Rights Council endorsed the draft and recommended it to the General Assembly. Why did it take 22 years for the Declaration to be adopted? The main sticking point has been over the text’s espousal of collective rights, of which states have been traditionally wary, viewing them as a potential challenge to the ‘monopolistic jurisdiction’ of the state. Collective rights to lands and re- sources have in particular roused oppo- sition, states arguing, for example, that the provision calling for the respect of indigenous land tenure systems could conflict with national property laws and challenge legitimate ownership by eral policy affecting both indigenous Conclusion others. Similarly, giving indigenous and non-indigenous peoples”. Some peoples a measure of control over natu- states also fear that the recognition of As a vulnerable group, indigenous peoples ral resources could get in the way of a collective rights could undermine indi- need the special protection of a dedicated government's (or a foreign investor’s) vidual rights. The Australian govern- international instrument. Indigenous plans. ment has stated that indigenous cus- peoples’ existence is inextricably linked Countries with substantial indige- tomary law, for example, may “permit not just to their environments but also to nous populations have traditionally the exercise of practices which would the preservation of their cultures and their been the most reluctant to give more not be acceptable”, such as corporal languages, which have no meaning in the formal protection to indigenous peo- punishment. absence of the group. ples in international human rights law. The UK was among those which The UN Declaration on the Rights Australia, Canada, New Zealand and signed the Declaration, because of the of Indigenous Peoples therefore repre- the United States all voted against the agreement’s perceived use as a “policy sents a significant breakthrough – in Declaration, concerned that it effec- tool”. However, it qualified its support. strengthening the rights of indigenous tively arms indigenous peoples with a The FCO issued an interpretative state- peoples and, with its recognition of veto over national legislation and state ment, saying, “We do not accept that group rights, in potentially opening up management of resources. Canada ar- some groups in society should benefit new normative ground. But it is not gued that the Declaration would ham- from human rights that are not avail- enough. Work will need to continue in string states, preventing them from able to others [...] We therefore do not order to translate the rights expressed in acting “without the consent of indige- accept the concept of collective human the Declaration into tangible benefits nous peoples” even in “matters of gen- rights.” for indigenous peoples.
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Parliament
UNA-UK lobbies on treat these principles as preconditions for engage in direct and uncon- Middle East engagement with Hamas, the select com- ditional dialogue with Iran. Lord mittee recommends that the government Hannay writes: In August the House of Commons "urgently consider ways of engaging politi- Foreign Affairs Select Committee published cally" with moderate Hamas groups, in "Experience in dealing with North Korea has the report of its inquiry into 'Global Security: order to encourage them to meet the demonstrated that a dialogue of this sort, in The Middle East', containing recommenda- Quartet principles. The committee also ad- which the United States plays a direct role, is es- tions for the government's future role in the vises the government to engage with sential if progress is to be made. But in North region and for the work of the Quartet. Hezbollah parliamentarians, while contin- Korea's case the engagement in such a dialogue Following UNA-UK Annual Conference uing to refuse to engage with Hezbollah's was not made dependent on any precondition 2007, UNA-UK submitted written evidence military wing. required of the North Korean government. In to the inquiry (for details, see box below). The EU's decision not to modify its finan- the light of that experience the time has surely The report is strongly supportive of the cial boycott of the Palestinian Authority fol- come now to make an offer of such an uncondi- Quartet's three principles for engaging with lowing the formation of a Palestinian nation- tional dialogue to Iran." Palestinian groups: non-violence; recogni- al unity government in February 2007 is crit- tion of Israel; and commitment to previous icised as "very damaging". By maintaining UNA-UK has also been pressing for the es- agreements and UN Security Council reso- the boycott, the committee says, the interna- tablishment of an international nuclear fuel lutions. But while elements of the Quartet tional community failed to reward those ele- bank that would provide countries with en- ments within the national unity government riched uranium for civil use without the dan- that respected the Quartet principles. ger that it could be diverted for nuclear UNA-UK outlined the existing work The House of Lords EU Select weapons purposes. We are therefore encour- of the UN in the region and made Committee has also published a report on the following recommendations: the Middle East peace process. Released on 24 July, the report calls on the EU to "main- ‘the time has surely All parties to the Arab-Israeli dispute tain a peace process that is as inclusive as pos- come now to make should be encouraged to engage in mul- sible", and urges the EU and the government tilateral political negotiations facilitated to apply the Quartet's three principles "in fu- an offer of such an by the Quartet. ture with a reasonable amount of flexibility". unconditional The Quartet should focus on a future The committee considers that adherence to dialogue to Iran’ settlement involving all regional actors, principles of non-violence, and to previous based on the Quartet's three principles. collective Arab agreements (such as the Arab This should embrace the issue of the Peace Initiative of March 2007), should be aged by the growing international support Israeli and Palestinian borders, the sta- viewed as preconditions to negotiations with for initiatives such as the US-led Global tus of Jerusalem, and Palestinian Hamas. But it questions the Quartet's re- Nuclear Energy Partnership, under which refugees. quirement that Hamas recognise Israel before certain states would supply uranium fuel to There should be no preconditions to ne- negotiations can take place, arguing that this other countries and then retrieve it for repro- gotiations between Israel and the stipulation "amalgamate[s] elements of any cessing. Palestinian Authority. final status negotiations with the preliminar- Lord Hannay's letter can be read at The Quartet should build upon the Arab ies to such negotiations". www.una.org.uk/parliament. For more infor- Peace Initiative and work constructively mation about the Global Nuclear Energy with other Middle Eastern states. To view the reports visit Partnership visit www.gnep.energy.gov Efforts should be made to work towards www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/select.htm the resolution of all disputes in the On 21 September Lord Hannay appeared Middle East, including those involving on BBC World Service Television to discuss Syria and Iran. UNA-UK pushes diplomatic Iran's enrichment activities and the interna- The Quartet should also pursue the long- engagement on Iran’s tional community's efforts to curtail them. term aim of a WMD-free Middle East. nuclear programme A video recording is posted on UNA-UK's website: www.una.org.uk/video.html UNA-UK's full submission can be On 9 August UNA-UK Chair Lord Hannay seen at www.una.org.uk/parliament, wrote to the Foreign Secretary expressing where you can also read UNA-UK UNA-UK's deep concern over the failure of All queries about UNA-UK's policy posi- Chair Lord Hannay's recent corre- efforts to date to find a peaceful and negoti- tions on the Middle East should be direct- spondence with the Foreign & ated diplomatic solution to the problems ed to Mark Rusling, UNA-UK Campaigns & Commonwealth Office about the arising from Iran's nuclear programme. Education Officer, on [email protected] Middle East peace process. A central recommendation in the letter or 020 7766 3459. urges the government to encourage the US to
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Resources
Books War In Our Time: The UN Online Reflections on Iraq, The UN General Assembly has wrapped The Security Terrorism and up its annual high-level segment in New Dilemma: Fear, Weapons of Mass York. To find out which world leaders Cooperation, Destruction said what, visit and Trust in Ramesh Thakur www.un.org/ga World Politics United Nations University Press Leaders at the GA urged action on Ken Booth and Nicholas June 2007 Darfur, following the Secretary-General's Wheeler This is a compilation of Ramesh Thakur's 30 August report on the deployment of Palgrave Macmillan opinion articles published in major news- the AU-UN force. To keep up to date visit November 2007 papers around the world. The book deals www.un.org/Docs/sc/sgrep07.htm This work examines the uncertainty which with three topics – the Iraq war, the war on Meanwhile, the WHO has said that glob- confronts decision-makers when assessing terror, and weapons of mass destruction – al public heath security is at increased risk the intentions of other states and entities among the most critical issues of today. from outbreaks of disease, natural disas- with the actual capability, or future poten- www.unu.edu/unupress ters and industrial accidents. Go to tial, to do harm. The book explores how www.who.int/whr/2007/en/index.html policy-makers deal with security dilemmas Who's Who in Public The EU is one of the UN's key partners. and the possibilities of mitigating or tran- International Law 2007 So it is good news that the European scending them. Jennifer Byford (ed.) Commission and the UN are collaborat- www.palgrave.com Crestwall ing to improve aid effectiveness through July 2007 better integration of gender equality and Beyond Terror: The Masterminded by Sir Eli Lauterpacht of women's rights into aid agreements. Visit Truth About the Real the University of Cambridge, this refer- www.gendermatters.eu Threat to Our World ence work serves as a directory of the Indigenous peoples are vulnerable Chris Abbott, world's leading academics and practising groups, and within these populations Paul Rogers lawyers in the field of contemporary women are often worst off. The UN has and John Sloboda public international law. The 650 en- put together a series of case studies to Random House tries include four members of UNA- get to grips with the challenges that in- April 2007 UK's Advisory Panel – Professor digenous women face. See Beyond Terror argues that the Western re- Christine Chinkin, Professor Sir Nigel www.un.org/esa/socdev/publications sponse to 9/11 has been a failure and a dis- Rodley, Elizabeth Wilmshurst and Sir /Indigenous/indwomen07.htm traction from more important threats, such Michael Wood – as well as UNA-UK as climate change and resource scarcity. The Executive Director Sam Daws. authors predict that, without organised ac- www.crestwall.com Directory of UN Doctoral Research tion within the next decade, our world will UNA-UK is compiling a new Directory of UN become highly unstable by the middle of Doctoral Research. The directory is intended the century. Up until 31 December to raise awareness among academics en- www.oxfordresearchgroup.org.uk 2007 you can still claim gaged in research on the UN of work being your UNA member/sup- done by peers. Once established, it will also Just War: The Just War porter discount on the provide a means of publicising this work to Tradition: Ethics in hardback edition of policy-makers, NGOs, the media and the Modern Warfare The Oxford Handbook wider public. If you are working on a thesis Charles Guthrie on the United Nations, on the UN or an aspect of its work, or if you and Michael Quinlan edited by UNA-UK Executive Director have recently published one, go to Walker & Company Sam Daws and Professor Tom Weiss of www.una.org.uk/experts_academics.html and October 2007 City University, New York. fill in the online form. This book traces the origin of the just war tradition, from its roots in Christian think- To save 30 per cent of the full price of £85, Funding possibilities ing through to today. Using Kosovo, visit www.oup.co.uk/sale/socsci/OHUN07 In the next issue of New World, UNA-UK Afghanistan and Iraq as examples, the au- or quote OHUN07 when you: will provide details of charitable funding thors re-examine the tenets of the tradition Call: 01536 741 727 from the Gilbert Murray Charitable Trust, and set out the case for a credible moral E-mail: [email protected] which makes small annual grants in support framework for waging modern war. Write to: Direct Sales Department, Oxford of doctoral research trips concerned with www.walkerbooks.com University Press, Corby NN18 9BR the work of the United Nations.
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send your letters to: Veronica Lie, UNA-UK, 3 Whitehall Court, London SW1A 2EL Letters e-mail: [email protected]
What the General said Mayer QC told us that ICJ advisory 'the UK's leading independent policy au- opinions constitute formal international thority on the United Nations'? Further in- General David Petraeus, the head of the law and were only 'advisory' in the sense vestigation showed that it was, indeed, the US military in Iraq, has published his re- that they advised the UN Secretary- right magazine. port assessing the military situation in the General (or whichever UN body had But the content still seemed wrong: 20 country. The report appears to be quite made the request) that this was the opin- per cent was devoted to publicity associ- factual, providing figures showing the ion of the ICJ. ated with The Oxford Handbook on the number of suicide bombings and the de- Advisory opinions are potentially an United Nations – a highly creditable pro- clining incidence of roadside-bomb at- important – but little-used – approach to duction described in solid detail in the tacks on forces. resolving world problems. When the ICJ centre pages in an advertisement paid for While the tone of the report is gener- responds to a request by a UN body (as it by Oxford University Press. However, ally positive, the majority of did, for example, in 1996, to a request by there followed six more pages of editorial Democratic senators seem unsatisfied. the General Assembly about the legality matter consisting mainly of photographs. And public opinion perceives the situa- of the threat or use of nuclear weapons), Most of these were pictures of individu- tion as falling well below expectations the resultant opinion of the Court, while als partying, with wine glasses at the in terms of military, security, and politi- not legally binding on any affected party, ready and set smiles for the benefit of cal objectives. carries strong legal and moral weight in the camera. It may be that Petraeus's facts are cor- that it is the official pronouncement of Is this really the sort of material that rect. Yet I feel, like many in the US, that the principal judicial organ of the United UNA members want to see in New World, this report was guided not by any direct Nations. the only literature that most of them re- political pressure but by the knowledge Alec Gaines ceive these days? And if so, do they look that the stakes were very high for On behalf of the branch committee forward to such a plethora of this material, President Bush, the General's boss and of UNA Edinburgh which is probably only of interest to the Commander-in-Chief of the US armed subjects portrayed and their friends? I forces, and his Republican administra- doubt it. tion. More plaudits for To devote so much precious space and In my opinion, the issue of Iraq has Robert Jackson money to material more suited to a made America one of the most disliked celebrity magazine is, to my mind, seri- countries in the world; I believe that this I was very pleased to see the listing, in ously irresponsible. I began to wonder administration has done more to destroy the April-June 2007 issue of New whether the front-cover title about the the country's image than any other in World, of Jacko, Where Are You Now?, a MDGs – 'On track or derailed?' – applied modern American political history. book about the life of Robert Jackson by to much else in the journal. UNA mem- General Petraeus's report may well restore James Gibson (Parsons Publishing, bers look to New World for information some credibility to the American military, 2006). about the UN and its agencies, so de- which had to execute actions planned by Jackson was a master of disaster relief plorably absent from the media. They can the Pentagon. Many fingers point to who understood how to negotiate be- find more than enough pictures of party- Donald Rumsfeld. tween different political beliefs and reali- ing people elsewhere. The obvious conclusion to be drawn ties, and grasped the practicalities of ar- Harold Stern is: the buck should stop not with the mil- ranging speedy shipping and transport – Ealing, London itary but at the top levels of the Pentagon so necessary to the success of UN relief and the White House. ventures. David J. Thomas His very remarkable achievements need Editor's note: Porthcawl, Mid Glamorgan to be understood by present-day UN ad- The July-September 2007 issue of New World ministrators and NGO operators. in fact allots 12.5 per cent (six of 48 pages) to Brenda Bailey cover two high-level events connected to the ICJ advisory opinions East Finchley, London publication of The Oxford Handbook on the UN – one in London featuring Lord Malloch- In addition to judgments on legal dis- Brown, Professor Sir Adam Roberts, Dr Ngaire putes brought before it by states, the New World or The Tatler? Woods, and Ambassador Nick Thorne, and one International Court of Justice has another in New York featuring the Deputy Secretary- important function: the issuing of adviso- When I first flicked through the July- General of the United Nations. Forty pages ry opinions at the request of organs and September 2007 issue of New World I contain coverage of a range of UN issues, in- agencies of the United Nations. wondered if I had been sent the wrong cluding the UN Human Rights Council, the At a recent meeting hosted by UNA journal – surely all those pictures of party- death penalty, the Millennium Development Edinburgh in partnership with Scottish ing people were part of a society or celebri- Goals, and much more "information about the CND and Scotland's for Peace, John ty magazine and not the house journal of UN and its agencies".
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he founded, brought essential backing to the World Federation. To his friends, who were legion, Arthur was simply a wonderful, warm, intelligent and thought-provoking person. To the very end of his life he followed world events closely, always looking for a useful role the UN could play, always sharing deep sympathy for those suffering from Arthur Ross war, disease and poverty, always seeking A personal tribute from Lord Hannay of Chiswick some practical steps aimed at making the world a better place. I often told Arthur that his abound- ing energy and determination were to be The news of the death of Arthur Ross, did over Vietnam and Iraq, and over discouraged as they put all of us younger Honorary President of the World non-payment of UN dues. He was con- than he to shame. The world will be a Federation of UN Associations (WFUNA), vinced of the need for a world grouping poorer place without him. at the age of 96, is a sad blow to all who to bring together the UN Associations knew him and to all those who, like of different member states and to be him, work tirelessly to make the UN able to act as both an advocate and a Arthur Ross was a prolific philanthropist more effective, better understood and critic of the UN itself. With that objec- who committed himself to a swathe of more strongly supported by ordinary tive, he almost single-handedly rescued causes, ranging from developing New York people. WFUNA from the dire financial and po- parks to supporting the United Nations. He served on US delegations to several For many years, Arthur Ross was a litical straits into which it had fallen UN bodies, was Vice-Chair of the UN pillar of the UN Association of the over the years. Faced with much dis- Association of the US and spent his last United States, never hesitating to criti- couragement and often divided coun- decade as Honorary President of cise his own government when he sels, he simply would not give up and, WFUNA. thought it was making mistakes, as he through the Friends of WFUNA, which WFUNA ©
“Big I’m not, but I am interested, Photo and I can give some time.”
Arthur Ross, interview with the New York Times, 1971
Arthur Ross with former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan
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The UN is in the news as never before. wide branch health check and begin consul- Ever more complex ‘problems without tations on what structures can most effec- passports’ require solutions that transcend tively support and galvanise our members borders. And UNA-UK’s members con- and supporters in the future. Realising tinue to play a pivotal role in showing In the meantime, with government de- how the UN is at the centre of efforts to partments facing budget cuts, and legacy in- UNA-UK’s potential find these solutions. You will find in this come at an all-time low, we urgently need section of New World inspiring examples money to continue our campaigns and edu- through an active of how UNA-UK’s regions and branches cational work. If you can afford to make a have sought to bring the UN to new au- donation to the UNA Trust – as an individ- membership diences. ual, a branch or a region – please send one UNA-UK will this year seek to improve today, marked for my personal attention. its effectiveness. An EGM will be held on Donations of any size are warmly welcome. 27 November 2007 to take forward the Those of £100 or more will be acknowl- streamlining of the Board of Directors (see edged on UNA-UK’s website and in our an- Sam Daws page 28). On 3 November the Board of nual reports (unless a donor asks to remain Directors will review the results of the UK- anonymous).
The Membership at Work . . .
UNA London reform of the UN is important, prospects & South-East Region for success are uncertain. Notable chal- lenges stand in the way, not least deep Neville Grant, the region’s chair, introduces divisions between developing and devel- a summary of the keynote presentation de- oped countries over what the role of the livered at London & South-East’s summer UN should actually be in international council meeting. social and economic management.
On 7 July, the region held its summer coun- ‘UN Reform in the Economic and cil meeting at Lewes, East Sussex. The guest Social Fields’, by Carlos Fortin, for- speaker was Carlos Fortin, a highly regard- mer Deputy Secretary-General of ed academic at the Institute of Development the UN Conference on Trade and Studies at the University of Sussex, with a Development (UNCTAD) distinguished record with UNCTAD. Over the last three decades, a number Much of the debate on UN reform is of reform plans have been put forward cast in political terms – for example, targeting the way in which the United which countries should be added to the Nations carries out its work in the eco- Security Council’s membership to make nomic and social spheres. Yet progress it more representative of today’s interna- towards reform has been slow and tional system? But as 80 per cent of the halting. UN's work falls within the social and A key reason for this stems from the economic fields, perhaps a more pressing institutional and bureaucratic com- question is how the UN can be made plexity of the UN’s economic and so- stronger and more effective in these areas. cial machinery – an apparatus which But Dr Fortin explained in his presen- encompasses the UN organisation tation that, while economic and social proper, including 13 departments, funds and programmes; the specialised agencies in the economic and social field (of which there are also 13); the
Photo © UNDP Bretton Woods institutions which, though technically specialised agencies, operate with complete autonomy; and the World Trade Organization The United Association Nations of the UK UNA-UK (WTO), which is not a specialised agency at all and maintains only limit- ed links with the UN. In light of this multiplicity, and the duplication of effort it inevitably engen- ders, there has been broad agreement among governments about the need for UNA-UK
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better coordination and greater coher- the UN’s greatest achievements: the didn't feel shy to join in. Sadly, some of ence. Both the 2005 UN World Summit eradication of smallpox in 1979. But it those I met had experienced degrada- Outcome and the 2006 Report of the was Dr Edward Jenner of Berkeley who tion, domestic violence and a lack of UN High-level Panel on System-wide created the vaccine used by the UN to basic rights and privileges. Listening to Coherence have this as a central con- conquer the disease. And Archway, a stories from so many countries made cern. school in Stroud, is named after a me- me realise that family life has the great- However, this apparent unanimity morial to commemorate the end of the est influence on who we are and how unravels when one asks: what is meant slave trade; with some estimates put- we contribute to society.” by coherence? Any answer to this ques- ting the number of people trapped into How inspiring for us to have such a tion must address the UN’s relationship ‘modern slavery’ at 27 million, the UN young person giving our group such an to the Bretton Woods institutions and still has a lot of work to do. excellent talk! the WTO; and on this point, developed and developing countries have starkly UNA Southern Counties divergent views. For most developing countries the Fanny Lines, the region’s honorary secretary, key objective of reform is to strengthen gives an account of Southern Counties’ the UN’s role in international economic Annual Conference, entitled ‘The United and development policy. ‘Coherence’, Nations and People on the Move’. according to this perspective, will be achieved by the UN acting in a coordi- This conference, held on 1-2 nating capacity vis-à-vis the World September, was very successful, and Bank, the International Monetary Fund aimed to highlight the plight of and the WTO. This is because develop- refugees, asylum seekers and migrant ing countries perceive the UN as a bet- workers. Participants went away intent ter representative of their interests and Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP with local students on making a difference and better concerns, while the other institutions equipped to lobby local councils and are seen as vehicles for serving the in- It is with stories like these that UNA help counteract the negative bias in terests of developed countries. East Gloucestershire and Geoffrey media reporting on these groups. Developed countries, by contrast, Clifton-Brown, MP for the Cotswolds We had speakers from several promi- would by and large argue for the delim- and Shadow Minister for International nent organisations working in these itation of the UN's economic and so- Trade, engage local students in county areas. The first to address us was Peter cial role to the provision of technical as- debates. Now in their second year, Kessler, a senior staff member from the sistance and environmental protection, these debates have shown conclusively UN Refugee Agency in London, who and to ‘niche’ areas such as conflict pre- that the young people here are brim- gave a stimulating talk entitled vention and post-conflict reconstruc- ming with views on a range of issues – ‘UNHCR and the Global Protection of tion, domestic governance and gender on Iraq, terrorism and the G8, and Refugees’. His speech is available to equality. In this view, all major eco- even on whether Tony Blair, in his role read on the UNA-UK website. I urge nomic matters should be reserved for as a Quartet envoy, can achieve progress you to read it! the Bretton Woods institutions and the in the Middle East. WTO. ‘Coherence’, according to devel- oped countries, means making the UN UNA Mid-Cornwall more effective in the residual areas. It is this view that has so far prevailed. Barbara Smith, secretary to the branch, re- This divide is unlikely to be bridged cruits her eloquent young granddaughter to in the near future. While some progress talk to Mid-Cornwall UNA. Photo © UNHCR/Susan Hopper towards institutional and bureaucratic coordination is possible, the role of the On 29 June, 13 year-old Holly Smith UN in the economic and social fields spoke to the branch about her visit in will in all probability remain disputed, February to the UN in New York. She with the UN likely to remain a relatively was representing the Baha'i Faith and minor actor as compared to the Bretton was among hundreds of young women Woods institutions and the WTO. from across the globe actively taking part in the UN conference on the UNA East Gloucestershire ‘Elimination of all forms of discrimina- tion and violence against the girl child’. Chris Dickenson, the branch’s secretary, re- She said, "In the eight days I was at Peter Kessler, Senior External Affairs Officer ports on efforts to show students the link the UN I met so many girls and at UNHCR in London, said, “UNA-UK has a between the UN and Gloucestershire. women from all over the world, and great and dedicated membership, and it they all had amazing stories to tell. is very pleasing to know of their sup- Gloucestershire is not a place you Although I was probably the youngest, port for and interest in UNHCR's global would necessarily associate with one of they all treated me with respect and I mission.”
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Farewells and tributes to Mike Wood as he leaves UNA-UK
On 11 July, UNA-UK members joined current and former staff and volunteers to pay tribute to Mike Wood, who has left the Association after 37 years of service.
Mike’s farewell party attracted large numbers, testament to the indelible impact he has made over the years on the organisation’s membership. UNA-UK Executive Director Sam Daws and two of his predecessors – Malcolm Harper and Frank Field – thanked Mike for his extraordinary service to the Association; and Neville Grant, Chair of UNA London & South-East Region, expressed warm gratitude to Mike on behalf of the region.
Frank Field edge about UNA-UK than anyone else.’ Sam expresses thanks on behalf of UNA-UK, before leading a toast to Mike and presenting him with a gift Executive Director of UNA-UK And so it proved to be: Mike was an un- 1973-1976: ending source of information and a "I am so very happy to be here tonight great colleague in his own right.” among friends, all of whom are united in service to a great cause. From time Sam Daws to time, we pay tribute to this service. Executive Director of UNA-UK UNA-UK Directors, all of whom I have 2004-present: known, from Charles Judd to Sam “Mike, I know you have opened a few Daws, are often thanked. And rightly letters in your time at UNA-UK – proba- so. But equally deserving of recognition bly a good number from Prime and gratitude are those – like our good Ministers and UN Secretaries-General. friend Mike – who have served in less Hence why we are presenting you with public roles. So tonight let us join in an engraved, solid silver letter-opener thanking Mike by saying: ‘Like directors from Asprey’s – so you will continue to
Malcolm recalls his long association with Mike and holders of high offices you are part keep UNA-UK firmly in your mind every of a long tradition in which you have time you open an envelope in future! distinguished yourself and earned our On behalf of UNA-UK, thank you for gratitude. On behalf of us all, thank everything you have done over nearly you.’” four decades. I wish you every success with the next phase of your life.” Malcolm Harper Executive Director of UNA-UK Neville Grant 1982-2003: Chair of UNA London “When I was appointed Director of & South-East Region UNA, I asked John Ferguson, who was "On behalf of UNA London & South- the organisation’s chair at the time, for East Region, I would like to say a big more information about the Association. thank you to Mike for all he has done He advised, ‘Malcolm, you could do over the years to support the region. nothing better than consult Mike Wood, We shall all miss you Mike! But we Left to right: Malcolm Harper, Frank Field, Mike Wood, Sam Daws and Diane Wood who has more experience of and knowl- hope that we can keep in touch."
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Listings
18 October UNA-UK United Reformed Church, 5, 12, 19 & 26 November UNA WESTMINSTER The launch of UNA-UK’s annual Sunderland. UNA MERTON HRH Prince Turki Al-Faisal will speak parliamentary lobby on the UN Contact: Ken Kay Alison Williams will be conducting on ‘New challenges facing the will take place on UN Day from on 01913 886 058or a series of workshops on 'Human United Nations and its member 4.30pm to 6.30pm at the Foreign [email protected] Security at the UN'. The workshops states’ from 6pm in the Moses Press Association. will run twice a day on the above Room in the House of Lords. Prince For more details visit 30 October dates – from 12.30pm to 2.30pm Turki formerly served as the ambas- www.una.org.uk or call Mark UNA OXFORD and from 8pm to 10pm – and will sador of Saudi Arabia to the UK and Rusling on 020 7766 3459. Dr Maung Zarni, a visiting re- be held at 11 Wilberforce House, to the US. Lord Sheikh will be in the search fellow at the Department 119 Worple Road, London SW20. chair. Admission is free but prior reg- 25 October of International Development at Contact: Alison Williams istration is required. UNA CROYDON the University of Oxford, will on 020 8944 0574 or Contact: David Wardrop on To celebrate One World Week, speak from 12.45pm to 1.40pm [email protected] 020 7385 6738 or UNA London & South-East Region at Wesley Memorial Church Hall, [email protected] and Croydon One World are New Inn Hall Street, Oxford. The 6 November teaming up to hold a community topic of the talk is ‘How to pro- UNA ENFIELD & THE BARNETS 24 October (UN Day) art exhibition at the Hilton Hotel, mote democracy in other places – In partnership with the Palmers UNA MID-CORNWALL Croydon (adjacent to East what policy towards less free soci- Green Mosque, the branch is organ- At 10am at County Hall, branch Croydon station). The exhibition eties?’. Refreshments will be on ising a discussion on climate change. members will participate in a UN will be followed by the Bernard sale from 12.20pm. Speakers will include representatives flag-raising ceremony led by a Weatherill Memorial Lecture at Contact: Margaret Stanton from environmental organisations council representative. 6.30pm. The speaker will be Sir on 01865 515 195 Three Seas and the Islamic Contact: Barbara Smith Sigmund Sternberg, British phi- Foundation for Ecology and on 0172 667 117 or lanthropist and businessman. 4 November Environment Sciences. The event will [email protected]; Contact: Bruce Robertson UNA CLEVELAND begin at 8pm at the Palmers Green or Joy McMullen on 020 8983 4215 or The branch will host an inter- Mosque, Oakthorpe Road N13. on 0172 674 581 or [email protected] faith service at 3pm in the Contact: Francis Sealey [email protected] Friends Meeting House, on 020 8482 4258 or 27 October Cambridge Road, [email protected] UNA SUNDERLAND UNA SOUTH LAKELAND & Middlesbrough. This will be an The UN Day flag-raising ceremony LANCASTER CITY opportunity to meet with follow- 10 November will take place at 10am outside The branch will be holding a con- ers of eight major world faiths UNA SHEFFIELD the Civic Centre in Sunderland. ference to mark One World Week. and others interested in building The branch will have a UNA stall at Contact: Ken Kay on The event will run from 10.45am good relations among people of the peace and craft fair at Sheffield 01913 886 058 to 3.45pm at the United Reformed different religions. Refreshments Town Hall between 10.30am and or [email protected] Church, Highgate, Kendal. The will be served after the service. 4pm. Please visit to show support. conference will include workshops Contact: Richard Stainsby on Contact: Elizabeth Coates UNA EXETER and talks by Tim Kellow, UNA-UK 01642 722 589 or on 01142 377 583 The branch’s UN Day flag-raising cer- John Bright Peace & Security [email protected]; emony will be held at 10.30am at Programme Officer, and Maggie or Irene MacDonald on UNA LONDON & SE REGION County Hall in Exeter and led by Mason, Chair of South Lakeland 01642 722 262 or The region’s AGM will be held at Devon County Councillor Brenda World Development Movement. [email protected] 1.30pm at Central Baptist Church, Taylor. Attendance is free. A buffet lunch Shaftesbury Avenue (junction with Contact: Noel Harrower on and refreshments can be provided UNA MID-CORNWALL Gower Street). Tony Colman, the 01395 271 731 or for £5 but must be booked in ad- An interfaith service will be held outgoing president of the region, [email protected] vance. at 3pm at the Chapter House, will give a speech on ‘New Contact: Luckshan Abeysuriya Truro. There will be readings Approaches to Peacekeeping’. UNA SHEFFIELD on 01539 532 961 or from representatives of all the Natalie Wease, UK youth delegate Members of the branch will be [email protected] major faiths, interspersed with to the UN, will also speak. The com- leafleting outside Sheffield Town music. mittee is keen for each branch in the Hall between 12.30pm and 28 October Contact: Barbara Smith region to send a representative. 1.30pm to draw attention to the UNA SUNDERLAND on 0172 667 117 or Refreshments will be served but flying of the UN flag. Would you The branch’s UN service will be [email protected]; lunch will not be provided. like to help? attended by the mayor and may- or Joy McMullen Contact: Bruce Robertson Contact: Elizabeth Coates on oress of Sunderland. It will take on 0172 674 581 or on 020 8983 4215 or 01142 377 583 place at 10.45am at West Park [email protected] [email protected]
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WE THE PEOPLES: SECOND ANNUAL UN FILM FESTIVAL 29 November to 2 December
Brought to you by the Westminster branch of UNA-UK
We the Peoples looks to showcase the best documentaries on the UN. This year the spotlight will be on tackling the challenges of the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a series of eight targets the world has agreed to meet by 2015 in order to reduce poverty and improve health, equality, education and environmental sustainability. The films to feature in the festival come from across the world and the UK, and include productions by the UN, inter- national development agencies and independent producers. The main event – comprising five screenings of five films on the MDGs – will be hosted by South Bank's National Film Theatre over the weekend of 1-2 December. Each ses- sion will be followed by a Q&A with film producers and field specialists. Other screenings are planned for different locations around London.
Image from the film ‘Villages on the Front Line: Jordan’, to be shown at the We the Peoples For times, ticket information and further details of the film festival. The film was made by IFAD to mark the UN’s International Year of Deserts and Desertification. It features innovative uses of land and water that help protect the environ- films to be shown, visit the film festival’s dedicated web- ment and improve the livelihoods of the poorest farmers. site at www.wethepeoples.org.uk
12 November date on the MDGs and the 'hidden Contact: Francis Sealey UNA ENFIELD & THE BARNETS successes' of the UN in the econom- on 020 8482 4258 or UNA-UK branches, regions Karl Ruge, a branch member, will be ic and development sectors. The [email protected] and nations wishing to talking about his life. Born in event will take place at 8pm at The publicise events in New Germany, Karl was active in the anti- Cottages, Church Lane, Charlbury, 29 November World should ensure that Hitler movement. He subsequently Oxfordshire. UNA MID-CORNWALL the information submitted moved to England, joined the British Contact: Malcolm Harper At this branch meeting County is accurate, clear and army, and has since been an active on 01608 810 464 or Councillor Doris Ansari will give complete. Events listings figure in local politics. The meeting [email protected] a talk entitled ‘A Cornish County must include the following will take place at 8pm at 7 Park Councillor in Russia’ at 7pm at points of information: Avenue, London N13 5PG. 19 November the Friends Meeting House, Contact: Francis Sealey on 020 8482 UNA SHEFFIELD Truro. • Title/purpose of 4258 or [email protected] Keiko Miyamoto from the Contact: Barbara Smith the event Hiroshima Peace Memorial on 0172 667 117 or • Start and end times 13 November Museum will give an informal talk [email protected]; • Venue details UNA OXFORD from 2pm to 4pm at 10 or Joy McMullen • Contact point (full Professor Sir Adam Roberts, Dalebrook Court, Sheffield. on 0172 674 581 or name, telephone Montague Burton Chair of Contact: Elizabeth Coates [email protected] number, e-mail address International Relations at the on 01142 377 583 and, where applicable, University of Oxford and President of 10 December web address) UNA Oxford, will deliver the Evan 21 November UNA TUNBRIDGE WELLS Luard Memorial Lecture. The title of UNA ENFIELD & THE BARNETS The branch will host a public meet- Events listings should be his speech is 'Guantánamo Bay and This branch meeting will focus ing on children and human rights at sent to All That'. The event will be held on human trafficking. Speakers 7.30pm in the upstairs room of the [email protected] or from 1pm to 2pm at the Long will include representatives from Friends Meeting House, Grosvenor UNA-UK, 3 Whitehall Room, Oxford Town Hall, St Aldate’s. Stop Human Trafficking and Park. A representative from Court, London SW1A 2EL. Contact: Margaret Stanton on Anti-Slavery International. The Barnado’s Chilston Project in 01865 515 195 event will take place from Tunbridge Wells will speak. All are UNA-UK takes no respon- 6.30pm to 9pm in the Wilson welcome and refreshments will be sibility for the events 14 November Room, Portcullis House, London, available. and/or campaigns organ- UNA WEST OXFORDSHIRE and is being hosted by David Contact: Dr Alan Bullion on ised by UNA-UK branches, Former UNA-UK Chair Sir Richard Burrowes MP. Prior registration is 01892 549871, 07840 854328 or regions or nations. Jolly will speak about progress to essential. [email protected]
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awareness of the daily trek that International Alert. The confer- Linklaters, 1 Silk Street, London. the children of North Uganda ence is taking place in commit- Guest speakers will include Lord have to make to avoid abduc- tee room 4 in the House of Brett of the International Labour tion or death in conflict. The Lords and will begin at 2pm. Organization and Deborah Foy, walk will begin at 1pm at Aston Registration is essential as capac- Programme Development What else is University, and will finish at the ity is limited. Manager of Opportunity Safari Bar and Restaurant, To register and for further infor- International UK. The registra- going on? 256 Great Lister Street, mation, please write to Frank tion fee is £15 (£10 for UNIFEM Birmingham B7 4DA. Jackson, 11 Kingsmoor Road, members) and refreshments will For further details, visit Harlow, Essex CM19 4HP be provided. JUBILEE DEBT CAMPAIGN www.refugeecouncil.org.uk or or e-mail him at To register, please send a cheque 14-20 October is Global Debt contact Rachel Toussaint [email protected] made out to 'UNIFEM UK' with Week. Jubilee Debt Campaign on 01213 333 208 your name and contact details will be asking supporters to take or [email protected] AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL UK to UNIFEM UK, Southlands part in a variety of events, such Clive Stafford Smith, a College (Room QB149A), as ‘Lift the Lid’ lobby day on 19 ONE WORLD WEEK renowned human rights lawyer, Roehampton University, October, to highlight the prob- 21-28 is One World Week will deliver this year’s Amnesty Roehampton Lane, lem of unpayable and unfair (OWW), an annual chance for Lecture. The lecture, to be held London SW15 5PU. debts in the run-up to the annu- people to take action in support at 6.30pm on 2 November, will For further details, please visit al meetings of the World Bank of global justice. Everyone is be based on his book Bad Men: www.unifemuk.org/events and IMF. welcome to take part. You can Guantánamo Bay and the Secret For more information, please visit organise events independently Prisons. The event will be held at MOVEMENT FOR THE www.jubileedebtcampaign.org.uk or with local OWW contacts. Elmwood Hall, University Road, ABOLITION OF WAR (MAW) Visit www.oneworldweek.org to Belfast. Tickets cost £10. On 11 November Helena GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT find out about local OWW For further information, please Kennedy QC will give a talk enti- FORUM events planned in your area. visit www.amnesty.org.uk/events tled ‘Law not War’. The talk will In October the Global For further details, please e-mail begin at 2pm at the Imperial Development Forum will be [email protected] WOMEN'S INTERNATIONAL War Museum, Lambeth Road, hosting a series of debates: 17 or visit www.oneworldweek.org LEAGUE FOR PEACE AND London. The event is free but October: ‘Relief versus FREEDOM (WILPF) (UK) prior booking is advised. Development'; 24 October: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL UK On 3 November WILPF UK will For tickets, please write to ‘Europe needs its own policy on ‘Tsotsi’ is an Oscar-winning film hold a seminar entitled 'The en- [email protected] or MAW, 11 the UN separate from the US'; depicting the life of a young vironmental consequences of Venetia Road, London N4 1EJ. 30 October: 'Global warming: is Johannesburg gang leader and war and corporate power – a it too late to save the poorest of the responsibilities he faces as woman's perspective'. The event LONDON SCHOOL OF the world?' Speakers will include he tries to care for a baby. The will take place from 10am to ECONOMICS Lord Malloch-Brown, Minister screening, on 23 October, will 5pm at Essex Hall, Essex Street, At 6.30pm on 15 November for Africa, Asia and the UN; begin at 6.30pm at the Amnesty London. Speakers will include Lord Malloch-Brown, Minister Peter Ritchie from Chatham Human Rights Action Centre, Edel Havin Beukes of WILPF and for Africa, Asia and the UN and House; and Professor Paul Collier 17-25 New Inn Yard, London Kate Hudson, Chair of the former Deputy Secretary-General from the Oxford University EC2A 3EA. There will be a Q&A Campaign for Nuclear of the United Nations, will give a Centre for the Study of African session afterwards. Entrance is Disarmament. The seminar will lecture. The event will be held at Economies. The events will take free but booking is essential. feature workshops on a variety the Old Theatre, LSE, Houghton place at 7pm at St James’s The film is rated Cert 15; proof of subjects, including nuclear Street, London. The event is free Church, Piccadilly, London W1. of age may be requested. power, the Women's Manifesto and open to all but it is neces- Tickets are £8 and should be For further information and to on Climate Change and the en- sary to book a ticket. booked in advance. A limited book, please visit vironmental implications of the For further information and tick- number of tickets can be bought www.amnesty.org.uk/events arms trade. Drinks and light re- et booking, please visit for £5 on the door but availabili- freshments will be available, as www.lse.ac.uk/collections/LSEpu ty cannot be guaranteed. WORLD DISARMAMENT will a vegetarian lunch for bliclecturesandevents or e-mail For further information and to CAMPAIGN £4.50. The entrance fee is £5 [email protected] book, please visit www.global- On 29 October, the World (£3 concession). Booking in ad- development-forum.org or con- Disarmament Campaign will vance is advised. WOMEN'S ADVISORY tact Benny Dembitzer on direc- hold its annual conference. The For further details, visit COUNCIL OF UNA-UK tor@global-development- conference will cover global se- www.ukwilpf.org.uk WAC's AGM is being held on 5 forum.org curity, new superpowers and cli- December from 2pm to 4pm at mate change. Speakers include UNIFEM UK County Hall Westminster. REFUGEE COUNCIL Glyn Ford, MEP; John Gittings, On 6 November UNIFEM UK is Speakers to be confirmed. In this ‘Guluwalk’ on 20 October former chief foreign leader- holding a conference on Contact: Suzanne Long participants will walk for 6 miles writer for the Guardian; and ‘Women and Work’. The event on 020 7328 5365 around Birmingham to raise Dan Smith, Secretary General of will run from 6pm to 8.30pm at or [email protected]
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UNA-UK’s Extraordinary latter proposals were discussed at a spe- dorsed by the Board. If these recom- General Meeting on 27 cial informal session in the margins of mendations are passed, UNA-UK will November 2007 Annual Conference, and received wide- review the subsequent operation of the spread support there. The Board has Board no later than five years from the The UNA-UK Board subsequently made some modifications date of the EGM, to determine whether of Directors estab- to the proposals following those and fur- any adjustments or further changes are lished an effectiveness ther consultations, and is putting these desirable. review panel just over proposals to an EGM on 27 November I hope that as many of you as possible a year ago. I am most 2007, so that, if agreed at that meeting, will attend the EGM in London on 27 grateful to Thelma de they can take effect prior to the start of November, or will send in your proxy Leeuw, who chaired the panel, and to the 2007-08 cycle of elections. votes if you cannot attend, and thus con- the other panel members, for their valu- Full details of the proposals can be tribute to what I believe are important able contributions to this process. The found in the EGM notice inserted in steps to improve the working of UNA- review produced a series of recommen- this issue of New World. The notice UK. I am convinced myself that they dations aimed at improving the work of contains two Special Resolutions. The will make a real difference, and for the the Board and the governance of UNA- first would amend the company’s better. UK. The Board implemented those de- Articles of Association to provide for cisions it could take under its own au- proxy voting, a legal requirement of the thority, such as making public the min- Companies Act 2006. The second utes of its meetings. Others required would alter the composition of the wider consultation, such as the proposal Board of Directors, as well as the term to reduce the size of the Board while re- limits and terms of office of Directors, in taining its representative nature. These line with the recommendations en- Lord Hannay of Chiswick
British Association of Former United Nations Civil Servants (BAFUNCS)
Are you a former UN employee? and staff health insurance matters, and Serving United Nations system staff Then join BAFUNCS! advises on general and individual wel- may also join. fare support questions. All BAFUNCS BAFUNCS provides a means of keeping members receive a newsletter in March For more information write to in touch with your former colleagues and September. BAFUNCS , 6 The Lawn, Ealing Green and enjoying the fellowship of others London W5 5ER, or e-mail who worked in the UN system. In addi- Even if you have not worked for the [email protected] tion to organising social events, United Nations, but support its ideals, you BAFUNCS keeps a brief on UN pension can become an Associate Member. http://bafuncs.imo.org
tion tin wrappers (and of course tins!), information leaflets and offi- Flag Day 2007-08 cial collection receipt cards. An order form has been sent to all branch secretaries. Over the last year, UNA-UK This money has made a real dif- Nick Branson, a volunteer at members raised a re- ference to the lives of some of the UNA-UK head office, is available markable £12,861 for world’s poorest children. In addi- on Wednesdays and Fridays for the UNICEF as part of tion, members and branches have next six months if you have any the joint raised more than £30,000 during questions about the materials UNICEF/UNA the last 12 months to support the available. Trust Flag work of the UNA Trust – educating Nick can be reached on Day ap- about the United Nations and con- 020 7766 3448 or [email protected] peal. tributing to the work of UNA-UK However, if you are from a branch in and various UN agencies. London and South-East region you With your help we can raise even should instead contact Peter Webster, more money this year! A number of the regional treasurer. He can be branches have started using the reached at 30 Culverhouse Gardens, new materials available from London SW16 2TX, UNA-UK head office. We have [email protected] new sashes, stickers, collec- or 020 8769 5095. un 2.qxp:Layout 1 10/10/07 20:12 Page 29
Timetable
1 December 2007: DEADLINE for submission of policy UNA-UK Annual Conference 2008 issues and domestic motions for Annual Conference 2008 by branches, regions, affiliates, the UNA-UK Board, and groups of six members DEADLINE for submission of nomination forms for elections to the UNA-UK Board of Directors and the UNA Trust
14 December 2007 Meeting of the Procedure Committee to process submissions, followed by the compiling of submissions by UNA-UK staff into a draft policy document and a draft domestic motions document
25 January 2008 Annual Conference 2008 preliminary This year’s Annual Conference will policy positions, should also be no more agenda to be sent out (to include the take place at Exeter University on 28-30 than 150 words. In order to be admissi- draft policy and domestic motions March 2008. Every member of UNA-UK ble, those motions carrying financial im- documents and request for is encouraged to attend and take part in plications for UNA-UK must be accom- comments/amendments) our policy-making process. It should be a panied by a schedule indicating how the fun and informative event, with free UN proposals will be funded. 2 February 2008 resources, films and a high-level speaker. Meeting of the UNA-UK Board of Booking Directors Policy formulation Use the form enclosed with this New 18 February 2008 Following the successful trial of new pro- World to register for the conference. Deadline for submission of cedures at Annual Conference 2007 at Book before 31 January 2008 to avoid comments/amendments (to be no Warwick University, the Procedure the 10 per cent late booking fee. more than 150 words) Committee is again asking branches, re- gions, affiliates, and the UNA-UK Board Elections to the UNA-UK Board 22 February 2008 to submit, instead of formal motions, up and the UNA Trust Meeting of the Procedure Committee to five 'policy issues' of no more than 150 words. Policy issues can contain the Have you thought of standing for elec- 14 March 2008 same substance as traditional motions – tion to the UNA-UK Board of Directors Annual Conference 2008 final agenda e.g. specifics of what UNA-UK would or to the UNA Trust? Now is your to be sent out like the UK government to undertake in chance! Each year members are elected to relation to an aspect of the UN's work – serve as directors of the UNA-UK Board, 28-30 March 2008 or they can express a more general con- and one member is elected a trustee of Annual Conference 2008 at Exeter cern about a topical issue – e.g. a civil the UNA Trust. University war in a specific country. Please note that those elected assume the legal responsibilities and potential fi- Example of a policy issue submission: nancial liabilities that arise from taking Our branch commends the efforts of Ibrahim on these positions. Gambari, the UN special envoy to Burma, to UNA-UK seeks continuous improve- broker an agreement between the government ments to its governance practices. UNA- returned to the Executive Director at and opposition in that country. We urge the UK members with experience on other UNA-UK’s offices no later than 1 British government to put pressure on the au- boards and trusts are therefore encour- December 2007. thorities in that country to cooperate with a UN- aged to apply. Ballot papers will be sent out with the led reconciliation and democratisation process. Nomination forms can be downloaded January-March 2008 issue of New from the UNA-UK website or requested World. The names of the directors and Domestic Motions from Natalie Samarasinghe by e-mail on the trustee subsequently elected will be [email protected] or by tele- announced at the UNA-UK AGM on 28 Domestic motions, which concern the phone on 020 7766 3457. March 2008, and they will begin their work of UNA-UK rather than its public Completed nomination forms must be terms of office from that date.
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Over the relatively quiet (and rainy!) sum- The YPN website will be evolving over mer months, the YPN Steering the next few months to include more in- Committee has been busy planning the formation about our work – and that of Expanding network’s programme for the coming year. the UN – in peace, justice and sustain- Building on the success of our work able development, as well as careers re- numbers and around sustainable development, we will sources and details of upcoming events. be launching new projects in the network’s We will also be creating an online ‘mem- horizons point to other two main areas of interest – peace bers’ corner’ for posting articles by YPN and justice. members. If you are interested in writing a busy year ahead But it is not just our activities that are an article for the YPN website, or if you expanding: the network’s membership has have any questions, comments or sugges- also grown significantly in 2007, from tions, then write to me at 900 in January to around 1,400 in [email protected] September. We have been approached by Tim Kellow a number of interesting organisations which are keen to collaborate with us.
YPN launches ‘Working for Peace’ initiative with exclusive screening of Darfur film
On the evening of 24 October, Marine Captain Brian Steidle. UN Day, the YPN will be holding the Unprepared for the scenes he encoun- first event in its new strand of activities tered and frustrated by the internation- entitled ‘Working for Peace’: a screening al community’s inaction, Steidle re- of the award-winning ‘The Devil Came signed from his post as a monitor of on Horseback’. the Darfur Peace Agreement and re- Through speaker events, film screen- turned to the US to raise awareness ings and online resources, the Working about the situation in the fraught for Peace initiative seeks to foster a wider Sudanese region. understanding of the realities and com- The screening will be followed by a plexities of living and working in a con- discussion with one of the film’s makers flict-affected country. and a leading campaigner on Darfur. The Over the next few months, YPN will event will take place at the Frontline also be taking forward the Working for Club in central London. Peace blog mentioned in the July- To find out more about the film and September 2007 issue of New World, ini- to register to attend this screening, visit tially through links to existing blogs by the YPN website at www.una.org.uk/ypn individuals living and working in conflict zones. The Devil Came on Horseback – a Break ‘The Devil Came on Horseback’ is a Thru Films production in association powerful account of the tragedy in with Global Grassroots and Three Darfur, documented through the pho- Generations – is a film by Annie tographs and first-hand testimony of an Sundberg and Ricki Stern. official military observer, former US Young Professionals Network Young YPN
Left: Brian Steidle with refugee children in Chad. Photo © Gretchen Steidle Wallace Right: The village of Um Zeifa, Darfur. Photo © Leo Buurman
30 | NEW WORLD | Autumn 2007 | YPN un 2.qxp:Layout 1 11/10/07 11:28 Page 31 Crisis Action © Photos
Elle Macpherson Matt Damon Don Cheadle
Young professionals take action on Darfur – and the government listens!
Desmond Tutu
On 16 September, YPN members blind eye to the atrocities as they convened Annan’s deputy at the United Nations. All took part in a rally calling on the UK gov- at the UN in New York for the annual high- our efforts on Darfur need public support. ernment to take the lead in pushing for the level segment of the General Assembly. We need to be able to say that people are rapid deployment of a UN peacekeeping To mark the day in the UK, a rally of turning out in London, in Washington, in force to the Darfur region of Sudan. around 1,200 people began outside the Paris, in Johannesburg, all over the world, The event was one of many held around Sudanese embassy before moving on to to protest what is happening in Darfur.” the world to mark the Day for Darfur – a Downing Street. Several high-profile speak- day of action to bring attention to the on- ers addressed the rally, among them Lord The Day for Darfur attracted significant going conflict, which has killed over Malloch-Brown, Minister for Africa, Asia celebrity support, with high-profile ac- 200,000 people and displaced at least two and the UN; Andrew Mitchell MP,Shadow tors and musicians lending their names million. The day of action, the fourth of its International Development Secretary; and to the initiative. ‘Living Darfur’, a sin- kind, was organised by Globe for Darfur, several Darfuri survivors. gle by music group Mattafix, was re- an international coalition of NGOs of Lord Malloch-Brown applauded the leased to coincide with the day. Its which UNA-UK is a member, formed in crowd’s efforts, saying: video, filmed in IDP camps on the response to the weak international ap- Chad-Darfur border, can be accessed via proach to the crisis. “So while it seems difficult to come out www.una.org.uk/protectdarfur.html. The central message of the day, which was every year to these demonstrations, it’s really Here you will also find a host of other marked in over 30 countries worldwide, was important that you do it. And I say that not resources, including a letter of advice 'don't look away now'. Participants wore just as a British Foreign Office minister, but from Senator Romeo Dallaire to the blindfolds to tell world leaders not to turn a as someone who was previously Kofi new AU force commander in Darfur.
To join the network and keep informed about its
Photos © UNA-UK/Tim Kellow activities, sign up at www.una.org.uk/ypn
and you will receive our monthly YPN newsletter.
Left:: FCO Minister Lord Malloch-Brown addresses the rally. Right: Crowd calls on the world to fulfil its responsibility to protect.
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I hope all UNYSA members have on what the UK government should do enjoyed the summer. I would like to send to achieve a specific Millennium particularly warm greetings to the new Development Goal. The proposals will be branches at King’s College London and judged by an expert panel, and the win- Aberystwyth, Durham, Nottingham, ning teams will be recognised at a presti- Welcome from Queen’s University Belfast, and London gious event in spring 2008. South Bank universities. Details of all of our upcoming initia- the President As President of UNYSA’s Youth tives will be posted on the website: Council this year, I wanted to update you www.una.org.uk/youth on some of our plans for 2007-08. One Best wishes for a successful year! exciting example is the MDG Challenge, which will be open to all UK university Luke Harman students. We will be asking teams of stu- dents to research and develop proposals
Model UN, Ghana-style
This summer UNA-UK invited about international affairs with the oppor- applications from UNYSA members for a six- tunity to learn and develop computer week volunteer opportunity in Ghana, the skills. Provided with a fully equipped train- purpose of the placement being to help local ing room, I was instructed to organise five NGO Life-Link prepare for its major annual weeks of lessons, teaching 135 students Model UN conference on UN Day. In July, each week. the successful applicant, Avnish Raichura, I started by introducing students to travelled to Ghana with UNA-UK typing General Assembly resolutions. Campaigns & Education Officer Mark There was a real range of experience with Rusling. Avnish stayed for six weeks in Tema, computers: a few students were well- a town located 30 miles from the capital, versed in Microsoft Word, whereas others Accra. There, he helped train the junior high had never touched a keyboard. We school students who were to be delegates in moved on to using the internet to re- the conference, teaching them all there is to search countries and then presenting the know about Model UN. Here he describes his findings to the rest of the class. work in Ghana. Improving the students’ public speaking abilities was another objective – after My excitement was beyond control using their IT know-how to research one when Mark called and said: “So, how of the UN’s principal organs, would you like to spend this summer in they were Ghana?” I had been selected by UNA-UK to travel to the country to teach students aged 11-15 about the UN system and to train them to take part in a junior high school Model UN conference. Life-Link Ghana is the excellent organisation responsible for this Model UN event; its primary ob- jective is to educate chil- dren about global issues, with a particular emphasis United Nations Youth and Association Student Youth United Nations UNYSA on the UN. But Life-Link also aims to use Model UN to impart key transferable skills to participants. That is why Life-Link Director Ernest Gyimah Danquah – an IT ex- pert – asked me to plan lessons that would combine teaching
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then asked to give a PowerPoint presenta- tionally, with an average pass mark of 87 per For helping to make my stay in Ghana tion about the body’s functions and pur- cent! so stimulating, and for their extraordi- poses. I was inspired by the enthusiasm and nary hospitality, I would to thank Ernest The theme of the Model UN conference commitment of the students in Ghana. I Gyimah Danquah, Gerald Adu Yaw was the Millennium Development Goals. have come away from that experience a Appau, and everyone at Life-Link Ghana. The MDGs were introduced in an informal firm believer in Model UN as a life-chang- setting so that students learned the skill of ing activity and an effective learning tool. If you would like to know more about Life- unmoderated caucusing. After four weeks of It encourages students to consider other Link’s work, visit www.lifelinkghana.com teaching, I set the students a test covering all viewpoints before forming opinions; it or e-mail Mark Rusling on aspects of the programme. To my great teaches them that disputes are better solved [email protected]
pleasure, all the students performed excep- with words than with weapons.
Photos Photos
© UNA-UK/Mark Rusling UNA-UK/Mark
Avnish Raichura, President of Leeds UNYSA, working with Model UN students in Tema, Ghana
Top tip from Mark Rusling, UNA-UK Campaigns & Education Officer
Part of my job is to try to ensure that, when you move on and your university e- once a UNYSA branch is set up, it mail account expires, we can still keep in does not fall apart when the members touch with the UNYSA! of its committee graduate from univer- So if you haven’t set up a dedicated sity. e-mail account, I urge you to do so. You can help me by setting up a dedi- If you have, then make sure I know about cated e-mail account for your UNYSA it. You can e-mail me on and passing it on to your successor com- [email protected] mittee when you leave uni. Many branches already do this – it means that, Thanks!
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Cambridge University Brittany Krupica, President
During freshers week we will be hand- ing out loads of information about the UN and CUUNA, and those who join UNYSA at the fair will get a copy of New representatives World. In October a social event will be held to welcome new and existing share their plans members, and on UN Day we are pleased to welcome Sir Brian Heap as a guest speaker. We will also be advertising our for freshers fairs much anticipated CUUNA Study Tour to Geneva in April 2008.
Oxford University Dex Torricke-Barton, Chair
We are hosting our inaugural Robin Cook Memorial Debate on 10 October. Our speakers will be Lord Malloch-Brown, Minister for Africa, Asia and the UN; John Horam MP; and Baroness Tonge. We will also be holding an 'Introduction to Model UN' event, and a drinks social at the famous QI Bar.
Leeds University Stefanie Zammit, Vice-President
We will be around campus all freshers week handing out UNA-UK goodies and re- leasing UNYSA helium balloons with messages of peace. (We will be taking steps to limit the impact of the balloons on the environment – at Leeds UNYSA, we believe in having fun with a conscience!)
Leicester University Chris Levick, Vice-Chair
Last year we were voted 'best newcomer student group' by the students' union. This year we want to build on this success and hope to attract new members during fresh- ers week with our UN club night – maybe we’ll call it 'Boogie with Ban'!
Warwick University Stoil Topalov, President The UN Youth and Student For our first freshers fair, we want Association (UNYSA) is the youth to create a good impression. wing of UNA-UK, with societies We have already put posters and and groups at universities and UN flags all around campus and schools around the country. we are hoping to secure exclusive use of one of the university bars Would you like to join UNYSA or for UN-themed drinks and set up a UNYSA group at your dancing for our members! school or university?
Visit www.una.org.uk/youth for more information
JOIN UNA-UK TODAY! UNITED NATIONS ASSOCIATION OF THE UK, 3 Whitehall Court, London SW1A 2EL • Tel: 020 7766 3456 • Fax: 020 7930 5893 Membership costs £25 (£12 unwaged) per year or £35 (£14 unwaged) for two people at one address. For students and young people (under 26), the cost is £6 per year.
Name: ______E-mail: ______Address: ______ I enclose a cheque made payable to UNA-UK for ______ Please charge my credit / debit card the amount of ______Card Number ______Exp Date ______Issue Number (Switch only) ______Valid From Date ______Signature ______Date ______ I would like to set up a Direct Debit. Please send me a form. Please feel free to photocopy this form if you do not want to cut it out of the magazine. You can also join online at www.una.org.uk un 2.qxp:Layout 1 10/10/07 20:13 Page 35
51% Order your goes to the UNA Christmas and TRUST! holiday cards online and raise money for the UNA Trust!
The UNA Trust has teamed up with Studio51 to offer you a wide range of cards. Prices start at just £3.99 for 20 – and the UNA Trust will receive 51 pence for every pound you spend! All cards come supplied with stickers printed with the UNA Trust logo.
To order: Visit www.studio51.com Select UNA Trust from the charity search list Choose your cards and pay online or by cheque Cards will be delivered to you by first-class post within a few days. Studio51 guarantees that you will be refunded for the price of the cards if you are not satisfied.
Please support the UNA Trust, at no extra cost to you, by sending your family and friends greeting cards bought from www.studio51.com UNAUNA-UK TRUST
UNA Trust is an independent charity, registered in England (charity number 256236), which traditionally supports the educational work of UNA-UK. By supporting the UNA Trust, you will help UNA-UK raise awareness about the vital work of the United Nations, building public support in the UK for sustainable development, environmental protection, gender equality, human rights, the peaceful resolution of conflict, and the maintenance of international law. un 2.qxp:Layout 1 10/10/07 20:13 Page 36
see www.una.org.uk for further details UNA-UK