By Amanda Kabonero, UN Foundation Public Affairs Summer 2017 Intern Sunday, July 30, marks the fourth annual World Day Against Trafficking in Persons to “raise awareness of the situation of victims of human trafficking and for the promotion and protection of their rights.” Human trafficking transcends borders; therefore, the international community must act to help the tens of millions of victims of modern slavery, forced labor, trafficking, and sexual exploitation around the world. The United Nations […]

We are in the midst of what the United Nations has called the largest humanitarian crisis since World War II. The threat of famine and severe food insecurity in Somalia, South Sudan, Yemen, and Nigeria mean that 20 million people – more than the population of the entire state of New York – are facing starvation and the ripple of consequences that come alongside it. The UN is responding: Agencies across the UN system are

When world leaders adopted the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015, they pledged that “no one will be left behind” from a world of opportunity and dignity. While the international community has made significant progress in many areas – child deaths have declined by 44% since 2000 – hundreds of millions of people have been shut out of global progress because of crushing poverty, discrimination, and other barriers including conflict, violence, and other emergencies. To fulfill

Children should not have to worry about being bombed at school. Women should not have to fear rape used as a weapon of war. And humanitarian aid workers should not be blocked from and targeted for delivering life-saving supplies to people caught in conflict. International law demands the protection of civilians in conflict, as does our common humanity. Yet today, millions of people suffer inexcusable horrors as parties engaged in conflict ignore laws, often without

The United States and the United Nations have an important relationship. The UN was founded in San Francisco and its headquarters is in New York. The U.S. is the UN’s largest funder and a permanent member of the Security Council. Strong partnership between the U.S. and the UN have helped address pandemics, sanction rogue regimes, reduce hunger, enable more children to go to school, and stabilize fragile countries through peacekeeping. In addition, many Americans work

As part of our “Americans in the UN” project to share the stories of Americans who work for the United Nations, we talked to Eric Husketh, who grew up in rural North Carolina and now works as a human rights officer for the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), including on issues justice and accountability in the aftermath of ISIL’ defeat in Mosul. Husketh has worked for the UN over seven years, working on tribunals

The United States is an essential partner of the UN, including the many Americans who work for the UN, helping build a better future for Americans and people around the world. As part of our “Americans in the UN” project, we talked to Amy Auguston, who grew up in Long Island, New York and now serves a Communications Specialist for UN World Food Programme (WFP), based in its Rome headquarters. In addition to WFP, she

As part of our “Americans in the UN” project to share the stories of Americans who work for the United Nations, we talked to Nancy Groves, the head of social media for the UN’s Department of Public Information. Groves was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, grew up in Cedar Falls, Iowa, and is based at UN Headquarters in New York, New York. From your experience, what is an example of how the UN has made

As part of our “Americans in the UN” project to share the stories of Americans who work for the United Nations, we talked to Catherine Bauman from Danville, Virginia, who works as a Child Protection Specialist with UNICEF. Bauman has been working in East Africa for over five years, in Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo. What is your message to Americans about the importance of the UN? Catherine Bauman: The United Nations delivers