UUA International Blog

Snapshots portraying the work of the Holdeen India Program, the United Nations Office, and the International Resources Office

Find Yourself in the Global U/U Story

Unitarians, Universalists, and Unitarian Universalists (U/U) around the world are connected through a story of bold, compassionate faith that we’ve been creating together for centuries.

Struggling for human rights alongside those that demand it, influencing governmental policy in the name of justice, passionately promoting a message of interfaith peace and solidarity, and building faithful worshipping communities—each of us has a part, and a stake, in the story we share.

Displaying 1 - 10 of 638.

  • Black and white photo of the signing of the United Nations Charter in a room lined with national flags from UN member states and the UN logo on a curtain to the right. US Secretary of State Edward R. Stettinius, Jr. sits at a round table to sign the document while President Harry S. Truman stands by at the left looking pleased. Additional diplomats stand behind wearing suits.
    As a child, I could not tell that day by day, I was growing. Instead, my father marked my height every year so we could see how much I had grown. October 24, 2021 is the 76th birthday of the United Nations. The UN Charter was signed in 1945 by the representatives of 51 nations. (All those...
    by Bruce Knotts |
  • Comparison of a historical etching of slaveholder on horseback with a whip poised above an enslaved person and a recent photograph of border patrol on horseback pursuing an asylum seeker
    Introduction The visual that circulated in September 2021 of U.S. Border patrolmen chasing Haitian asylum seekers on horseback made many who saw it think of the slave patrols that roamed the Southern U.S. states before emancipation....
    by Halley Mistry, Rose Singleton |
  • UN Secretary-General António Guterres is seen speaking at the podium of the UN General Assembly Hall. He is wearing a black suit with a red tie.
    This post was originally sent out on September 24 via a monthly email message from Director Bruce Knotts of the Unitarian Universalist Association Office at the United Nations. Subscribe to the UU@UN email list....
    by Bruce Knotts |
  • Women in India distributing face coverings in wooded outdoor area
    India is now emerging from Covid’s devastating second wave. After months of frantic searches for oxygen and overflowing hospitals, infections are declining. But the trauma of so much loss still cuts deep. Every family was touched in some way by the crisis. As we learn more of what happened on the...
    by UUA International Resources: UU Holdeen India Program |
  • Logo of 2021 United Nations Food Systems Summit, a green apple icon outlining the rainbow ring representing the Sustainable Development Goals
    In a few days, the UN will convene people virtually from around the world for a Food Systems Summit aimed at transforming food systems globally to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. In 2015, the UN set 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable...
    by Allison Hess |
  • A line of forest fire burns at dusk, the flames silhouetting trees, the rest of the landscape dark. Smoke rises into the grey-brown sky.
    This post was originally sent out on August 23 via a monthly email message from Director Bruce Knotts of the Unitarian Universalist Association Office at the United Nations. Subscribe to the UU@UN email list. I’m a cancer survivor. Those who know about cancer know that early detection and action...
    by Bruce Knotts |
  • A line of men in the Philippines carry belongings through muddy thigh-high floodwaters. The buildings behind them are partially collapsed.
    Human-made climate change has contributed to global displacement of tens of millions. An international approach, prioritizing human life over political and corporate power, is the only effective solution.
    by Andrew Mickle |
  • Black and white photo of a protester holding a sign that reads “DEFUND THE POLICE.” The protester is seen from behind and has dark skin and is wearing a baseball cap and a facemask.
    This post was originally sent out on July 23 via a monthly email message from Director Bruce Knotts of the Unitarian Universalist Association Office at the United Nations. Subscribe to the UU@UN email list. We are faced with what looks like a dilemma but isn’t really. Calls to defund and...
    by Bruce Knotts |
  • Police officer wearing urban camouflage and carrying an assault rifle pats down a young civilian while other similarly armed officers watch
    Introduction In September of 1990, the Eighth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders adopted the Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials....
    by Andrew Mickle |
  • Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and Russian President Vladimir Putin sit in chairs looking at one another with each country’s flag in the background
    The world seems to be witnessing a growth in authoritarian governments. Especially during difficult times, we must work to hold human rights violators accountable.
    by Bruce Knotts |