UU Office at the UN Program Areas

Guided by our principles, Unitarian Universalists are called to advocate for international human rights, promoting the inherent worth and dignity of all. The Unitarian Universalist Association Office at the United Nations gives UUs a voice on the global stage. We carry out our global social justice work through two specific strategic priorities.

Program Areas

The UUA Office at the UN (UU@UN) has an overarching goal of protecting the human rights of marginalized people. To support this goal, our efforts are focused in the following areas:

Climate Justice

Our aim is to protect the lives and rights of those most at risk from the environmental hazards that have caused and are caused by climate change. We strongly advocate against government subsidies for the production of fossil fuels and in favor of swift support for sustainable forms of energy, as well as supporting other initiatives that further climate change mitigation and adaptation.

As a member of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the UU@UN is proud to send delegate observers to UN climate conferences to advocate on behalf of Unitarian Universalists for global climate policies that affirm indigenous sovereignty and that hold polluters accountable for the destruction they cause to people and planet.

The UU@UN’s climate justice initiative is in close partnership with the UU Ministry for Earth and the UUA Green Sanctuary program—including the joint campaign Create Climate Justice, a hub for Unitarian Universalist climate activism.

Get involved now: Register to attend the UU@UN's 2022 Intergenerational Spring Seminar on the theme "Displacement and Human Rights: All In for Climate Justice, cosponsored by UU Ministry for Earth, UUSC, and Side With Love.

Demilitarization

Our aim is to protect the human rights of those whose lives and rights are most at risk from police violence and other state-sponsored violence. This goal includes addressing the criminalization of people and activities that the state violently suppresses. These areas can include race, substance use/abuse, sexual orientation, gender identity, protest activity, voting, immigration, ethnicity, religion, etc. All these can and should be addressed by means other than criminalization and state-sponsored violence.

UU Voice at the United Nations

A view of the United Nations headquarters against the New York City skyline, viewed from Roosevelt Island.

View of United Nations Headquarters in New York City.

Staff and interns at the UU@UN participate actively and visibly in UN forums related to our strategic objectives, in partnership with allied organizations. We also work to communicate with Unitarian Universalists in the U.S. and Canada about global justice issues and action opportunities.

Current Initiatives and Events

RSVP below to upcoming events, or click the links to watch recordings and access materials from past events.