UUA International Blog

By Kate Mays Every year, June 20 marks World Refugee Day, a time to honor the courage and strength of those who are forced to flee their homeland because of conflict, violence, or persecution. This year, bringing awareness and supporting refugees is more important than ever....

The India Chapter of the International Association for Religious Freedom (IARF) conducted a national conference in Pondicherry, India from the 26th to 27th of May, 2017.  Representatives from many states attended - giving all participants a good opportunity to...

By Lyle Davison The Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (PFII) is a two-week long conference that was established on July 28th, 2000 by the United Nations to address the unique issues indigenous comminutes face related to economic and social development, ecological and...

For the past two years, it has been my honor to chair the NGO/DPI Executive Committee, which represents about 1,500 Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) affiliated with the Department of Public Information (DPI) at the United Nations. For many years, the chair of the NGO/DPI...

By Emma Langsner The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is a two week long conference where events are hosted in and around the United Nations Headquarters by member states, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and civil society. During the conference, which takes...

This exciting invitation to Unitarian Universalists in the United States comes from the Unitarian community in Prague, on the occasion of the 95th anniversary of the Flower Communion this June. Dear Friends, Unitarians in Prague are celebrating the 95th Anniversary of...

Donald Trump destroys what he doesn’t have the knowledge to understand nor appreciate. This has been clear since the 1980s, and on numerous occasions he has shown tragic disregard for historical and artistic treasures. Fast forward to 2017. The President’s proposed budgets...

By Emma Langsner The afternoon of Friday January 27, 2017 I experienced one of the most empowering events at the United Nations Headquarters. It was the 18th annual Committee on Teaching About the United Nations (CTAUN) conference titled: Refugees the 21st Century Challenge....

Bruce Knotts is the Director of the Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office. In January, he travelled to Vietnam to endorse the Think Equal initiative and to China to encourage greater civil society participation at the United Nations. Here, he writes about his experience...

As the orange sun set over the Pacific Ocean on Thursday, February 16, 2017, women gathered from around the world in Pacific Grove, California to begin a three-day convocation exploring issues important to women’s rights and justice. It was the Third International Convocation of...

By Kwanique Andrews Tuesday, October 4th, 2016 will be a day that will never be forgotten in South Haiti. About 90 percent of the area that Hurricane Matthew struck was completely destroyed, affecting residents in a variety of ways. Due to the destruction, the people living...

By Mengxi Zhao Recently the Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office (UU-UNO) held a discussion panel themed “Creating Safe and Tolerant Space for Asian LGBT Communities” in the UN Church Center. Four panelists: Robert Kaku Gunn, Lu Jun, Rashima Kwatra, and Omair Paul...

Celebrate Religious Freedom Day this week, and keep in mind that "Religious Freedom" ain’t what it used to be.   Yes, the historic meaning it typically brings to mind for religious liberals continues to be relevant in present day struggles:  freedom of...

A refugee justice rally was held at South Australia's Parliament house on Saturday, December 3rd, organized by the University of Adelaide's Students Against Racism group. Rev. Rob MacPherson, Minister of the Unitarian Church of South Australia, was asked to speak at that rally...

Every year on December 10th, the world celebrates Human Rights Day. It is the anniversary of the day the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. This year marks 68 years since these rights were acknowledged to belong inherently to every human...

Unitarians in Poland - Then and Now: A Historical Study Tour with the Rev. Dr. Jay Atkinson  June 6-11, 2017 JOIN US on a visit to the 16th century’s Unitarian “heartland” where early religious dissenters —who called themselves the Polish Brethren—first...

In 1568, on January the 13th, the Diet of Torda (Transylvania) proclaimed: “His majesty, our Lord, in what manner he—together with his realm—legislated in the matter of religion at the previous Diets, in the same matter now, in this Diet, reaffirms that in every place the...

A troubling new initiative has just been proposed at the United Nations which threatens all human rights protection, but focused on sexual orientation/gender identity human rights.  On Monday, the NGO Committee on Human Rights, of which I am a co-chair, met the newly...

This guest post is from the Unitarian Universalist Peace Ministry Network (UUPMN). It was written by Ann Lundberg, a member of UUPMN and of The Unitarian Church in Westport, CT. Whether the global refugee crisis is the worst humanitarian crisis of our time-- or just the most...

This blog post is written by Rebecca Bowe, an intern at the Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office working on the Racial Justice Initiative. This summer she spent 9 days in Haiti with a mental health team, aiming to implement a mental health component to a medical...