On the occasion of Bruce Knotts' retirement, we would like to extend our gratitude and appreciation for his fifteen years of service as Director of the UUA Office at the United Nations....

This post was originally sent out on June 20 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. The Keynote speakers at this year’s Intergenerational Spring Seminar were the Pacific...

This post was originally sent out on May 6 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 all justifiably horrified by the carnage resulting from the Russian Invasion of...

This post was originally sent out on March 25 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. Each year at the United Nations, we follow a pattern of important events based on regular...

This post was originally sent out on February 18 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....

The United Nations Headquarters in New York City had hoped to begin 2022 by opening its doors and welcoming the world back home. However, the Omicron variant of COVID-19 has disrupted UN plans as it has everyone else’s.

December 18 is International Migrants Day, an occasion to recognize and mobilize around protecting migrants’ fundamental human rights. In the face of climate chaos, we must advance just, compassionate policies.

In honor of Human Rights Day, UU@UN Director reflects on the human rights priorities of the UUA Office at the UN, expressing gratitude for the generosity of supporters which sustains the office’s work.

Was COP26 a success? Or a failure? I believe it’s most accurate, if unsatisfying, to answer “both” – and “neither.” Each year since the Convention was adopted in 1994, the secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has convened a Conference of Parties (COP),...

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...

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....

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...

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...

The world seems to be witnessing a growth in authoritarian governments. Especially during difficult times, we must work to hold human rights violators accountable.

The United Nations condemns extrajudicial killings. A new UU@UN initiative aims to include police killings in that category, to push for more accountability and end police militarization globally.

Reflecting on the recent Intergenerational Spring Seminar, UU@UN Director Bruce Knotts urges readers to reject indifference in the face of urgent issues like climate justice and food equity. We need instead to be all in.

White supremacist and nationalist ideologies are rising to power globally, a trend that manifests in surging anti-immigrant policies. The UN and UUA Office at the UN are working to address this.

Like much of the world, we in the UUA Office at the United Nations have operated virtually for nearly a year – and we have done so very effectively. We have attended and hosted meetings and events online. We have mentored and worked with interns and colleagues. Other than infrequent visits, we...

This post was originally sent out on February 19 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. All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with...

This post was originally sent out on January 25 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....

This post was originally sent out on December 28 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. Why are Unitarian Universalists at the United Nations? At a recent meeting of the NGO...

In its 75 years, the United Nations has seen slow but significant shifts in how power is exercised by Member States and civil society within its systems.

This post was originally sent out on October 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. The world and the United Nations needs the United States to lead....

This post was originally sent out on September 25 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. Together with the rest of the world, we mourn the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

With human rights under threat around the world, this Human Rights Day we all must be engaged to make sure that every person's human rights are respected and protected. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 71 years old today, lists the human rights that we must come together to fight for.

On the 74th birthday of the United Nations, we celebrate the UN's accomplishments while also recognizing the urgency of taking action to keep it strong as it comes under threat from the rise of authoritarianism & isolationism around the world.

The steps taken by politicians at the COP 24 climate change conference will fall far short of the commitments needed to save our planet as a livable habitat for generations to come. People of faith must take action to preserve the planet.

As the United States and other nationalist-trending countries pull away from diplomatic circles, Unitarian Universalists must maintain a strong voice at the United Nations.

Over the past few months, we have watched the conservative UN estimates of people forced to migrate climb from 60-68 million, the largest number of forced migrants since the Second World War. Some estimate even more forced migrants now than there were in WWII....

The Trump administration has withdrawn from the UN Human Rights Council over what the Trump administration calls the Council’s bias against Israel. What this decision shows is that this administration does not care about human rights being respected.

I visited the Every Child is Our Child program in Eastern Ghana from December 2-7, 2017. The Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office (UU-UNO) began its collaboration with the Manye Krobo Queen Mothers in 2005, launching this program which would go on to change so many lives. The Manye Krobo...

On Friday, September 29, the Human Rights Council voted in favor of a resolution which condemned the “imposition of the death penalty as a sanction for specific forms of conduct, such as apostasy, blasphemy, adultery and consensual same-sex relations.”...

On September 6th, 2017, I represented the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) at an interfaith conference to stop AIDS. It was an inspiring meeting led by Rev. Michael Schuenemeyer (United Church of Christ) and Bishop Yvette Flunder (United Church of Christ and Presiding Bishop of The...

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....

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 last week have aimed...

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 in Vietnam. Leslee...

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 appointed Assistant Secretary...

Goals work. Lose weight, save money, set up a study schedule to improve grades. Set some goals and work towards achieving them and whether or not you achieve your goals, you’ll have improved performance over what would have been the case without goals.

As we celebrate World Refugee Day, let us remember that all of our peoples migrated from somewhere else. Even indigenous peoples have migrated.

The 66th Annual United Nations (UN) Department of Public Information/Non-Governmental Organization (DPI/NGO) Conference was held in Gyeongju, Republic of Korea from May 30 through June 1, 2016. This year’s conference was on Education for Global Citizenship: Achieving the Sustainable Development...

Bruce Knotts is Director of the Unitarian Universalist Association United Nations Office. He also serves as Chair of the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security and Co-Chair of the NGO Committee on Human Rights....

In April 2016 there will be a Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference (SDPC) plans to hold side-events during this UNGASS and the UU-UNO hopes to be involved as well. The Special Session will take place around the same time as the UU-UNO’s annual In anticipation of the April 2016 UNGASS, I represented...

I had the privilege of speaking at, leading discussions, and participating in two amazing meetings on Climate Change. The first was the week-long Internatio… Affairs Conference on Climate Change on Star Island, NH, featuring several amazing leaders in this field of climate change. The second...

A recent UN press release informed us that United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged faith leaders gathered in the General Assembly on April 22, 2015 to stand up for the collective good and amplify their voices in support of moderation and mutual understanding. He warned against an...

On Friday, December 20,the Ugandan Parliament passed the long-dreaded kill-the-gays bill otherwise known as the Anti-Homosexuality Bill....

visit to the UU-UNO Every Child is Our Child Project. This group plans to meet again at General Assembly. We are working and planning together to sustain and hopefully to grow this important project which acts out the deepest principles of our faith. UU-UNO’s 50th Anniversary this year 2012 makes...

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