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.
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:
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.
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:
On August 4, President Obama unveiled the final version of the EPA’s Clean Power Plan (CPP), a set of national standards to reduce carbon emissions from U.S. power plants by 32 percent from 2005 levels by the year 2030.
In 2015, 70 years after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the world community is making important moves toward nuclear abolition.
September 21-25 will be the “week of moral action on climate” as we take advantage of Pope Francis’ visit to Washington, D.C. to highlight the critical issue of climate change.
Each year the International Day of Peace is observed around the world on September 21.
Urge Congress to support President Obama’s request for monies for the Green Climate Fund.
The following commentary was written by Fr. John T. Brinkman, MM, who attended the launch of the encyclical Laudato Si’ on June 18 at the Vatican.
The following reflection and prayer is a collaborative effort of members of Religious at the UN (RUN), which includes the Maryknoll Sisters.
Held two decades after the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women, which took place in Beijing, a repeated theme at this year’s Commission on the Status of Women was that, in too many places, not enough progress has been made.
MY World is a global survey for citizens led by the United Nations and partners. It aims to capture people’s voices, priorities and views, so that global leaders can be informed as they begin the process of defining the new development agenda for the world.
In December, during the Vienna Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons, the Holy See contributed a ground-breaking paper entitled Nuclear Disarmament: Time for Abolition, which presents a compelling argument to move beyond limits set by political realism: “Now is the time to affirm not only the immorality of the use of nuclear weapons, but the immorality of their possession, thereby clearing the road to nuclear abolition.”
On April 26, the day before the 2015 NPT Review Conference begins, thousands will gather in New York City for an international rally and march to the United Nations to call for a nuclear-free, peaceful, just, and sustainable world.
In early February, civil society held a preliminary panel before the Commission for Social Development’s 53rd session (CSocD53), “Rethinking and strengthening social development in the contemporary world.
The much anticipated 20th UN Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP20) in Lima, Peru, closed on December 14 with less-than-hoped-for outcomes.
The following reflection on the readings for World AIDS Day, December 1, was prepared by Susan Weissert, a former lay missioner who coordinated the Maryknoll AIDS Task Force.
As the effects of climate change become more pronounced, the eyes of the world are on international negotiators as they prepare for the 20th Conference of Parties (COP20) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to be held in Lima, Peru in early December.
Activists, scientists and concerned citizens around the world are calling on their governments to act decisively to prevent disastrous climate change.
The following article, published in the November-December NewsNotes, was written by Fr. Ken Thesing, MM, who lives and works in Rome.
From August 27-29, the UN’s Department of Public Information held its 65th annual conference.
