UUA International Blog

Feel like the system is too big to change? Protest!

On August 28, 16 year old climate activist Greta Thunberg sailed into New York Harbor with the mission of bringing her message of climate justice to the United Nations. She was greeted by 17 sailboats, each representing a different Sustainable Development Goal.

Much of the following text is taken from a blog post from the International Committee of the Red Cross: Human Cost of Cyber Operations—Key ICRC Takeaways from Discussion with Tech Experts. ICRC has encouraged readers to share this blog, and they invite feedback from readers. The...

An appeal was recently distributed to navy personnel at Bangor Naval Base in Washington State, calling on navy personnel to "Refuse to engage in nuclear annihilation." This appeal is reprinted here with permission of the Ground Zero Center in Seattle, WA.

On April 14, 2019 the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark, NJ hosted a conference on Steps To A Nuclear Weapons-Free World.

A youth participant from Canada speaks about their experience at the UU-UNO's 2019 Intergenerational Spring Seminar, "Equity in Action: Gender in an Intersecting World".

It is often stated – incorrectly – that the Chinese character for “crisis” includes the symbols for both “danger” and “opportunity.” While that may not be literally correct, the character does mean “a pivotal moment when things happen or change.” The world is at such a juncture...

While disarming our planet in today’s world includes among other things the goal of eliminating the use of weapons of mass destruction in large- and small-scale combat situations we generally describe as war, one wonders when and how did the notion of “war” and a soldier’s “...

The recently concluded 64th Founding Anniversary and First General Assembly (formerly General Convention) of the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Philippines was attended by almost 80 delegates from 23 congregations. Delegates officially adopted the UUCP’s new Constitution...

“Why do we talk about privilege?” Ericka Hart, the keynote speaker for the 2019 Intergenerational Spring Seminar, asked the audience. ...

According to a press release from the United Nations Office in Geneva, Part I of the Conference on Disarmament held on March 26, 2019 had concluded with a proposal from the United States. Its “Create an Environment for Nuclear Disarmament” Initiative hopes to bring together as...

The renewed emphasis on climate change is the most encouraging trend in American politics. More Americans across the political landscape are realizing that the costs of inaction are too high. Awareness of a problem, of course, is good for little if it doesn’t lead to action. One...

Work to disarm our planet continues. Some good news of late reveals increasing support of the Treaty to Ban Nuclear Weapons with the ratification by South Africa, the 22nd country to do so with the distinction of being the only country which gave up its program to develop...

On Monday, March 11th, in a packed drawing room of the Manhattan Public Library, the Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office hosted its annual parallel event in collaboration with the Commission on the Status of Women’s 63rd session. The event, “Combating Structural Gender...

Recent news from companies like Salesforce, Google, and Microsoft has seen a segment of their work force protesting their companies’ connections with military policies in support of issues of major concern to those working for disarmament. ...

I suggest a new rule for any discussion we have about climate change. The rule is simple: from now on, every article we write on the subject for a broad audience must include some variation of the phrase “we can solve global warming”. It has the virtue of not only being true,...

It seems time for some more good news. In opening up the homepage from the International Atomic Energy Agency website, the lead article read: “EU and IAEA Review Progress and Agree on Priorities in Nuclear Cooperation at Annual Meeting.” There it was: an actual story of...

On Feb. 1, the Trump administration announced it will pull the U.S. out of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty (INF), thus undoing one of the pillars of global security and potentially plunging the world into a new nuclear arms race. The 1987 signing of this treaty by U...

In northern Syria, an experiment in grassroots democracy is under threat from the Turkish military. The United States should not withdraw its military so quickly.

Unitarian Universalists at the UN respond to a racist incident among students at NYU's Silver School of Social Work, urging UU action to dismantle structural racism and cultures of oppression.