International Women’s Day Celebration – March 8, 2014

As the United Nations Millennium Development Goals end in 2015, the process of looking at the next decade’s most urgent issues has begun. Help the United Nation assess what people like you are concerned about. Take the survey at http://www.myworldsurvey2015.org

In addition to high level panel of experts taking on the post-Millennium Development Goals past 2015, and collecting your input, many members of civil society, including the chapters of the United Nations Association of the United States of America are holding Post MDG2015 consultations, called “The World We Want” to discuss the issues. Sixteen major themes have been identified and are part of the conversation. They are listed at the My World Survey.

Silicon Valley UNA-USA will be holding a “World We Want” post-MDG 2015 consultation or discussion Saturday, November 30, 2013, noon-2 pm in Cupertino California. The program is free, includes pizza lunch and is open to the public. RSVP is required by 11/28/13. To reserve a place, email to svuna2012@gmail.com or phone Shirley 1 408 255-6559. More information is available on the chapter website, http://siliconvalleyina.vpweb.com

“The World We Want” – Post MDG Conversations On Our Most Urgent Issues 2015-2030

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Come join us for discussions on the world we want as the UN Millennium Development Goals expire. All the nations of the world agreed on these 8 goals which expire 2015. Find out if we’ve achieved them and where we go from there. see http://www.worldwewant2015.org
Location in Cupertino. RSVP required: svuna2012@gmail.com 408 255-6559
Saturday, November 30, 2013, noon-2 pm. Pizza Lunch served.

SVUNA supports the One Billion Rising campaign

Posted on February 11, 2013 by Silicon Valley Sam

On February 14 (Valentine’s Day), people around the world are asked to dance and rally in support of ending violence against women. One in three women experience violence and rape. This has to end. See our November 2012 on this subject.

UN Human Rights Day 2012

Posted on December 6, 2012 by Silicon Valley Sam

The rights of all people are guaranteed by the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, created in 1948 following World War II.

This year our UNA-USA chapter celebrates our launch and Human Rights Day on December 9. If you’re in the area come join us. Details at http://siliconvalleyuna.vpweb.com

Learn more about Human Rights Day at this link: http://www.un.org/en/events/humanrightsday/

USA wants to divert UN Climate Proceedings to Economic Forum

Posted on November 16, 2012 by Silicon Valley Sam

USA wants to shift UN climate proceedings from UN track to economic forum run by major corporate polluters. Read about this in the latest issue of the Guardian:

http://gu.com/p/3bpqc/em

Contact your Congressperson to say this is wrong way to go.

Violence Against Women, Here and Everywhere

Posted on November 13, 2012 by Silicon Valley Sam

From the SVUNA President: Posted on Saturday, October 27, 2012 10:41 AM

This spring, the ladies of the Women’s Fellowship of Union Church of Cupertino were looking for a service project to replace one that was not longer accepting donations. I suggested Next Door, Solutions to Domestic Violence, a San Jose shelter and service provider for victims of domestic violence. The case studies from the website gave us an inkling of the extent and pervasiveness of this kind of abuse. It affects all economic levels, races, ethnicity and education background. The problems gets more attention only when we read about a horrific example, such as the October 9 shooting of Pakistani teenager Malala Yousafzai for wanting an education. Most victims of domestic violence are women and children. Many have few resources to escape or start over without agencies like Next Door which provides a safe place for these victims.

November 25 marks the UN International Day of Violence Against Women. I’d like share with you how this day came about. Please read and find your place in helping women and children who suffer from this type of abuse.

UN International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women –

November 25 (source: Wikipedia)

Violence Against Women in the World.

Women’s activists have marked November 25 as a day to fight violence against women since 1981. On December 17, 1999, the United Nations General Assembly designated 25 November as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (Resolution 54/134). The UN invited governments, international organizations and NGOs to organize activities designated to raise public awareness of the problem on this day as an international observance. Women around the world are subject to rape, domestic violence and other forms of violence, and the scale and true nature of the issue is often hidden.

This date came from the brutal assassination in 1960 of the three Mirabal sisters, political activists in the Dominican Republic, on orders of Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo (1930–1961).

There is more information about the history of this day, and UN publications relating to violence against women, at the UN’s Dag Hammarskjöld Library. UNWomen (formerly UNIFEM -United Nations Development Fund for Women) has a regular observance of the day, and offers suggestions for others to observe it: http://www.unwomen.org/

Violence Against Women in the USA

The Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (VAWA) is a United States federal law(Title IV, sec. 40001-40703 of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, H.R. 3355) signed as Pub.L. 103-322 by President Bill Clinton on September 13, 1994. The Act provided $1.6 billion toward investigation and prosecution of violent crimes against women, imposed automatic and mandatory restitution on those convicted, and allowed civil redress in cases prosecutors chose to leave unprosecuted. The Act also established the Office on Violence Against Women within theDepartment of Justice.

VAWA was reauthorized by Congress in 2000, and again in December 2005.[4] The Act’s 2012 renewal was fiercely opposed by conservative Republicans, who objected to extending the Act’s protections to same-sex couples and to provisions allowing battered illegal immigrants to claim temporary visas.[5]

In April 2012, the Senate voted to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, and the House subsequently passed its own measure (omitting provisions of the Senate bill that would protect gay men, lesbians, American Indians, and illegal immigrants who were victims of domestic violence). Reconciliation of the two bills has been stymied by procedural measures, leaving the reauthorization in question.

Categories: silicon valley, VAWA, Violence Against Women

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Sustainable Development: The Future We Want

Posted on November 9, 2012 by Silicon Valley Sam

Just published, the working document from the June 2012 Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development, or economic development.

http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/futurewewant.html

Most of the nations of the world have met and agreed to support these principles which reaffirm the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UNDHR) and Millenium Development Goals (MDG). Check out the UNDHR and MDG on the web, if you’re not familiar with them.