The United Nations Foundation’s Shot@Life campaign is celebrating five years of Shot@Life Champions from February 29-March 2 in our nation’s capital. The Champion Summit is an opportunity for our volunteers to deepen their knowledge of global childhood immunizations as well as learn about the importance of engaging in U.S. advocacy to increase funding for global immunization programs. We welcomed 50 volunteers to our first summit and this year we are expecting more than 160. These […]

This year’s annual letter from Bill and Melinda Gates performed a great service: It elevated access to energy to a superpower – like being able to fly or run at supersonic speed. That’s exactly right: Energy empowers people. It enables them to do more with less work.  Last year all the countries in the world agreed to a set of Sustainable Development Goals. Goal 7 is to “ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern

As a communicator, it’s my job to read the headlines every day. While the news is often filled with sobering stories, it’s also filled with stories of breakthroughs and progress that are changing lives for the better. These stories are a reminder that when people take action, we can make the world a better place. It’s something I see every day working with the United Nations, and a message always worth sharing.  Here are four

The 88th annual Academy Awards will be held on Sunday, February 28. While the Oscars recognize acting, we’re recognizing eight of the many Academy Award-winning actresses who use their platforms to help promote the work of aid organizations, including United Nations agencies. Kors/ WFP shoot in El Cu· area of Jinotega department of Nicaragua. Audrey Hepburn In 1988, Audrey Hepburn became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and traveled to more than 20 countries, reporting what she

Every 20 seconds, a child dies from a vaccine-preventable disease. In many developing countries, parents have to take arduous journeys over long distances to vaccinate their children against deadly and debilitating diseases like measles, pneumonia, diarrhea, and polio. Every child, no matter where she lives, deserves a shot at a healthy life. Determined to protect children from preventable diseases, the United Nations and many other organizations are working to expand access to vaccines. Today, the

The United Nations Foundation’s work supporting UN causes includes a broad range of issues, from global development to humanitarian aid. And as a communicator, I’m constantly reading stories on these topics from a wide range of sources: newspapers, social media, online news sources, and more. Here are four stories that caught my eye, and I want to share:  “A Partnership to End Malaria in the Mekong,” by Dr. Mark Dybul, Executive Director of the Global

One of my kids is learning her alphabet right now. All of the sudden our house is full of the building blocks of language. There are letters on the wall, letters on the bathtub, blocks on the floor, and the alphabet song is in the air.  So it won’t surprise you that the alphabet has been on my mind a lot these past few days. Our community also comes down to letters. People dedicated to public engagement, social change,

On Friday, February 19, nearly 700 members of the United Nations Association of the USA (UNA-USA) attended the annual Members’ Day at UN headquarters for a series of panels and briefings on some of the world’s most pressing issues. These members once again proved themselves to be passionate advocates for strong U.S. involvement and leadership at the UN. Among the many conversations that took place on Members’ Day, certain points came through especially loud and

The United Nations’ World Food Programme feeds more than 80 million people a year, often families forced to flee their homes because of conflict and disaster. WFP works in some of the world’s most difficult environments providing food, but also hope. To more efficiently get food to people in need and to engage citizens around the world in supporting its work, WFP is harnessing technology and innovation. Here are two innovations WFP has recently launched