Action for UN Renewal (ACTUN) leads the drive to reclaim the UN for us all
Action for UN Renewal leads the drive to reclaim the UN for us all. We support the
radical vision of its founders and mean to see it realised, so that every child, whether
born in Angola or Australia, California or Cambodia, India or Israel has the same chance
of growing up healthy, educated and in peace.
About Action for UN Renewal
This campaign began ten years ago. Now after the UN's 60th anniversary we look
to the next milestone, the 75th. How will the UN look then? The United Nations
is a magnificent organisation, providing the widest possible services and
assistance in all parts of the world. It has become indispensable. But some
leading nations abuse their positions and dominate its activities - and its
budget. We aim to persuade ministers, parliamentarians and the media that the
UN is important to us and needs their support. Membership enquiries
to:- 97 Commercial Road , London, E1 1RD Tel: 0207 377 2111, fax: 0207 377 2999 or email: info@action-for-un-renewal.org.uk
Action for UN Renewal
Patrons: Tony Benn, Bruce Kent, Caroline Lucas MEP.
Chair: Vijay Mehta,
Vice chairs: Alisa Moore, Prue Wendt.
Secretary: Jess Blijkers,
Membership & Treasurer: Carol Langdon,
Website organiser: Karl Miller.
Committee members: Rosemary Addington, Gordon Glass, Donald Prentice, Maureen O’Mear, M A Qavi
Action for UN Renewal
97 Commercial Road
London
E1 1RD
Tony Benn Speaks at Action for UN Renewal Meeting on 14th May Oxford Town Hall,
where hundreds of
people turned out to hear the debate about 5 years of of war in Iraq.
What role can be the United Nations play in building peace and security/
To view fotos of the event please goto the photo gallery
Some Forthcoming Events
14th May 2008
6.30pm - 8.30pm
Oxford Town Hall
“5 years of war in Iraq: What role can the United Nations
play in building peace and security.”
Speakers: Tony Benn (former MP, Minister and President, Stop the War Coalition),
Cllr John Tanner (Mayor of Oxford),
Chair Vijay Mehta
for full details view: leaflet
19th April 2008
Wesley Chapel, London
World Disarmament Campaign, Spring conference and AGM
Nuclear Power - and Nuclear Proliferation
Speakers: Frank Barnaby (nuclear scientist)
Edward Davey MP Liberal Democrat
Vijay Mehta co-chair of WDC and Chair Act-UN
The United Nations and Student Association (UNYSA) of the University of St Andrews
The role of the UN in 21st century global politics?
Panellists include:
- Vijay Mehta (chair of Action for UN Renewal)
Professor Oliver Richmond (University of St Andrews)
- Dr Martin Barber, (former director, UN Mine Action Service, New York)
Contact: Pawel Kuznicki
At: pk64@st-andrews.ac.uk
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Date to be confirmed
Oxford Environmental and Ethics Organisation 'Climate change, sustainable development and the role of the United
Nations'
Oxford University
V. Mehta is the keynote speaker
Saturday, 23rd February 2008
Action for UN Renewal AGM 'The Protection and Promotion of Human Rights and the role of the United
Nations' Guest speaker: Geoffrey Robertson QC
Friends House, Euston Road, London
Tuesday, 19 February 2008,
5.30pm
Labour Action for Peace, AGM and public meeting
Friends House, Euston Road, London
'Britain's special relationship should be with the United Nations, not
the USA'
V. Mehta is a speaker along with Tony Benn and Jeremy Corbyn MP
Wednesday, 13 February
2008, 5.30pm
UNA Leeds
'Reform of the United Nations, and the role of UN in peace and
international security'
The Rupert Beckett Lecture Theatre, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT
V. Mehta is the keynote speaker
Monday, 3rd December 2007 4.00 pm
BBC World Service TV interview
Interview with Vijay Mehta about climate change for the opening of the
UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP)
in Bali, Indonesia.
BBC Centre, London
173 Euston Road, London (opposite
Euston Station).
AGM 2.00 pm Public meeting 3 – 4.30
pm
“The Protection and
Promotion of Human Rights and the Role of the United Nations” Human Rights 1948 - 2008
Guest
Speaker:
Geoffrey Robertson QC
Geoffrey Robertson QC is a Human Rights lawyer, academic, author and
broadcaster. He has appeared in landmark cases in the European Courts of
Human Rights and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former
Yugoslavia. He was the recipient of a 1993 Freedom of Information Award.
It is the 60th
anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. At present we
are witnessing torture, Human Rights violations and erosion of freedom and
civil liberties. It will be timely to revisit and take stock of what has
been achieved and what remains to be done to stop human rights abuses.
For further information contact: Vijay Mehta, Action for UN Renewal
97 Commercial Road, London, E1 1RD, UK
T: 0207 377 2111 vijay@vmpeace.org
M: 07776 231 018
www.action-for-un-renewal.org
Network for Peace Annual General
Meeting
Saturday 9 February
LONDON. . "Human Rights 1948-2008 - Promotion & Protection" with guest speaker,
Stefanie Grant. 3:00pm at Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, nearest tube Holborn.
Stefanie Grant is a lawyer specialising in migration and refugee issues. She
served formerly with the Office of the United Nation High Commissioner for Human
Rights, as head of its research and development branch. She was previously
director of Amnesty International’s research department. Network for Peace AGM
at 2pm. All welcome. Network for Peace. 5 Caledonian Road, London N1 9DX Tel:
020 7278 3267 mail@networkforpeace.org.uk www.networkforpeace.org.uk Ground
floor and level access, Conway Hall 020 7242 8032.
COUNTRYWIDE. Peace: Celebration & Continuing Challenge.
Weekend of Services for Peace,
Contact World Disarmament Campaign Churches & Inter-Faith Peace Secretary, WDC,
PO Box 28209, Edinburgh EH9 1ZR. Tel 0131 447 4004.
www.world-disarm.org.uk
editor.worlddisarm@ntlworld.com
Introduction to GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT ISSUES
You may be interested to know that we
shall be holding another of our most successful introductory course of issues
facing the developing world. This will be the 14th in this series that srated in
2003. The course starts on Monday 18th February and lasts two weeks. It
consists of 12 sessions of two hours each, held in the evenings throughout the
week, and on the intervening Saturdays. Each session is dedicated to one issue -
education, health, global finance and microfinance, agriculture, global trade
and fair trade, aid in its global context and the role of the NGO community,
refugees and migration, and so on.
All courses have been highly successful and among the participants we have had
staff from all the major British development agencies, as well as from the
Department for International Development and the House of Commons Select
Committee on International development.
If you are new to work in international development or interested in developing
your career or to decide on further studies, the course is a wonderful short,
intensive and highly accessible introduction to the range of issues that arise
in this field.
Full details are on our website;
www.ethical-events.org.
Mark your calendar with 2 important dates for
2008:
· The Global Week of Action Against Gun Violence: 2-9
June 2008
The Global Week of Action Against Gun Violence highlights the international
campaign to stop the proliferation and misuse of small arms.
Each year activists around the world use the Week of Action to raise awareness,
campaign for better gun laws and push for stronger regulation of the
international arms trade.
In 2007 events were held in more than 60 countries, ranging from a workshop in
Cambodia to a rap concert in Mali, from a football match in El Salvador to a
photo exhibition in the Czech Republic.
The Global Week of Action gets bigger every year. Help us make the 2008 Week of
Action the biggest yet!
· The Biennial Meeting of States (BMS)
on the Implementation of the UN Programme of Action on Small Arms: 14-18 July
2008
The BMS is the major event on the small arms calendar this year. Governments
will send their representatives to the UN in New York to deliver their progress
reports on the implementation of the Programme of Action (PoA). This is also a
chance for governments and civil society to share information, exchange ideas
and make plans for the next two years.
The BMS creates a lot of opportunities for IANSA members, whether in New York or
around the world. Civil society can make significant contributions to each
country’s national progress report, as well as raising local media awareness.
Civil society organisations can also apply for accreditation to attend the
Biennial Meeting itself. We will notify you as soon as the accreditation process
opens.
IANSA is the official coordinator of civil society involvement in the BMS. We
will help to develop policy positions, information, media contacts and other
resources to maximise the effectiveness of our members’ participation in this
important event.
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IANSA will provide further information over the coming weeks about these two
events, but we urge our members to begin making plans now. IANSA may be able to
provide some limited funding support, however we strongly advise you to seek
funding from other sources for participation at the BMS and during the Global
Week of Action.
A more secure world: Our shared
responsibility'. Report of the Secretary-General's High Level Panel
on Threats, Challenges and Change
http://www.un.org/secureworld/
Tony Benn
and Caroline Lucas, MEP are our new Patrons
We are pleased to announce that the first two
patrons we have invited to give formal support to the campaign have
accepted enthusiastically.
Tony Benn, whose support for the United Nations is legendary said "I
would be delighted to become a patron for Action for UN Renewal whose
work I admire.
Caroline Lucas, MEP, who was one of the first Erskine Childers
lecturers, also strongly supports our campaign, joining on the day of
her lecture.
In a press release on 12th April 2006 Caroline said "I am honoured to
be asked to serve Action for UN Renewal as a patron, and I hope the
Government listens to its pleas for the UK to adopt a truly, ethical,
and lawful, foreign policy".
Publications
Below are some of the publications distributed by
Action for UN Renewal .
The United Nations and Its
Future in the 21st Century byVijay Mehta.
Published by
SPOKESMANfor
Action for UN Renewal. 2005 ISBN 0 85124 707 5. This collection
of essays assesses aspects of the UN’s history, and what might lie ahead for
it. The chapters in the book were originally given as lectures in honour of
the UN’s free-thinker, critic and constructive analysts’, Erskine Childers.
The contributors include: Margaret Anstee * Jayantha Dhanapala * Denis
Halliday * Rosalyn Higgins * Razali Ismali *Richard Jolly * Caroline Lucas MEP
* Patricia McKenna * Paul Rogers * Ramesh Thakur * Jenny Tonge
See our Reports and Letters
pages that includes press releases briefings, and articles on the UN. Includes :
Report on the 2007 Erskine Childers Annual
Memorial Lecture by Kate Allen,
Dr James B Thring, Secretary of Ministry Of Peace reports
on the 2007 Action for UN Renewal Erskine Childers Annual Memorial
Lecture 'The growth and importance of individual action and its
increasing influence in the field of human rights and United Nations reform'
given by Kate Allen, Director, Amnesty International (UK), 12th June
2007 , Friends House, London
Letter to Jenny Tonge MP
David Roberts writes 2004 Erskine Childers lecturer Jenny Tonge MP. With
information on 'War, International Law, and the UN' , 'International
Law Against War', 'The Nuremberg Principles'
Report on The 2003 Erskine Childers Lecturegiven
by Caroline Lucas MEP on "Crisis in
the UN, EU and NATO",is
accessible from the Reports section.
Report on The Erskine Childers Lecture (2002):
A report on Action For UN Renewal's annual Erskine Childers Lecture by Denis
Halliday "Why International Law embarrasses the UN"
is accessible from the Reports section.
Om Arham The Voice of Ahimsa from
Children’s Peace Palace – Rajsamand (INDIA) "Training in nonviolence is the prime need of the day. It is the only way
to create a peaceful world. Unfortunately training in killing goes on
unabated in all parts of the world but no training is being imparted in
nonkilling."
World
Security, Global Governance and the Role of UN For a just, peaceful and
sustainable world
A talk given by Vijay Mehta at the conference of World Disarmament
Campaign ‘Global Security: New challenges’ 29th October 2007 House of Lords,
London "We need governments and institutions which are transparent, democratic,
accountable and can work together with NGOs and civil society. With all its
weaknesses and need for reform, the UN is one of the best world institution
which has the clout, legitimacy and caliber to solve problems effectively on
a world stage. All of these are problems that no one country, however
powerful, can solve on its own and which are the shared responsibility of
humankind."
Vijay Mehta
Reports on the 60th Annual DP/NGO Conference United Nations, New York, 5 -7
September 2007
Reforming the UN for the 21st Century James Thring's notes on Professor Joseph Schwartzberg's, Prof. Emeritus U. Minnesota,
lecture on 9th August 2007 at United Reform Church, Essex Street, London
WC2
Bursting at the
Seams
Alison Williams' notes from Broadcast of Reith Lecture 1 given
by Jeffrey Sachs, Royal Society, London – 11 April 2007
Survival in the Anthropocene
Alison Williams' notes from Broadcast of Reith Lecture 2 given
by
Jeffrey Sachs, Peking University Beijing – 18 April 2007
The Great
Convergence
Alison Williams' notes from Broadcast of Reith Lecture 3 given
by Jeffrey Sachs, Columbia University, New York – 25 April 2007
Obituary – Jim
Addington Vijay Mehta, Author and Vice Chair Action
for UN Renewal pays tribute to Action for UN Renewal's founder and Chair Jim Addington
The Gordon &
Tony Show
Jim
Addington's parody about some UK Politicians.
Gordonius. “Look you Bennius,
The angy spot doth glow on Tonius’s brow,
And Twojags looks with such ferret
and such fiery eyes as we have seen him on the hustings”.
PROGRAMME of global reconciliation and cooperation The following resolution was submitted and debated at Action For Un
Renewal's AGM on 25 February 2006. Although it was not passed; it did create
much discussion and sympathisers for some parts of it.
One World Trust publishes pamphlet on UN Reform. The
pamphlet, The Reform of the United Nations, seeks to address two key
questions: (1) what changes in the United Nations are necessary to make it a
serious player in today’s world, and (2) what lessons might be learned from
the experience of the circumstances that led to the creation of the EU?
New Year’s Day Peace Challenge
from British Peace Groups. From Action for UN Renewal, Legal Action
Against War and World Court Project (UK)
With background material from:
* From the Judgment of the Nuremberg International Military Tribunal,
1946
* Declaration on principles of international law in accordance with the
Charter of the United Nations. Extract from UN General Assembly Resolution 2625 - 24
October 1970.
* From the Charter of the United Nations.
* THE NUCLEAR NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY
Action For UN Renewal does NOT have any control or
relationship with any advertisements listed in searches.
Visit Our Letters
and Reports , Books
Sections.
Submit your letters, articles or emails on UN Renewal and Reform, or
relating to Action For UN Renewal's aims by emailing us at: info@action-for-un-renewal.org.uk .
All writers must provide a full name, home address, email and telephone number. Also
indicate if you are an Action For UN Renewal Member, and if we can
publish your email address. Letters should be no more than 10kb and are subject to
editing. We cannot guarantee to put up everything we receive.
Disclaimer: Action
For UN Renewal does NOT necessarily support the views and policies of the Organisations
and documents listed or contained in any items or articles on our web site. For details of
Action For UN Renewal views and policies email our Chair at
info@actun.org.uk
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