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Upcoming Events
Partnership Walk and Run: September 25, 2005
The UNA is proud to support the Partnership Walk
A 5K Run or Walk, Partnership Walk is an International Cultural and Educational Event to raise awareness of Millenium Development Goals and Global Poverty solutions for children and their communities. It is a unique American event that helps children and their communities in some of the poorest countries of Asia and Africa. The Walk is an initiative of the Aga Khan Foundation U.S.A. (AKF USA), an organization that delivers creative solutions to help children and their communities without regard to race, religion, gender or origin. This year Partnership Walk inaugurates a 5K Run. We are supported locally by
the Los Angeles Marathon as an official warmup race, United Nations Association, Actor Jean Claude Van Damme, Actor Steve Guttenberg, Actor Gary Busey, LA Marathon Coach Pat Connelly, Actress/Model Shonna Davis, Singer/Model K.D. Aubert and VP of Southern California Motion Pictures Association Larry Covin.
For more info visit www.PartenershipWalkLA.org
October 22, 2005
60th Anniversary of U.N. Day!
United Nations Association, Pasadena Chapter Plans Fundraiser to Celebrate the United Nations 60th Anniversary
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(Los Angeles) - Thursday, September 15, 2005. The influential Pasadena-Foothills Chapter of the United Nations Association (PUNA), announced today plans to hold a fundraiser celebrating 60 years of the United Nations (UN) working toward a more peaceful, just, and humane world. Oscar winner and humanitarian, Morgan Freeman is one of the many outstanding figures serving on the Honorary Committee for the event. The gala will also include a tribute to past and present chapter PUNA presidents and a taped appearance by Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu. The exhibit will feature artwork of community artists and international celebrities inspired by the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Internationally renowned sitar player and Millennium Development Goals ambassador for the UN, Nishat Kahn, will also perform.
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"The event is sponsored by K-Mozart 105.1, serving the cultural community for over 45 years, and Cobblestone Vineyards, exceptional boutique wines from Napa Valley and Monterey, and will be held at the historic Pacific Asian Museum on Saturday, October 22. The public is encouraged to attend.
"We are living in times that call human beings to stand together in the face of global challenges. The UN continues to emphasize and invest in our greatest worldwide asset: one another. Our event is a wonderful way to bring attention to these ideals," said Sherry Simpson-Dean, Pasadena United Nations Association, Executive Director.
As part of the fundraising activities, select art pieces will be on display for silent auction bidding. These pieces represent works inspired by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and pay tribute to the UN's eight Millennium Goals (MDGs).The MDGs range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education form a blueprint agreed to by all the world's countries and all the world's leading development institutions, all by the target year of 2015.
Artist Max Gold local artist will feature seven pieces, nationally known jazz musician and artist Ramses will offer beautiful stained glass from his collection. Glass artists, Leigh Adams and Cha-Rie, who were recently awarded the artistic design of a Los Angeles metro station, are also generously donating a work for the fundraising efforts. Senagalese artist, Djibril N'Doye recently featured in the Pan African Film and Arts Festival is contributing his painting, appropriately called HOPE. Although the fundraising efforts are primarily for the advancing the work of the PUNA, a portion of the proceeds from the sale will go to benefit victims of Hurricane Katrina.
"Participating in the 60th Anniversary Celebration is a great honor," says Los Angeles based artist Max Gold, who is known as the Father of Fusion Art. "My life and art are about being of service to my fellow man and so I am thrilled to help mark this special occasion. The United Nations vision of creating a more peaceful, humane and just world is definitely a beacon of hope for all of us."
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, created in 1948 proclaims "All human rights for all" and was adopted three years after the Charter of the United Nations was signed on June 26, 1945. For the last 60 years the UN has come to represent humankind's best efforts to co-exist in peace and with dignity. The United Nations strives to bring about an end to eight of the world's largest and most persistent crises including poverty, hunger, HIV/AIDS, child mortality, and safeguarding the environment for future generations.
The group hopes to raise $50,000 to further its mission of educating the public about the goals of the UN. The funds collected from this event will go toward the association's goal of creating a greater awareness and extension of their reach to a broader community. Pasadena Mayor, Bill Bogaard is one of a number of outstanding figures comprising the Honorary Committee, whose members lead the way in unifying the community and global consciousness. Also scheduled are an impressive list of guest speakers, dignitaries, celebrities, international cuisine, and music in and around the museum's beautiful grounds. Guests from Pasadena and the surrounding greater Los Angeles metropolitan area are expected.
Ellen Snortland, PUNA co-president added, "The global community is strengthened when we employ the old adage, 'each one, teach one'. Educating our kids to be global citizens will have exponential returns for a better world." Co- Presidents Inman Moore and Snortland are two of the presidents that will be honored during the event.
About The United Nations Association-USA (Pasadena/Foothills Chapter)
The Association provides information and educational services on the work of the U.N. and on other global issues for students, scholars, Congress, business leaders, and media. Each year it coordinates the observance of U.N. Day (October 24) commemorating the establishment of the United Nations in 1945.
With a membership that covers most of the San Gabriel Valley, Burbank, Glendale, and Northeast Los Angeles,
Pasadena/Foothills Chapter is one of the largest UNA-USA chapters in the nation. Our members belong to a unique organization that's informational, educational and cultural programs reach all ages. The chapter was formed in 1947 and is now celebrating 56 years of service to the greater Pasadena area.
About the United Nations (UN)
The United Nations was established on October 24, 1945 by 51 countries committed to preserving peace through international cooperation and collective security. Today, nearly every nation in the world belongs to the UN: membership totals 191 countries.
When States become Members of the United Nations, they agree to accept the obligations of the UN Charter, an international treaty that sets out basic principles of international relations. According to the Charter, the UN has four purposes: to maintain international peace and security; to develop friendly relations among nations; to cooperate in solving international problems and in promoting respect for human rights; and to be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations.
The United Nations is not a world government and it does not make laws. It does, however, provide the means to help resolve international conflicts and formulate policies on matters affecting all of us. At the UN, all the Member States - large and small, rich and poor, with differing political views and social systems - have a voice and a vote in this process.
The United Nations has six main organs. Five of them - the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council and the Secretariat - are based at UN Headquarters in New York. The sixth, the International Court of Justice, is located at The Hague in the Netherlands.
The 8 Millennium Development Goals targeted for Year 2015
Goal 1 Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
Goal 2 Achieve universal primary education
Goal 3 Promote gender equality and empower women
Goal 4 Reduce child mortality
Goal 5 Improve maternal health
Goal 6 Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
Goal 7 Ensure environmental sustainability
Goal 8 Develop a global partnership for development
Fall 2006
The Challenge of Africa, The Promise of Africa Conference
The UNA is proud to share plans for a historical conference themed "The Challenge of Africa, The Promise of Africa" to be held late 2006.
Community and worldwide dignitaries are being invited to present active approaches to humanitarian, cultural, and economic issues facing Africa today.
The goal is to create powerful solutions to the challenges facing the continent in order to ensure that Africa reaches its full potential in all areas.
Stay tuned for further developments in the near future!
Sign up to be on our email blast list for more details.
Event Highlights
Workshop to Eliminate Racism- May 21, 2005
Community and United Nations Association members, as well as both high school and college students, joined forces last Saturday to eliminate
racism in our community. The workshop was an interactive event in which attendees were encouraged to participate in paired sharing of their
personal experiences with racism. The leader of this workshop, UNA board member Horace Williams, sought to stress one underlying theme: if racial
hurts are not healed, racism will continue to exist.
This event provided a window for the UNA to take even greater action in regards to eliminating racism in the Pasadena and worldwide communities.
The UNA Executive Director Sherry Simpson-Dean has recently become an active member of the YWCA Racial Justice Committee, and the UNA looks
forward to partnering with the YWCA in future events.
Genocide and Reconciliation- April 22, 2005
The eclectic, typically quiet Café Culture was abuzz the evening of April 22nd, as the Armenian community joined forces with the United Nations
Association in creating a commemoration of the Armenian Genocide, formally entitled "Genocide in our Lifetime." Special guest speaker Marc
Vahanian spoke briefly but movingly of his mother and grandfather, survivors of the Holocaust and the Armenian genocide, respectively. Mr.
Vahanian stressed the need for reconciliation, communication and forgiveness as the only means of moving past such tragic events. He also
touched on the urgency of the current situation in the Darfur region of the Sudan, sharing ways in which the audience members could take an
active part in educating both themselves and others of the present atrocities.
Upon being asked for audience response, several members of the Turkish and Kurdish communities volunteered sincere apologies on behalf of their
nations, moving many others to voice their desires for peace and a final reconciliation. The underlying theme of the evening became not a drudging up of
past crimes and pain, but rather an active rally toward forgiveness and cooperation.
Besides enlisting these audience comments, UNA representatives encouraged members to take just a moment to write both Senator Boxer and Senator
Feinstein regarding the present genocide in Darfur and the US's and the UN's lack of intervention in the area. Pens and paper were provided, and
those in attendance enthusiastically complied.
The event served as a wonderful introduction to the UNA's work with the UN's Millenium Development Goals, eight goals established for the welfare
of humankind and ranging from eliminating poverty to empowering women. The spirit of peace that prevailed at this commemoration of the Armenian
genocide and oral acknowledgement of the crisis in Sudan was yet one tiny stepping stone toward creating a more harmonious community worldwide.
In attendance were both Theresa Lamb-Simpson, a representative from Congressman Adam Schiff's office, and Ardi Rashidi, President of the
Southern California Division of the United Nations Association. Beautiful Café Culture in Pasadena will host the UNA's ongoing speaker series, which
aims to provide at least one guest speaker per month to more fully educate the Pasadena community on international concerns.
An evening with Ellen Snortland - January 20,2005
Pasadena Weekly Review - Unraveling the Mysteries of Ellen Snortland
Woman Power: Ellen Snortland is flexing her acting muscles in a one-woman show.
Readers of the Weekly may know Ellen Snortland for her upbeat columns and often quirky perspective. For those who made it to the Feminist Foundation in Beverly Hills last Thursday, a viewing of Snortland’s one-woman play, “Now That She’s Gone: Unraveling the Mysteries of Mother,” might have revealed where she got that quirky perspective.
Largely biographical, “Now That She’s Gone” chronicles Snortland’s often bizarre but always interesting life. She moves from the cultural mismatch between her parents’ Norwegian mores, and those of the US, to her personal mismatch with conservative middle-America, while referencing Eleanor Roosevelt’s Universal Declaration on Human Rights throughout.
This is dangerous territory. Autobiographical one-person shows can seem unimaginative, self-indulgent, or both; and autobiographical one-person shows with political references can seem unimaginative, self-indulging and patronizing.
Happily, Snortland skips over these pitfalls. Paradoxically, her bare-all emotional approach makes her feelings so genuine they convey something universal. Using emotional experiences to illustrate rather than preach the importance of human rights keeps the political references part of a cohesive package.
Despite these artistic achievements, however, the show was hatched solely for practical reasons. Just two years shy of SAG retirement benefits, Snortland needed a way to warm up her acting muscles again. A one-woman show, she said, seemed like the ticket. The biographical approach was a given. Since her mother’s death, Snortland has been fascinated, upon reflection, at just how incongruous her personality was with that of her family.
Never discouraged from trying things, Snortland attributes her eventful life to her upbringing. The toxic mixture of Norwegian roots, a childhood on the farm, and a dramatic temperament- possibly developed as a way to get her mother’s attention- could only mean one thing: a born troublemaker!
Insistence on swimming lessons as a girl saved her life in the 1972 Rapid City Flood. And later, after a burglar almost attacked her outside her home in Los Angeles, Snortland became an advocate for female self-defense classes. The barriers she encountered along the way spawned a book on the subject, Beauty Bites Beast.
From here, Snortland plans to shop around for venues in New York and eventually hopes to come full circle- performing at the Pasadena Playhouse.
In the mean time, as a delegate to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, Snortland will be performing the show on the UN Campus in March.
Greg Allwood
UNITED NATIONS DAY - October 24, 2004
Over 100 members and guests were on hand for the indoor/outdoor program featuring an address by Valeria Harper (best known for
her enduring role as Rhoda Morgenstern on the classic sitcom "The Mary Tyler Moore Show.")
Harper has served as both a UN Ambassador and a global activist on behalf of the Hunger Project, and her Focus for this particular event was on women's empowerment and gender equity, one of the eight United Nations Millennium Goals. She painted a vivid picture of the status of hunger around the planet, linking the source of this plight to cultural devaluation of women and girls and emphasizing that there is positive work being done to further human development in this area.
Pasadena based cultural group Imani Bridges presented a medley of uniquely styled a capella spirituals based in the African-American tradition.
A special thanks goes out to the corps of student volunteers from Azusa Pacific University who were invaluable in the set-up before and after the event.
These students participated in an orientation workshop on the work of the United Nations by veteran board member Norri Sirri, and we extend a warm welcome to them as they are all now members of the UNA/Pasadena Foothills Chapter!
Our youngest contributors to the success of the day were the second grade students at Don Benito Elementary School who created a peace gallery of artwork depicting their visions of Peace on Earth.
For more information on the UN Millennium Goals or to get involved in the effort to end hunger, please contact us at 626/449-1795.
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Night of a Thousand Dinners - March 23, 2004
The Pasadena/Foothills Chapter held their 3rd Annual Night of a Thousand Dinners on behalf of the Adopt a Minefield Campaign this year on March 23rd, at the beautiful home of the O'Neills in Altadena. Over 60 people attended the buffet dinner, which raised $4,600. The Consul General from Croatia, the Honorable Sanja B. Juiraga, was our guest speaker.
Her insight into the removal of mines and assistance in mine-affected communities beginning their reconstruction process was of great interest to all in attendance.
The Night of a Thousand Dinners Campaign was created by the United Nations Association of the USA, in partnership with Ted Turner's United Nations Foundation, the United Nations, and the U.S. State Department in order to empower people everywhere to be part of a solution.
In just over four years, the Campaign has raised nearly $10 million for mine clearance and survivor assistance and cleared nearly 16 million square meters of land, with an estimated 2 million square miles currently under clearance.
Our Chapter is thankful to Kari-Anne Kilbert of the United Nations Foundation for her assistance with the evening.
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International Women's Day - March 5, 2004
On Friday, March 5th, 2004, our Chapter celebrated the Third Annual Women's Day with a Concert held at All Saints Church in Pasadena that featured a diverse group of women performers, performing compositions by women composers. While the Pasadena Chapter was the lead organizer, the International Women's Day Planning Committee and work was done by a consortium of nine dedicated women from a variety of organizations - Roberta Davis, Richard Harvey, Monica Hubbard, Linda Jenkins, Anne Pursel, Betty Sandford, Juanita St. John, Peggy Spear, and Nadine Washington.
International Women's Day is widely celebrated around the world. Its purose is to call attention to the accomplishments of women of all countries and to raise awareness about areas where work on women's rights is still needed.
The program featured Calico Winds, an award-winning all-women wind ensemble; Grace, a very dynamic female vocal quartet, Instrument Women Jazz Ensemble directed by La Quetta Shamblee, and soprano Elizabeth Tatum Harris. Alice Coulombe was the Mistress of Ceremonies.
A reception followed the performance, which gave the enthusiastic audience an opportunity to meet with the performers and view the literature that was displayed by our many sponsors.
If you missed the concert this year, and you are a subscriber to Charter Communications, you will be able to see the concert all year on their stations as part of their public service announcements.
Our Chapter wishes to acknowledge our Underwriters and Corporate sponsors for this concert:
All Saints Episcopal Church, Pasadena
Castle Press
Charter Communications
City of Pasadena
Betty & Jules Sandford
United Nations Association (Pasadena/Foothills Chapter)
United Nations Foundation
View pictures
International Women's Day - March 9, 2003
View pictures of activities/ highlights of International Women's Day
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