Welcome to the website of the Philadelphia Chapter of the UNA-USA. Thank you for visiting our most important portal for new and existing members, interested friends and for those who just want to “check us out”. We are an all-volunteer organization, and we take pride in toiling within the visions and ideals of William Penn, the first politician who wrote on the idea of a “united nations”. We take our mandate from Eleanor Roosevelt, who believed that grass roots political support for the United Nations needs to be strong, dedicated, everlasting and deeply etched by the desire for peace, peace not only on our lands, but peace everywhere. So we advocate, we educate, we raise awareness. Our goal is to make our city and our citizens proud of the fact that the principles underlying the Declaration of Human Rights can be traced back to the work embodied in the US Constitution; we own that heritage, let’s use it.
We invite you to join our chapter, to spend some volunteer time, to participate in our events, our workshops, our mentoring programs for young professionals, college and high school students. Write a blog, talk to our representatives, and enjoy the reports from volunteers about good work being done here and overseas. Come to our UN Café, check out the amazing dedication of our Global Nursing Student Club; young people who realize that the whole world is their labor market. And, when your time is limited, don’t hesitate to donate a few dollars, so that we can keep doing the work and keep you updated through our electronic media. We are on Facebook, we tweet and we film and do artwork. Our volunteers and our young work study students make our chapter vibrant and ‘on the edge’.
Take a look. Our website reflects our links with many collaborating organizations locally and nationally. We claim to be more than a group of cosmopolitan, global citizens. We are a network. We work with all those who try to make the world a better place. Indeed the UN System is very broad, covers many aspects of human life and there is work to be done in any specialty. We mix our work with a bit of charity and developmental wishes, based on the UN Millennium Development Goals. It brings brains, heart and ethics together in a good mix of forward leaning activity.
Enjoy the visit. Let us know what you think. Join if you can. Think Peace and Social Justice; everywhere.
Christiaan Morssink, PhD
Executive Director