2019 UNA-USA Global Enagement

Picture Yourself in the UN General Assembly Hall. The Global Engagement Summit allows UN advocates to participate in a day of dynamic and informative discussions on the most pressing issues facing the United Nations. This event unites world leaders with our nation's top grassroots change-makers. The Summit will take place on Friday, February 22, 2019 at United Nations Headquarters in New York City.

The Global Engagement Summit allows UN advocates to participate in a day of dynamic and informative discussions on the most pressing issues facing the United Nations. This event unites world leaders with our nation's top grassroots change-makers.

UNA-USA released the initial schedule of events, though this is not the final schedule for the event. But here is what you can expect from a day with UNA-USA at UN Headquarters.

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They say New York City is the city that never sleeps, and over 1,500 grassroots change-makers from across the nation joined forces on February 23 at UN Headquarters in New York City for UNA-USA's Global Engagement Summit to prove it. It's no secret there is division in our country and in Washington right now, but you would never know it by looking out at the attendees of all ages, races, genders, and political affiliations brought together by one common cause: to tell the world that the U.S. stands with the UN.

It was the largest-ever gathering of Americans showing up to support the United Nations at UN Headquarters. UNA-USA is still awed and impressed by the over 1,500 diverse UN advocates that came together to stand up and speak up for the UN together, filling nearly every seat in the General Assembly Hall. Students from over 120 colleges and universities traveled to UN Headquarters in order to be a part of this historic moment. In fact, 40% of the Summit's attendees were under the age of 25! Following the Summit, over 50 students participated in a UNA-USA chapter leadership training workshop, over half of whom have pledged to start new UNA chapters on their campuses.

We celebrated Eleanor Roosevelt's legacy and historic leadership with UNA-USA. As the founding UNA-USA chairwoman, Eleanor Roosevelt is a big deal in our world. We donated all of the profits generated from Global Engagement Summit ticket sales to restoring a UN monument in honor of her legacy and tireless work. We kicked-off our celebration of the 70th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). In addition to her role as a UNA-USA leader and trailblazer, Eleanor Roosevelt also chaired the UDHR drafting committee and was integral to its adoption. During our Closing Assembly, we were honored to have Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt's great-granddaughter Perrin Ireland address the audience. She defined the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as the unfinished ethical agenda of Eleanor's time. "From what I've heard today, this room is full of people uniquely positioned to engage with this ethical agenda and put it more deeply into action," she said. We also had a panel all about standing up for human rights. Stay tuned for more in the coming months about our celebrations.

Attendees sent over 1,400 messages in under 30 minutes to their Members of Congress. We couldn't have asked for a better conclusion to the event when the UNA-USA network present came together in full-force to tell our leaders on Capitol Hill that we support a strong, prosperous U.S.-UN partnership and we want our country to continue to play a valuable role at the UN. As UNA-USA Executive Director Chris Whatley stated, "the fate of our greatest fears and our highest aspirations is dependent on our country taking its seat at the table." And on February 23, 2018, we all pulled up a chair.