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What's your path for a Culture of Peace?
UNITED NATIONS
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“The
United Nations is our one great hope for a peaceful and free
world”
~ Ralph Bunche
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After the
horrors of World War II, the United Nations was created to provide
a forum for nations to work out their problems in a peaceful way
and to help nations work together to create a better world for
all.
For more than
60 years since then, the United Nations has shone as humanity's
greatest hope for a more peaceful, just and sustainable world.
It has helped to promote human rights, freedom and democracy,
erase poverty and hunger, improve health and education, and urge
the governments of the world to work together in peace.
However, the
UN can only do what governments allow it to do. Across the globe,
a people's movement has been growing to convince governments to
help the UN in its goals and to allow the UN to work more closely
with civil society in solving the planet's problems. People's
Assemblies have convened at the UN and in local gatherings around
the world.
United Nations
Day is celebrated on October 24, commemorating the anniversary
of the adoption of the United Nations Charter on October 24, 1945.
United Nations Day is the perfect opportunity to highlight the
important achievements for a better world that the UN has won
for all humanity and to support the people's movements to make
it more democratic and effective.
Other Links
United
Nations Day
United Nations
Association of the USA
World Federation of United Nations
Associations
Better
World Campaign
Citizens for a United Nations People's Assembly
UN's
Dag Hammarskjold Library Links
Global
Policy Forum: UN History
Some nations,
like the United States have not lived up to their financial
obligations to the UN, making it difficult for the UN to do
its important work. Visit PriceOfPeace.org
to sign the petition to the US Congress to show your support
of UN Peacekeepers.
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Dear
Members of Congress:
War
and hostility are far too prevalent in today's world, exacting
a huge economic, moral, and human cost. In contrast, the
price of peace is a fraction of the cost of war. I strongly
support UN peacekeeping as a fair and effective means of
sharing the burdens for international security and stability.
No nation should have to bear every burden, pay every bill,
or take every risk; I urge you to act now to fully fund
our promised contributions to the UN.
Today,
the UN oversees a record 18 peacekeeping missions around
the world, including in some of the world's most dangerous
places, such as Sudan, Lebanon, Congo, and Haiti, all of
which are critical to our national and international security,
and the U.S. votes to approve.
The
UN's lifesaving peace missions are in jeopardy because donor
countries are not living up to their commitments to support
UN peacekeeping, particularly the U.S. Growing shortfalls
in U.S. contributions, policy restrictions, and long-standing
unpaid bills threaten to put the United States more than
$1 billion behind in peacekeeping obligations. Shortchanging
UN peacekeeping has real impacts, forcing the UN to cobble
together the necessary means for deployment and discouraging
other countries from contributing their fair share of resources.
I
urge you to take a leading role in fulfilling U.S. commitments
to UN peacekeeping by increasing funding to the Contributions
to International Peacekeeping Activities (CIPA) account
by $500 million in the fiscal year 2008 appropriation process.
The U.S. should also take steps to pay off prior U.S. arrears.
Investing in peace serves our country better than paying
for the soaring costs of war.
PriceOfPeace.org
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