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Maryknoll Office of Global Concerns

United Nations

In our often divided world, one place where all of humankind is invited to come together to work for the common good is the United Nations. Despite its limitations, the UN system is our most effective tool for uniting with others in order to create and implement policies that secure a life of dignity for all of God’s children.

ECOSOC Membership

Article 71 of the Charter of the United Nations reads: “The Economic and Social Council [ECOSOC] may make suitable arrangements for consultation with non-governmental organizations which are concerned with matters within its competence.”

Based on this article, two of the Maryknoll branches (the Maryknoll Sisters and the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers) have Consultative Status with ECOSOC, and the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns carries out the work of implementing this status. Our work with the UN aims to influence its agenda and is done by:

  • participating in NGOs committees and working groups
  • presenting oral and writing statements
  • participating in global UN conferences and regular sessions
  • participating in the monitoring process of UN treaties
    networking with other NGOs, and
  • facilitating the voice of local people in the UN and NGOs gatherings.

Maryknoll missioners serve as NGO representatives to the United Nations in New York where they bring the Maryknoll mission experience to important conversations with policymakers and civil society members from around the world.

Sustainable Development Goals

The UN member states adopted the 17 Sustainable Development Goals in 2015, as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which set out a 15-year plan to achieve the goals. The SDGs focus global efforts on lifting people out of extreme poverty, while also addressing the challenges of ensuring more equitable development and environmental sustainability, especially the key goal of curbing the dangers of human-induced climate change. Today, progress is being made in many places, but, overall, action to meet the goals is not yet advancing at the speed or scale required. At the core of the 2020-2030 decade is the need for action to tackle growing poverty, empower women and girls, and address the climate emergency.

Maryknoll representatives to the UN work to promote peace, social justice and the integrity of creation by organizing their UN participation around the following topics:

  • Ecology (climate change, oceans, forests, agroecology, sustainable agriculture)
  • Mining and Extractivism
  • Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples
  • Migration and Human Trafficking
  • Social Development
  • Financing for Sustainable Development
  • Nuclear Disarmament
  • Women and Children

In the News:

  • Catholic sisters at COP29 uplift unequal ways climate change impacts women, Global Sisters Report, Nov. 22, 2024
  • Catholics head to COP29 climate summit seeking new finance, end of fossil fuels, National Catholic Reporter, November 11, 2024
  • Dozens of Catholic sisters advocate for women at United Nations gathering, Global Sisters Report, March 27, 2024
  • Africa cries out for ‘loss and damage’ funds to combat effects of climate change, Global Sisters Report, Dec.1, 2023
  • Increased nuclear threat may renew interest in disarmament, advocates say, Global Sisters Report, Sept. 22, 2022
  • After COP26, sisters pledge continued activism as ‘an act of care’, Global Sisters Report, Nov.19, 2021
  • Inequities in world’s food system have only worsened during pandemic, Global Sisters Report, Oct. 15, 2021
  • The U.S. Should Raise its International Climate Finance to $12 Billion Per Year, NRDC, Sept. 20, 2021
  • Africa: Open Letter – the Green Revolution in Africa Has Unequivocally Failed, All Africa, Sept. 15, 2021
  • Pope Francis, in Earth Day messages, warns ‘we are at the edge’ on climate change, National Catholic Reporter, April 22, 2021
  • Sister reps at UN hope Biden will put US ‘back on track’ globally, Global Sisters Report, Nov. 12, 2020
  • Online sexual exploitation of children increased during pandemic, Global Sisters Report, July 20, 2020
  • Affirming the dignity of those forgotten, shunned, ignored, Global Sisters Report, Feb. 17, 2020
  • Women and Earth are ‘on receiving end of patriarchy’ when it comes to profit, Global Sisters Report, April 22, 2019
  • UN Commission on the Status of Women to focus on social protections, Global Sisters Report, March 11, 2019
  • Sisters, leaders applaud adoption of UN migration compact, despite US refusal to sign, Global Sisters Report, Dec. 18, 2018
  • A path to resilience amid climate change, Global Sisters Report, Oct. 23, 2018
  • UN moves forward on compacts to manage migration, refugees, Global Sisters Report, July 20, 2018
  • How would foreign policy change if women held the reins of diplomacy?, Global Sisters Report, June 7, 2018
  • Violence begets violence, Catholic sisters say, about airstrikes on Syria, Global Sisters Report, April 16, 2018
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Pope Francis Calls on COP28 to Deliver

November 5, 2023July 28, 2025

Pope Francis wrote in his recent apostolic exhortation Laudate Deum about his concerns for the climate and hopes for action at the UN Climate Change Conference COP28 in Dubai in December.

Read More Pope Francis Calls on COP28 to DeliverContinue

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COP 28 Two-pager

In advance of the 2023 UN Conference on climate change

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Ask World Leaders for a Robust Loss and Damage Fund

Click here to sign the faith letter to world leaders asking for a robust Loss and Damage Fund. One great injustice of the climate crisis is the fact that poor…

Read More Ask World Leaders for a Robust Loss and Damage FundContinue

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Five Takeaways from Laudate Deum by Pope Francis

Key points from the follow-up to Laudato Si’

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Five Takeaways from Laudate Deum by Pope Francis

Today, on the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, Pope Francis released Laudate Deum (Latin for “Praise God”), an eagerly anticipated follow-up to his 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’.

Read More Five Takeaways from Laudate Deum by Pope FrancisContinue

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Five Takeaways from Laudate Deum

October 4, 2023July 28, 2025

Key points from the follow-up to Laudato Si’

Read More Five Takeaways from Laudate DeumContinue

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Tell UN Ambassador: Vote “No” on Military Intervention in Haiti

The UN Security Council is expected to vote today on authorizing the deployment of a Kenyan-led military force to Haiti.

Read More Tell UN Ambassador: Vote “No” on Military Intervention in HaitiContinue

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UN: Insufficient Progress on Development Goals

September 1, 2023July 28, 2025

Midway to 2030, the Sustainable Development Goals of 2015 are woefully behind schedule.

Read More UN: Insufficient Progress on Development GoalsContinue

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AIDS Relief Program Under Siege

September 1, 2023July 28, 2025

The future of the highly successful U.S. global AIDS program is uncertain.

Read More AIDS Relief Program Under SiegeContinue

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The Bridgetown Initiative

September 1, 2023July 28, 2025

A voice from the Caribbean island of Barbados offers a plan to save the broken global financial system.

Read More The Bridgetown InitiativeContinue

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The UN Adopts New Urban Agenda

June 30, 2023July 28, 2025

The global population living in urban areas is expected to double by 2050. Proper development of cities will need to account for health, environmental, and climate impacts.

Read More The UN Adopts New Urban AgendaContinue

Renew PEPFAR Now

Tell Congress: Renew PEPFAR

The US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, PEPFAR, is up for renewal. The plan is a necessary force in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Read More Tell Congress: Renew PEPFARContinue

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Indigenous People’s Water Manifesto

May 1, 2023July 28, 2025

The following is an excerpt from a manifesto endorsed and signed by 74 Indigenous peoples and organizations represented at the March 2023 UN Water Conference.

Read More Indigenous People’s Water ManifestoContinue

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Take Action for Earth Day

Send a message to President Biden to support funding for the new UN Climate Loss and Damage Fund

Read More Take Action for Earth DayContinue

Lisa Sullivan and Margaret Lacson at the UN Conference

Pray, Study, Act for the Gift of Water

While we celebrate yesterday’s World Water Day, we also remember that around 2 billion people around the world do not have access to clean and safe drinking water.

Read More Pray, Study, Act for the Gift of WaterContinue

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Senate Hearing on Refugees Statement

March 22, 2023July 28, 2025

Statement for the Record U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary Hearing on “Living Up to America’s Promise: The Need to Bolster the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program” March 22, 2023

Read More Senate Hearing on Refugees StatementContinue

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Faith Groups Pressure Big Banks to Phase Out New Fossil-Fuel Financing

March 3, 2023July 28, 2025

Members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) a coalition of over 300 global faith-based and values-based institutions have filed two shareholder proposals at six of the nation’s top banks calling on them to reduce their financing of fossil fuels.

Read More Faith Groups Pressure Big Banks to Phase Out New Fossil-Fuel FinancingContinue

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Urge Congress to Support Nuclear Disarmament

People of faith, particularly in countries with nuclear weapons, can call on their leaders to pursue a robust program of negotiations and disarmament.

Read More Urge Congress to Support Nuclear DisarmamentContinue

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Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns

Representing Maryknoll Fathers & Brothers, Maryknoll Sisters, and Maryknoll Lay Missioners

200 New York Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20001
phone: (202) 832-1780
email: ogc@maryknollogc.org

P.O. Box 311
Maryknoll, N.Y. 10545-0311
phone: (914) 941-7575
fax: (914) 923-0733
email: ogc@maryknollogc.org

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Copyright © Maryknoll Office of Global Concerns | 2025

  • Act
  • About
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