FREE LIVE-STREAMED CONCERT FOR PEACE

FROM HARM TO HARMONY

Sunday, September 17, 2023

11am pst/ 2pm est

Including performances from Ukraine, Iran, Turkey, the US and more

In recognition of International Day of Peace, and in collaboration with the United Nations Association of the USA (Southern California Division) and the Rotary Action Group for Peace, this event will benefit earthquake victims in Turkey, provide assistance to refugees, support human rights in Iran, and more.

To watch the free Concert for Peace and save the date click this link:
From Harm to Harmony: Concert for Peace

For information email: conversationsforpeace@gmail.com
or visit www.conversationsforpeace.com

Shinzo Abe Book of Condolences

The United Nations Association of Southern Arizona and UNA Center offer sympathy and solidarity to the Japanese people after the death of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. In coordination with the Consulate General of Japan, we will present the Japanese people with a book of condolences from our community. You are welcome to enter a message or sign your name. The book is available to the public from Tuesday, July 12 to Saturday, July 16.

Don Guerra at Second Tuesday Talks

Don Guerra of Barrio Bread spoke at our last Second Tuesday Talk. He explained his mission to create a local grain movement here in Tucson and to assist other communities around the world to do the same. He has connected with many local farmers, including Tohono Oodam members to grow ancient grains, some dating back to the Tucson area since Father Kino. He also described the economic and health benefits of baking with these ancient grains.

Dr. Ihor Kunasz at Second Tuesday Talks

The Tuesday Talk on April 12 featured Dr. Ihor Kunasz, President of the Ukrainian-American Society of Tucson and a renowned geoscientist who has lived in many countries around the globe, including the former Soviet Union.  Dr. Kunasz explained the long history of interactions between Russia and Ukraine, provided updated information about the current invasion of Ukraine, and explained the effects which the invasion is having on the Western world.  The question-and-answer session which followed focused on war strategies, autocracy, and refugees.

Accepting Donations: UNICEF for Ukraine

The conflict in Ukraine is responsible for the exodus of 3.5 million Ukrainians (8% of the population) to nearby countries and displacement of another 6.5 million still in the country. This will likely create one of the largest refugee crises in Europe since World War II.

UNICEF has set up 26 Blue Dot safe spaces, each with the capacity to assist 3,000 to 5,000 people per day, in Moldova, Romania, Belarus, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, and Czech Republic. These environments provide psychosocial support alongside health, hygiene, first aid, and nutrition services.

You can help mobilize and sustain such essential support wherever and whenever children and families need assistance. At the United Nations Association’s store in Tucson we gratefully accept financial gifts, which we then forward to UNICEF for Ukrainian relief efforts. Thank you for your generosity and solidarity with those experiencing this tragic invasion.

International Women's Day

March 8 is International Women’s Day

A message from United Nations Population Fund:

In 1975, the United Nations began observing International Women’s Day – an occasion to celebrate women’s achievement  – and in 1977, officially recognized it in a resolution calling for United Nations Day for Women and International Peace.

This year’s theme is “Women in Leadership: Achieving an Equal Future in a COVID-19 World.” We have seen the heroic efforts of women stepping up to battle a global pandemic, from world leaders in Ethiopia, Finland, Germany, Iceland and New Zealand among many others who are exemplars in managing the health crisis response and keeping their citizens safe and informed, to essential workers in hospitals and grocery stores and on farmlands, to mothers and caregivers and educators handling professional and personal responsibilities including children’s remote learning. Any leader will tell you she didn’t get where she is – nor is she staying there – on her own. Along the way, she was supported by others who pulled her through doors they opened and up behind them on ladders they climbed. And when women lead, communities are better and stronger, more equitable and more just. 

In more than 150 countries, women at UNFPA work everyday to fulfill the mandate that every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled. There is the family planning outreach worker ensuring women’s access to contraception is uninterrupted in COVID-19 times. There is the midwife putting her health at risk to ease a baby’s entrance into the world. There is the counsellor or shelter worker aiding a gender-based violence survivor and a life skills trainer educating girls to avoid child marriage and female genital mutilation, impressing upon them their right to bodily autonomy that will inform the decisions they make for themselves going forward. Those girls are our future leaders. "A woman who cannot realize bodily autonomy may face compounding barriers to equality throughout her life, undermining the range of rights and choices required to become a leader," said UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem. "That is why we must ensure women both gain skills and opportunities to lead, and can build on a firm foundation of bodily autonomy."

The day marks the achievements of women, among them the support that allows other women to achieve, too.

And in case you were wondering, Why 8 March? The date is linked to protests in Russia in 1917, when women were granted the right to vote. Protests began 23 February on the Julian calendar, which Russia followed then and corresponded to 8 March on the Gregorian calendar, largely used around the world today. 

For more information, click here.

Peace Through Music: A Global Event for Social Justice

917192.png

It may be the United Nations’ seventy-fifth anniversary this year, but here’s a gift for you: a music event with more than 200 artists from all over the world, no ticket required, on Human Rights Day. 

With a special release on Youtube on the Playing for Change channel on Thursday, December 10th at 12 pm PST / 3 pm EST, Peace Through Music: A Global Event for Social Justice will feature artists and public figures like Aloe Blacc, Angélique Kidjo, Becky G, Brandi Carlile with Mike McCready of Pearl Jam, Carlos Santana and Cindy Blackman Santana, Gabi Melim, Gary Clark Jr., Jack Johnson, Mavis Staples, Peter Gabriel, Rhiannon Giddens, Ringo Starr, Robbie Robertson, Run The Jewels with Josh Homme, Sheila E., Skip and Cedella Marley, The War and Treaty, Yo-Yo Ma and more. Billie Eilish, Killer Mike, Megan Rapinoe and Sue Bird, Norman Lear and Sara Bareilles among others are scheduled to make special appearances.

The event, a collaboration between Playing For Change, an organization that aims to connect the world through music, and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), presented by Corning® Gorilla® Glass and co-produced by Blackbird Presents, calls for equality, the recognition of human rights and an end to racism and discrimination. 

Contributions from partners and all donations will support the Playing For Change Foundation, the United Nations Population Fund, the United Nations and its Remember Slavery Programme, Sankofa, Silkroad, and The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation - organizations that strive to eradicate poverty, inequality, and systemic racial and gender discrimination around the world.

“The things in life that divide us disappear when the music plays,” says Mark Johnson, PFC Co-Founder, “and that’s something we hope you see and feel during this event.”  

From Live Aid for famine relief to the Global Citizen Festival to end poverty, music has united people to rally behind extinguishing the planet’s greatest ills. Peace Through Music is just the latest to bring hope and harmony.

VISIT PEACETHROUGHMUSIC.LIVE FOR MORE INFORMATION