Our Oklahoma City chapter of the United Nations Association is dedicated to educating, inspiring, and mobilizing Americans to support the vital work of the United Nations.
One of the ways we have pursued this mission is by expanding public access to educational materials that highlight the good work of the UN. An excellent example is a new project that has been launched within the last six months -- our Human Rights Video Collection.
The following report was delivered in a shortened form at last Saturday's Spring Luncheon.
Annual Meeting Report
UNA-OKC Human Rights Video Collection
April 19, 2008
Last fall, the UNA Board of Directors approved a plan to create the UNA-OKC Human Rights Video Collection. The concept for the collection was to make available a wide range of videos to area schools and adult community groups to encourage the study of critical human rights issues that are impacting our world.
The board also agreed to submit a grant proposal to the Oklahoma Humanities Council for financial assistance to establish the collection. That grant request was approved as a $1,000 matching grant with a granting period of October 1, 2007 through March 31, 2008.
Lowell Adams, UNA board member and the project director, successfully approached the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Library System asking that they serve as a working partner by housing and administering the videos and making them available to their card-carrying members. The initial acquisition of the collection was a 10-video series produced in cooperation with the United Nations entitled, "What's Going On?" Each video is approximately 28-minutes in length and is hosted by a well-known human rights activist.
The topics are varied and include stories of landmine tragedies in Cambodia, a look at how girls are educated in India, the child refugees of war in Tanzania, and the impact of AIDS in the Caribbean. Videos will continue to be added to the collection in the future to broaden the range and keep it relevant.
Complete sets of the series were placed in the Belle Isle, Edmond, and Southern Oaks branch libraries. We are pleased to report that from November 5, 2007 until March 31, 2008 (a six month period) there were checkouts of 43 (Belle Isle), 50 (Edmond), and 34 (Southern Oaks) which total 127 showings. Assuming that the majority were checkouts by teachers, this means that more than 2,000 students were served in this short time by the collection.
You can review excerpts from each video and get additional details on the Collection by visiting our chapter's website at: www.una-okc.org.
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From the United Nations Association
April, 2008
US debt to the United Nations is on the rise again, with outstanding American dues payments totaling almost $2.8 billion as of February 1, 2008.
The growing US arrears to the United Nations threaten the effectiveness and financial stability of the organization and tarnish America’s standing within the international community. How can the United States promote global cooperation and responsible participation within the international community when we fail to meet our most basic membership obligation to the world’s only universal diplomatic forum?
Within the next two weeks, Congress is expected to begin its work on an FY2008 supplemental spending request from the President that provides a critical opportunity to start paying off our damaging UN debt.
You can help the United States set the right example of responsible international diplomacy by urging your legislators to support the payment of our UN financial obligations.
To act now ...
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The United Nations Association of Greater OKC
"Dedicated to educating, inspiring and mobilizing Americans to support the vital work of the United Nations."
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