News
The Latest from UNA-NCA
March 27, 2024
Coverage of UNA-NCA's CSW68 Parallel Event
On March 20th UNA-NCA hosted a UN CSW parallel event discussing the U.S. Rejoining UNESCO and the Future of Women and Girls Education. The discussion touched on the history of the U.S. funding of UNESCO and the importance of ensuring congress meets our funding commitments to the UN and the essential nature of UNESCO in preserving culture heritage and history, as well as supporting education to women and girls. The speakers discussed ongoing programs that support girls education in Africa and African diaspora (through the UN Office of Human Rights Program for People of African Descent) which we've previously highlighted in our programming at UNA-NCA.
March 20, 2024
By Katherine Marshall, UNA-NCA Board of Directors; Senior Fellow, Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University; and Executive Director of the World Faiths Development Dialogue at Georgetown UniversityAmong the many sessions during the 55th session of the Human Rights Council (26 February to 5 April 2024), two that I attended centered on responding to different forms of hate speech, especially involving religious symbols. Sharp divides and strong views expressed offered striking evidence of the challenges involved in translating core principles of human rights into practice in our deeply polarized world.
March 20, 2024
Women, Law, and Development Discussion & Reception
By Kate Lovas, UNA-NCA Human Rights Committee Co-ChairThis International Women’s Day, George Washington University Law School, in partnership with the Embassies of the African Union, Spain, and Denmark, and other collaborators from the region like ARPA International Law Group held a discussion surrounding women, law, and development in Africa. Discussants along with Ambassadors Hilda Suka-Mfaduze, Mathilde Mukantabana, and Ángeles Moreno Bau were able to highlight the actions of their countries to further women’s rights and UNA NCA’s Board member and Human Rights Committee Chair, Leila Hanafi, moderated the session.
March 7, 2024
UNA-NCA launches North America’s inaugural Model-ILO conference on Combating Violence and Harassment in the Workplace
By Himaja Balusa, Global Education CoordinatorGlobal Classrooms-DC (GCDC), the flagship education program of the United Nations Association of the National Capital Area (UNA-NCA), launched its pilot Model-ILO conference on February 23rd at the Marshall Center in collaboration with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, the International Labour Organization (ILO) Office of the United States and Canada, and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Bureau of International Labor Affairs.
March 6, 2024
Department of State Human Rights Council's 55th Session Readout
Five members of the UNA-NCA attended a U.S. Department of State-hosted virtual call with civil society organizations ahead of the 55th session of the UN Human Rights Council which will take place in Geneva from February 26 to April 5, 2024. The call allowed individuals and organizations an opportunity to engage directly with DOS leadership on a range of human rights-related topics. Deputy Assistant Secretaries Allison Lombardo and Allison Peters took questions from the attendees and stressed the importance of these types of discussions, saying that these public events (that are open to civil society organizations and U.S. citizens but closed to journalists) help them form their priority-setting and goals upon their arrival in Geneva.
February 1, 2024
UNA-NCA Statement
In honor of Black History Month, UNA-NCA reaffirms its commitment to Sustainable Development Goal 10 to Reduce Inequalities. We support the SDG policies that promote equality for people of African descent, across the national capital area and throughout our nation.
February 1, 2024
Resolution Ensuring Equality, Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
for Africans and People of African Descent
The United Nations Association of the National Capital Area, in furtherance of the organization’s support for the United Nations Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in Law Enforcement, hereby:
January 22, 2024
Past-Board Chair of UNA-NCA
Dear Friends and Colleagues,Humbling is the best way to characterize your observations. The achievements you describe are not mine but ours together.
And it is now time for you, individually and collectively, to carry them into the future of an ever more sustainable UN Association of the National Capital Area.
January 3, 2024
Blog Post by Graduate Fellows Program Alumna
By Shruti Nallappa, UNA-NCA Graduate Fellows Program Alumna 2021
My name is Shruti Nallappa, and I am currently a Programs Operations Coordinator for Pact. Pact is an international development organization that operates in over 40 countries and seeks to build solutions for human development that are evidence-based, data-driven, and owned by the communities we serve. At Pact, I provide broad operational and administrative support to the Strengthening Youth and Women’s Civic Participation Program in Sudan. For those who have found navigating the international development world challenging, I wanted to take this opportunity to share my journey. It did not begin at Pact – instead, it was a series of steps that have led me to be in a rewarding position today.
My name is Shruti Nallappa, and I am currently a Programs Operations Coordinator for Pact. Pact is an international development organization that operates in over 40 countries and seeks to build solutions for human development that are evidence-based, data-driven, and owned by the communities we serve. At Pact, I provide broad operational and administrative support to the Strengthening Youth and Women’s Civic Participation Program in Sudan. For those who have found navigating the international development world challenging, I wanted to take this opportunity to share my journey. It did not begin at Pact – instead, it was a series of steps that have led me to be in a rewarding position today.
December 20, 2023
Write up of the 2023 Human Rights Awards
On December 6th, 2023, UNA-NCA hosted our annual Human Rights Awards Ceremony at the National Education Association. This year’s celebration was special as it marked the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We were incredibly delighted to present awards to four outstanding individuals and one organization who are working to improve human rights in their communities and around the world.
