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UNA-USA's Global Leadership Awards Gala Honors
Champions of the MDGs
More than 500 celebrities, leading philanthropists, ambassadors, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other distinguished guests gathered at the Waldorf-Astoria on Oct. 1 for the 50th Annual UNA-USA Global Leadership Awards gala. Two-time Academy-Award winner and UN Messenger of Peace Michael Douglas was host of the event, which was held in the Grand Ballroom and featured a special tribute to Champions of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
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Host Michael Douglas and his wife Catherine Zeta Jones arrive at the Gala
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The gala marked the midway point of the MDGs that Secretary-General Ban recently reminded the world were set up “to free humankind from hunger, illiteracy, disease, disempowerment and environmental degradation” by 2015. The diverse group of honorees was selected by UNA-USA for their ongoing contributions toward these efforts.
Awards were presented to Gregory J. Fleming and Merrill Lynch; Dr. Larry Brilliant and Google.org; Patricia Phelps de Cisneros and Gustavo A. Cisneros and their Fundación Cisneros; Shawn (Jay-Z) Carter, recording artist and philanthropist; Susan Smith Ellis and the (RED) campaign; David Saltzman and the Robin Hood Foundation; and Inés Alberdi and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). Ted Turner, chairman of the United Nations Foundation and media mogul, received the inaugural UNA-USA Champion for Global Change Award in recognition of his longstanding commitment to the UN and UNA-USA.
Michael Douglas and a chorus of presenters and honorees offered praise to UNA-USA President William H. Luers for his decade of leadership at UNA and lifetime of philanthropic and humanitarian service. Secretary-General Ban delivered his tribute with comedic flair, offering a lyric acknowledgement of the award winners inspired by “my man Jay-Z,” he said. The secretary- general’s ensuing rap song brought down the house:
Global Classrooms are a cinch, with the help of Merrill Lynch.
When you put the org in Google, partnerships go truly gloooobal.
There is hope for Earth's salvation, with the Cisneros Foundation.
With Jay-Z there's double strife, life for children and water for life.
Human health will get ahead, with the valiant work of (RED).
For the poor and doing good, stays the job of Robin Hood.
UN stays on the front burner, thanks to our champ Ted Turner.
And whole revolutions stem, from the work of UNIFEM.
But tonight my special shout-out, goes to one I can't do without.
We have traveled up and down, Frisco, Atlanta, Chicago town.
Yes, the king of all the doers, is my trusty friend Bill Luers.
Ban Takes On Turf Wars That Cripple the UN
By Barbara Crossette
For the last few years, the United Nations has been putting in place a new policy it calls “delivering as one.” Country by country, the organization has been trying to streamline missions and coordinate more effectively in the field by encouraging more teamwork, consolidating UN programs and eliminating duplication and overlap among agencies. The key to achieving this is to get people who are wedded to their turf to put aside rivalries and work together
At the UN, this is more than reform -- it is a revolution. And it has to start with a significant change in attitude in the UN Secretariat, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told senior officials at a recent retreat. In unusually sharp remarks from Ban, a generally nonconfrontational leader, he blasted his top team for resisting change, lethargy and a tendency to micromanage. Read more.
ELECTIONS 2008
With the conventions over, the 2008 US Presidential Campaigns are now in an all-out sprint to Election Day. You may be familiar with each candidate's domestic platform, and their national security stances, but where do they, and their respective parties, stand on America's engagement with the United Nations? Recent opinion research indicates that the American public strongly favors international cooperation over go-it-alone policies to resolve the world's most important problems. Click on the links to find out more.
Summary of UN-related issues in the Republican Platform
Summary of UN-related issues in the Democratic Platform
Go to UNA-USA's Election 2008 page
View responses to our presidential candidate questionnaire
View responses to our congressional candidate questionnaire
Action Alert:
Help us clarify your congressional candidates’ positions on the UN and global issues by encouraging them to fill out our 2008 Congressional Candidate Questionnaire.
Click here to send an email to your representatives now.
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