Brahma Kumaris at United Nations

On Day One of the Informal Interactive Hearings between the General Assembly representing countries and the Civil Community representing the worlds peoples, the Secretary General Ban Ki Moon addressed the gathering saying that “The voices of those most affected by MDGs must be heard if we are to achieve our promise. Vision has the power to inspire us to achieve the MDGs. With that vision we can discuss case studies, highlight best practices and suggest action oriented strategies for their achievement.

To receive important input as member states prepare for the MDG Summit in September 2010, it was asked that these informal interactive hearings with NGOs, civil societies and the private sector take place. The resolution in which this was based (A/RES/64/184) encourages Member States to actively participate in the hearings at the ambassadorial level in order to facilitate interaction between Member States, and the representatives of NGOs, civil society organisations and the Private sector. It was unfortunate to see such poor representation by Member States at this event.  The ‘reserved’ seating for NGOs was filled to capacity, the vast majority of the country seats remained empty. I counted maybe 20 out of 192 member states. The presentations and dialogues from these Hearings will be issued as an Assembly document, constituting a formal input into the political process leading to the Summit.

“You have already made a real different by mobilising international support and driving concrete initiatives to expand…. use your advocacy, help others keep their promises, focus on what works, promote leadership, emphasis accountability government and solidarity. I encourage a truly interactive dialogue and active participation.” Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon

The President of the General Assembly, in close consultation with the Task Force and using the recent report of the Secretary-General as guidance, established specific themes for the four sessions. The themes attempt to highlight key aspects of the Millennium Declaration and the MDGs, while also emphasizing the interrelated nature of the MDGs and the international development agenda more broadly. The four Themes were:

Thematic Session 1, Building a better tomorrow: local actions, national strategies and global structures

Thematic Session 2, Equal and inclusive partnerships: accountability in the fight against poverty

Thematic Session 3, Sustaining development and withstanding crises

Thematic Session 4, From voice to policy: 1660 days left

Reiterated in all the sessions, was the systemic problem of gender bias that NGOs civil societies and the private sector argued is a key problem to achieving the MDGs. Small communities, typically agrarian, and the majority of whom of women, are still consistently ignored by governments and donors. This reality was brought to light by a remarkable and beguiling speech from peasant farmer Constance Okollet from the Osukuru United Womens Network: “Climate change is destroying our villages. Now we have abnormal rain. It never used to rain in these months. Now the water takes the village away. Children are dying. Where are the next generation of strong women? I am a strong woman, so why do you give me corn flour? Why do you not help us to mobilise our own activities? We can do it. But we cannot do it alone.” Others following her said that governments and donors do listen, but if there is any criticism of policy, governments often backtrack, putting in place cumbersome bureaucratic systems making it impossible to move forward.  Nurgul Djanaeva from Forum of Womens NGOs of Kyrgyzstan said “In my country we just saw the destruction of an important institutional mechanism in less than a year. The National Gender Equality entity was moved from the Presidents Office to the Office of Immigration where it now has no state budget allocation. Gender equality entities are key to implementing the MDGs, if we are serious about it.” Countries where women are given the opportunity to open business or engage in economic activities, and where there is a high degree of female participation in politics have less poverty across the board. Reports from those representing global societies though, says that as people find strength and voice then the governments back down. This statistic that is repeatedly shown to affirm the need to involve women at all levels of project design, management, application and decision making if the MDGs are to be realised.

The Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University had three representatives attend the event. The Brahma Kumaris support the need to properly include the voices of all peoples, if the MDGs are to be realised. The systemic issues of gender (discrimination) and access (to health, education and food) were highlighted during the sessions. And the process of analysing and attempting to resolve complex issues, is likely to reveal systemic problems. We suggest that a powerful element of the structural difficulties hindering the MDGs is an awareness based solely on a physical paradigm of difference. The heart of any change, whether at the level of personal life, family relationships or government policy, is that of awareness. Our awareness of others as being part of global family brings the problems to light, and an awareness of others as different, therefore Other and therefore of inherently less importance, blocks the resolution of the problems. If we treat the worlds peoples as if they are our family members, our approach becomes collective, inclusive and productive. It is unfortunate that often this is still seen as the ’soft approach’ despite the failure of other approaches to solve the worlds greatest problems, and despite the increasing body of scientific research, particularly in the field of health, that identifies and affirms the impact of attitudes and behaviour on patient outcomes, therefore impact directly on cost. If it works in health, it must apply to other spheres of fundamental human existence.

Presenters over the two days, from all forms of NGOs and sectors of civil society and the private sphere conch that there must be a greater voice for civil society in order to achieve the MDGs. That the reason we are here at the UN is to remind policy makers of the core tenets of human rights - remove discrimination. A gender balance is crucial to implementation of MDGs. Any attempt to alleviate poverty and achieve sustainability must focus on the underlying problem of gender issues.”

Conventional wisdom does not constitute conventional policy… and we have yet to see adequate investment in MDGs that would deliver this conventional wisdom.” Charlotte Bunch

Tamasin

Yesterday, Tamasin, Kymberly and I went to a wonderful concert held in the UN General Assembly which was a celebration of the 65th Anniversary of the End of World War II.  It was sponsored by the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the UN on behalf of the participants to the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).  The concert consisted of the inspiring and excellent performances of the CIS Youth Symphony Orchestra conducted by Vladimir Spivakov, with solos by Denis Matsuev (piano) and Alevtina Yarovaya (soprano).  The Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon opened the evening followed by the Under-Secretary General of DPI and then the Ambassador of the Russian Federation.

The young people were absolutely wonderful, each one excellent and playing his/her part in the whole.  The orchestra seemed to dance and sway, surge and settle, soar and swoop, and the amazing conductor lead the dance as his ‘children’ followed his every move.  I finally understood why these conductors are called Maestros!  After a rousing and joyous finale where the audience were inspired to stand and applaud, with bows and flowers all round, an old soldier covered with medals got up on stage and bowed and blew kisses to the audience with tears running down his face.

The UN was founded, after the Second World War, with aim to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war . . . to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbors and to unite our strength to maintain international peace and security . . . this evening was a reminder our our collective aim, and how we have to keep perusing our goal.

Julia

Today I attended the launch of Global Voices, an exhibition by “What moves you? of photographs and oral histories that transformed a drab construction fence into a vibrant expression of civil society views on the UN’s Millennium Goals to eradicate poverty, achieve universal primary education, and protect the environment.  What moves you?  is an initiative which our friend and UN colleague, Shamina de Gonzaga co-founded.  Shamina is also part of our Call-or-the-Time network.

We met our city officials, including Councilman Dan Garodnick, and environmental leaders.  We learned about green initiatives.  Heard about how we need to push back NY State’s development plan that will imperil our water supply by allowing the gas industry to drill in the Watershed, and learned how to support our parks and green spaces.   It was very aptly held on a Wednesday when the Greenmarket comes to the park, so on a sunny if somewhat windy day UN people, families and their dogs filled the park.  I was very touched by the community feeling and inspired by how even though our city is big, even in Manhattan, there can be a sense of a neighborhood.  A wonderful group called “Friends of Dag Hammarskjold Plaza” were also there informing us how to volunteer our time and resources in helping the community’s long-term commitment to the parks preservation and upkeep. The Brahma Kumaris office is just off the park and we often walk through it on our way to and from the office and its natural elegance and community feeling is welcoming and refreshing.  In the summer we sometimes meditate as children play and adults amble on their way home.

Julia

Freedom of Religion or Belief - A forgotten pillar of social integration?

The NGO Committee on Freedom of Religion or Belief and the NGO Committee on Social Development hosted a panel discussion February 5 with the main presenter Dr. Brian Grim, Senior Researcher at the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. Also participating was Assa Karam, Senior Adviser at UNFPA and representatives from the Permanent Missions of India and Kenya, Mr Anupan Ray and Mr. John Mosoti, respectively.

The research for this presentation, entitled Global Restrictions on Religion, was documenting the number of restrictions to policy or advocacy in regards to religion in a country. It was stated that  the more restrictions to religion in a country, the more social hostilities increased.

Additionally most restrictions were felt by minorities in those countries and that 70% of the global community lived under ‘very high’ restrictions.

Assa Karam commented that there might be differences between religious groups in a country but there is also a long history of co-existence in most of the ‘restrictive’ countries.

A comment from the floor elicited the response that the questions were based on western questions and might not capture the religious methods of the East.

The Brahma Kumaris WSU is member of the NGO Committee of Freedom of Religion or Belief and participates in the open discussions for religious practice and belief.

Erik

The second meeting of the coalition was held at the Holy Cross retreat Centre outside of Melbourne, Australia in Templestowe, from December 1 to 3, 2009. The timing and the location of this meeting was planned to be connected to the Parliament of the World’s Religions to be held the following 6 days in Melbourne.The Coalition consists of over 40 NGO’s (non-governmental organizations) of which the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University is one.A progress report was presented by Dr. Gerardo Gonzalez, Executive Secretary. It had been hoped that this was to be a session to see what was to be done after the UN General Assembly approved the decade but as that did not happen in September the meeting was more for how to have the decade approved at the next United Nation General Assembly session.A key part of this meeting was to review how Coalition members could increase the visibility and promote the UN Decade during the Parliament of the World’s Religions.

Two presentations were held at the Parliament in afternoon workshops entitled “Feeding a Plan of Action for the UN Decade of Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogues, Understanding and Cooperation for Peace. ”

Erik

Exploring Inner Resources in the Context of Equal Participation and Shared Responsibility Between Women and Men”

At the United Nations, the Fifty-third session of the Commission on the Status of Women explored the theme “The equal sharing of responsibilities between women and men, including care giving in the context of HIV/AIDS.” From March 2nd to March 13th, delegates from both governmental and non-governmental sectors engaged in workshops, panels, discussions, and sessions with the general assembly to feedback on the work being done around the world relating to the theme.

The Brahma Kumaris explored the theme from the perspective of the utilization of one’s own “inner resources” in equal participation and shared responsibilities between men and women in a panel discussion.  The discussion drew upon the experiences of three accomplished young women from Mexico, Canada, and the USA.

The moderator for the panel was Paola Cubas, a researcher for OECD’s Global Project Measuring the Progress of Societies.  She effectively set the stage for inner resources as those values, virtues, principles and personal powers that help us to live our lives in a more effective and enjoyable way.

The first panelist was Abigail Uc, the General Director at the Institute for Developing Mayan Culture in the state of Yucatan, Mexico.  She was sent as a representative of the first female Governor of the Yucatan, thirty-six year old Ivonne Aracelly Ortega Pacheco.  In a country where those who occupy government seats are predominantly male, Abigail proudly, respectfully and with great care presented to us the governor’s vision for the present and future of the Yucatan and Mexico at large. The vision has been given the title New Citizen Majority in part because there is under-representation of women and youth, and it is the youth sector that represents over half of the population of Yucatan. Yucatan is seeing social, economic, and regional gaps that are dividng the country unlike any time before. The governor believes that women and youth can and will play an integral role in constructing social justice in the areas of health, education, and productivity.

Abigail’s presentation set a clear foundation for recognizing the need to use one’s inner resources in order to overcome social and political inequalities.

The next presenter was Erica Corbett, a researcher from Canada who spent several months in Africa working within the program Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV/AIDS. Erica’s research was to investigate male involvement in women’s reproductive health choices as a way to improve PMTCT outcomes.  There is a need to improve the knowledge and attitude of support men have about the program, HIV/AIDS, and the women who are participants in PMTCT.  There is great stigma in Africa surrounding HIV/AIDS and the men, women, and children who are infected.  The need for programs like PMTCT is very great. So, what is then equally as great is the need to gain interest from community members in participating in, and supporting this program.  On a personal note, Erica shared that what seems to gain participation and support in these programs is her own use of inner strength and the value that she has for her research and PMTCT. Erica conveyed that her commitment and value for her research and PMTCT helped create integrity for the program and trust from participants.

The final panelist was Nalishha Mehta, an International Trade Union Educator and Trainer from the USA, who shared a values based approach to the work she does at a local, national, and international level.  Through storytelling, Nalishha clearly demonstrated that a contrast exists between the roles we play as employees and the inner qualities or values that exist within each one of us that motivate us to take jobs or take on tasks. The first story was set in Nalishha’s office in Washington DC where stress and tension were growing over a period of time amongst her co-workers. She did an activity with them where she guided them to first identify the different roles that they play in their lives. Next, she instructed her co-workers to step back from the role and identify the quality that enabled them to play that role.  She finished by encouraging her co-workers to focus on that quality for the remainder of the day.  The feedback from her co-workers was filled with their own personal insights and appreciation for recognizing these inner qualities.

Nalishha then took us to Indonesia where she had a dialogue with the female employees on women’s leadership in the work place.  As far as their own ability and capacity to lead, the women felt that other women would accept them as leaders, but that the men would not. When Nalishha addressed the male employees, they disagreed and never saw woman’s leadership as an issue before. These dialogues continued between the men and women and the eventual outcome was that as the women - and men - began seeing the capacity for leadership within themselves and developed a healthy self-image, others became more willing to accept them as leaders in the workplace.

The final story that demonstrated this need to recognize and utilize our inner resources took us back to the recent Presidential Election in the USA.  Nalishha noted that during that time many people working in her office, and in Washington DC in general, were spending a lot of their own extra time; their physical and mental energy, on campaigning for the then president-elect Barack Obama.  These people identified so strongly with their role in the campaign that once the election was one, they lost their sense of purpose. Nalishha’s aim was to demonstrate that when we act at an external level, pulling from physical resources, then the success we achieve will only be short lived.  There is a need to pull from an internal level and use the inner resources that we have recognizing that these do not disapear when the task is done but that they have been strengthened through use and are now available to use for whatever elase we may want to accomplish in the future.  In fact these inner resources are an ongoing renewable resource and this brings the experience of true success.

After the panel discussion, the Brahma Kumaris ended the event with a reflection commentary that guided all who were present in the room to identify the quality, the value within them that brought them to be present at this Commission for the Status of Women.  Each participant was guided to reflect on that quality and keep it in their awareness for the remainder of the day.

Submitted by Colleen

On Thursday March 5th, the Brahma Kumaris Meditation Center and Gallery in Manhattan hosted a dialogue with Abigail Uc General Director at the Institute for Developing Mayan Culture in the state of Yucatan, Mexico, as part of the Brahma Kumaris (BKs) activities for the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).

For this special occasion we invited members from the Latin community in New York who lead various NGOs, working in particular with Latin women. A diverse group of about 35 women and a couple of men attended.  Estela Gavida, a professional coach and one of the BK delegates of CSW welcomed everyone and introduced the BK Inner Resources Project as the context in which the dialogue would take place.

Paola Cubas, a Researcher for OECD’s Global Project Measuring the Progress of Societies, then facilitated a conversation between Abigail and the dialogue participants. Abigail is an excellent story teller and everyone enjoyed her personal and professional anecdotes of working in the field with other women in indigenous communities from the Mayan zone. Participants were very interested in learning more about this important culture and the way in which Abigail was able to break down some traditions which otherwise wouldn’t allow her to lead women’s cooperatives; for their own personal and economic development.
Abigail shared how she is much honored to have this opportunity to serve as General Director at the Institute for Development of Mayan Culture, enabling her to help, in such an important way, a wide population of the Mayan zone in her state.

Throughout the dialogue Abigail related her experiences of the Inner Resources she used which allowed her, along with her partners to uphold: dignity, courage, enthusiasm, inner strength, generosity, integrity, coherence and cheerfulness among others.

By the end of the dialogue participants shared that they were very happy to understand more about this new paradigm of learning; how to look at their own experiences through the lens of Inner Resources. Some mentioned that they often feel drained as they deal daily with extreme situations as NGOs and that this perspective, of looking at their Inner Resources, actually reminded them of what made them take this path of helping others to begin.  Being reminded of the strengths and tools they have available inside, offerd stability and courage and they felt that they would now be able to hold onto their enthusiasm and contentment when situations around them seem chaotic.

One of the tools of accessing these inner resources is meditation.  At the end of the Dialogue, Danis Parez, from the Brahma Kumaris center in Queens, New York, Lead a meditation commentary, taking the group from sound into silence, where our inner resources lie.

Paola, NY

The Initiative for a UN Decade of Inter-religious and Intercultural Dialogue.

Understanding and Cooperation for Peace is a group of religious communities, interfaith, and value-based organizations which have for one year been promoting the idea of a UN DECADE to be launched for 2011-2020.

The group, with representation from over 40 organizations, formally established itself as a Coalition in a meeting in New York from 2-4 March in Ossining at the Maryknoll center. Representation of the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University was from Erik Larson of New York.

A plan of action was developed to advocate for the Decade to be adopted by the General Assembly. The Resolution A/RES/63/22[1] of November 2008 was the first official UN document that mentioned the possibility of the Decade. The briefing gave an update on the initiative to launch the Decade.

Mr. Stein Villumstad, Deputy Secretary General, Religions for Peace, was elected Chair of the Steering Committee of the Coalition for the UN Decade.

The Vision and Mission or the Initiative is as follows:

PEACE is a common aspiration for Humanity, a shared value for religions and a core goal for the United Nations.

Vision

The initiative for a UN Decade of Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue, Understanding and Cooperation for Peace has as long-term goal a vision for a genuine and lasting peace, which must be based in the structures of  more equitable, fraternal and harmonious societies than at the present; new societies fully respectful of Human Rights and all manifestations of Life, in which sharing will be more important than competing, and dialogue and agreements will displace all forms of violence in the solution of conflicts; societies where cultural and religious diversity will be appreciated. So, we are looking for a peace deeply rooted in the culture of peoples and recorded as aspiration in the heart of all human beings.

Mission

Concerted action with effective social impact is needed for advancing towards that ambitious vision; high level meetings and wise declarations are not enough. Consequently, the MISSION of this DECADE is for better mobilizing the immense spiritual, human, and organizational resources of the religious communities, interfaith organizations, spiritual traditions and movements, organizations representing indigenous traditions and other pertinent value-based civil society organizations. This should be undertaken in partnership with the United Nations, its member states and other constituencies of the civil society in the pursuit of pertinent UN objectives, such as the Millennium Development Goals, enhancement of Human Rights (including the rights of women, children and youth, refugees and migrants as well as gender equity), decent work for all, dialogue among civilizations, promoting a culture of peace and nonviolence, peace-building and shared security.

Expected outcomes

Consequently, it is expected that by 2020, when the DECADE will be ending, the proposed interreligious and intercultural dialogue, understanding and cooperation will have significantly contributed to achieve meaningful goals for a sustainable peace in the world, such as:

* Ending extreme poverty and hunger

* Making basic education –including education for peace— universal

* Enhancing the respect for the rights of all human beings –particularly those of women, children, youth, migrants, refugees and displaced people

* Making available decent jobs for all those who want to work and abolishing any form of child-labour abuse and slavery

* Developing social institutions and attitudes in the people which facilitate inter-cultural and inter-religious dialogue and cooperation as well as the peaceful resolution of conflicts at all levels

* Developing a responsible behaviour towards the environment

A long-lasting culture of cooperation among religious communities and individuals at all levels is also expected to flourish from this DECADE.

The Steering Committee for the “Initiative for a UN Decade of Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue, Understanding and Cooperation for Peace” and  the Office for Economic and Social Council Support and Coordination in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat held a briefing on Wednesday, 4 March 2009 at the  ECOSOC Chamber, United Nations with an update on the Initiative for a UN Decade of Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue, Understanding and Cooperation for Peace.

Erik NY

The NGO Committee on Spirituality and Global Concerns invited Samite Mulondo and Michael Rennie from Musicians for World Harmony to come to present at the meeting.  They shared touching stories, video, power point presentations and music.  Musicians for World Harmony is a multifaceted program.  It is a not for profit organization that brings music to places that have challenges and helps foster healing through music.

http://www.musiciansforworldharmony.org/

Samite Mulondo, Founding Director and Michael Rennie, Director

Our Mission is to:

ENABLE musicians throughout the world to SHARE their music to promote PEACE, UNDERSTANDING, and HARMONY among peoples with a special EMPHASIS on the DISPLACED or DISTRESSED who could benefit most from the HEALING POWER OF MUSIC.

To Fulfill this mission, Musicians for World Harmony will:

• Sponsor Musicians visiting and performing in refugee camps and resettlement communities.

• Identify musicians among the displaced and distressed whose music can aid in the healing process. Encourage community-wide response to performances to enable people to recover and revive songs and dances.

• Video-and audio-document all performances, songs and dances.

• Produce audio, video and print materials for distribution in the United States and worldwide that enable the music and messages of hope and peace to reach the widest possible audience.

• Encourage community-wide response to performances to enable people to recover and revive songs and dances.

A group of students from Berklee Music Therapy Program went to Africa on an exchange program through Musicians for World Harmony and their stories can be found on the website.  They sing and play music and an organic outpouring of music comes up out of those around them sharing their stories in song.   Samite and Michael even got everyone singing at the meeting.

The creative process of music allows for a healing of the spirit which helps to heal on many other levels.

Kymberly Schneider

The NGO Committee On Spirituality, Values and Global Concerns at the United Nations, New York a Committee of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CONGO), Spiritual Caucus, Values Caucus, UNSRC Enlightenment Society (SEAT), and United Religions Initiative-UN presented  the 2nd annual Week of Spirituality, Values and Global Concerns in honor of the 60th anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights for UN week.

The United Nations Meditation Room
The Opening Ceremony began at noon on 20 October in the Meditation room and thus everyday people were encouraged to meditate collectively on Human Rights from 9:00am to 10:00am or to meditate at the same time from home or some other space if not possible to be in the room.

 The workshops, panels, discussion groups and expressive arts for
the week sought to explore the essence of Eleanor Roosevelt’s quote.

To view a full schedule please go to CSVGC-NY website link below.

http://www.csvgc-ny.org/

 Highlights of the week’s events follow…

The Spirit of the UN Award was given just after the opening ceremonies to H.E. Hilario G. Davide, Jr., who is Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Permanent Mission of the Republic of the Philippines to the United Nations.  He was also the Keynote speaker and part of the panel on 21 October 1-2:45pm in UNICEF House, Labouisse Hall for the Culture of Peace Working Group on the topic:
Advancing the Culture of Peace: Is Peace a Human Right?

left to right: Ichinori Tsumagari, Rochelle Roca-Hachem, David Adams, Dot Maver, Audrey Kitagawa,
Sharon Hamilton, His Excellency Ambassador Hilario G. Davide, Jr., Anne Creter, & Iris Spellings

Laraagi shared musical sessions interspersed throughout the program and Ambassador Anwarul Chowdhury (recipient of the Spirit of the UN award in 2007) gave some peaceful remarks towards the close of the program really expressing that peace is a human right.  Ann Creter’s report can be found at this link:
http://www.peacepartintl.org/content/view/225/135/

Students Unite for the Right to Peace: Activating Campus Peace Centers
21 October 3-4pm UNICEF House, Labouisse Hall

 left to right panel: Dr. Neil Altman, Deborah Moldow and Prof. Hal S. Bertilson, PhD.
(pictured again as the table sized peace pole is blocking his face)

http://www.campuspeacecenters.net/

The audience was full of students many of them international exchange students from a few colleges in the area who introduced themselves and asked questions about peace centers and made comments about what they were doing and what could be done for peace in the future and a lively discussion followed after the panel’s presentation of the topic.

Spiritual and Ethical Dimensions of Human Rights Law
22 October 3-5pm UNICEF House, Labouisse Hall

left to right panel:  Audrey Kitagawa, Chair, CSVGC-NY, WFUNA, Widney Brown, Amnesty International, Liberato Bautista, President, CONGO, Rev. Elizabeth Alexander, Gethsemane Church, Genie Kagawa, Universal Peace Federation

 The panel opened with concerns for human rights.  The language used for speaking of our fellow human beings should express respect, and love.  People who have made mistakes deserve to have chances to change their ways.

Then lively discussions took place among small groups in the audience and some of the panelists joined in.

 Silent Meditation
23 October 12-1pm Church Center, Grumman Room 8th Floor

A small group had almost an hour in silence together on a beautiful sunny day overlooking UN Headquarters…this was followed by a brief sharing of experiences and then on to the next session…where the banner needed to travel…

The Way of the Feminine: Making Human Rights Come Alive
1:15-2:45pm UNICEF House, Labouisse Hall

A very creative flow of energy …through artistic expression was created in the room as poetry, music, song, dance and a film presented to give the history of the Declaration of Human Rights filled the space with feelings of  rights and dignity for humanity as all performers joined together in a cooperative spirited production.

many of the presenters join in song at the end of the program

 The Consciousness of Human Rights:  The Transformative Moment
3:30-5:30pm Church Center, 10th Floor

Jaqueline Murekatete - Rwanda, Human Rights Activist, Genocide Prevention Program Director:  Miracle Corners of the World and Gabriel Bol Deng - Sudan, Founder:  HOPE (Helping Offer Primary Education) for Sudan, a non-profit organization, shared their personal survival stories.  Both of them lost so much but each one feels it is necessary to raise awareness so such things will not happen again and also to help those who are left behind in the aftermath.  For Gabriel hope in and respect for others is key, as well as being grateful for working and giving back to the community.  Jacqueline brings to mind a quote from Gandhi anytime things seem a bit much “You must not lose faith in humanity.  Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.” and she is able to go on.

To find out more about Jaqueline’s and Gabriel’s work please see their websites below:

http://miraclecorners.org/

http://www.hopeforariang.org/index.htm

 Audrey Kitagawa, Gabriel Bol Deng, Jaqueline Murekete,
Diane Williams, Sharon Hamilton, and Martha Gallahue

 Closing Gathering & UN Anniversary Cake-cutting
24 October 1:30-2:45pm UNICEF House, Labouisse Hall

A gathering, a closing, a celebration, and a look at the future.  Music, singing and fellowship.

A very lovely week presented in very poignant ways to touch the core issues for looking at the rights of humanity.  Humans have a right to Peace.

Kymberly Schneider