UNITED NATIONS ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA KENTUCKY
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Mission Statement
The United Nations Association of the United States of America Kentucky Division (UNA-USA KY) is dedicated to informing, inspiring, and mobilizing the American people to support the ideals and vital work of the United Nations. For around 48 years UNA-USA KY has worked to accomplish its mission, often in collaboration with its network of Chapters ( 3 Community and 2 Campus): UNA-USA Bluegrass/Lexington Chapter, UNA-USA Frankfort Chapter, UNA-USA Louisville Chapter and 5 years ago helped with UNA at U of L Campus Chapter and 3 1/2 years ago, UNA Women at U of L Campus Chapter. We are about education programs, advocacy efforts, youth engagement and holding public events and zoom meetings while working with other organizations and government. In 2011, we merged with the United Nations Foundation. For 12 years, we have worked to bring education and awareness about human trafficking (Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) #5 and in 2022 working to decrease demand of online commercial sex users while educating about the harms of Pornography which is often used in sex trafficking. We work for local, state and federal laws to help with these causes. We want to sustain a cyber online offense to thwart sex trafficking and save victims - especially, children fall of 2022 We also address SDG’s on the Environment; in 2022 , we continue to bring awareness to “forever chemicals” in drinking water throughout the U.S. and globally. The chemicals are PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances; legacy chemicals of PFOA and PFOS) and linked to serious illnesses and several types of cancers in human beings. These chemicals are in virtually every person in the U.S. and in the blood of newborn babies (born pre-polluted). Our sister organization is the Better World Fund; together, UNA-USA, UN Foundation and BWF represent the single largest network of advocates and supporters of the United Nations in the world. Learn more about us on facebook or www.unausa.org/chapter/kentucky. We have programs in person or on zoom and work on and initiatives as funding allows - so kindly DONATE so we can do more. Please consider joining by registering at www.unausa.org/join (Students up to 26 years old are free; new introductory membership $25; renewals $50). It does take time for National to notify us of new memberships so feel free email that you have joined to get on email notices right away: TeenaHal@aol.com
About This Cause
UNA-USA KY is a public charity and our EIN is 23-7181530. Donors can deduct contributions and UNA-USA KY can receive tax deductible bequests, legacies, devises, transfers, or gifts. Our organization focuses on education and has concentrated on Human Trafficking / Modern Day Slavery (commercial sex trafficking and labor trafficking) over the past dozen years to bring awareness and continue to work for new laws. Additionally, both Human Trafficking and Pornography are Public Health Crises which need more attention due to the internet exposure of children early in life. Also about half of trafficked persons have been involved with pornography - and some with child forced marriage. Also SDG or Sustainable Development Goal #5 is about gender equality and empowerment of women; it involves human trafficking as well as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 4 Freedom from Slavery; and CEDAW = Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, Article 6 to take all appropriate measures, including legislation, to suppress all forms of trafficking in women and exploitation of prostitution of women. UNA-USA KY obtained a sponsor for a CEDAW Resolution which passed as House Resolution 6 in the 2016 KY General Assembly when it did not pass the prior year as House Resolution 91. Earlier, we worked with a Coalition of NGO's to get a local Resolution passed in 2014 with a Ceremonial Signing of us with Mayor Greg Fischer after passing Louisville Metro Council. We want to perpetuate our new initiative to reduce DEMAND for sex buying and trafficking with a Grassroots Cyber Patrol. This has been effective in reducing demand in 15 cities thus far. This will require ongoing fundraising to pay for ads and coaching by a national organization we are working with. The book for use with 3-6 year old children "Good Pictures, Bad Pictures, Jr. " was another reduction method underway to put the books in all 120 counties in KY. Shipping costs have gone up (costs $10 per book not including our volunteer handling and packaging). We send a book to be vetted by a specific person (we find that person) and wait to hear back (all have approved to date) - then we can ship the remainder of books. This book would also be good to have this in jails and prisons, schools, churches (with permission and vetting) also. In 2019, we began working to bring awareness to the public and officials at local, state and federal levels about "forever chemicals" or PFAS (Teflon, etc.) that are in virtually every person - because there are health effects since these chemicals can bioaccumulate in a person's body. Then we found 3 bills in Congress to support which has mushroomed to about 80 pieces of legislation/amendments in Congress in 2022. We actively engage by holding zoom meetings with organizations. And lots of other ideas to thrust this into the limelight to help with saving lives from illnesses and cancer. These chemicals are pervasive throughout the U.S. and in many household items. The firefighters are especially in peril since the foam is highly toxic. Passing the environmental - public safety bills to label these chemicals as hazardous and have U.S. EPA regulations put in place are important works for the public but also for workers in these fields. Sites using these chemicals may be labeled as Superfund sites in the future. President Biden pledged to help with PFAS and put the perfect person as U.S. EPA Administrator, Michael S. Regan, from North Carolina where so much is known about these chemicals. Then a PFAS Council was formed and late October 2022, EPA came out with a push for actions by 2024 in the "PFAS Strategic Roadmap". August, 2022, new interim levels of 4 PFAS for Lifetime Health Advisory (LHA) made significant changes: Example - where 70 parts per trillion (ppt) is the LHA for PFOA, now EPA is looking at .0004 ppt! This is not yet a finalized standard/regulation. Also Biden/EPA came out late Aug. 2022 with proposal for some PFAS chemicals to be termed "hazardous" but there will be public comment period. If deemed "hazardous", EPA will come out with a final rule or standards which are enforceable under CERCLA and result in some Superfund sites. January 2020 UNA-USA KY in partnership with WaterStep; together we were able to get the FIRST Water Station up and running! Our project is called, "Water for GOMA!" Now a total of 3 water stations are operating there. We are working for a FOURTH water station now. It costs $1,000 for the batteries and large 500 gallon poly tanks - so UNA-USA KY raises these funds. To fund one water station totals $4,000 (we don't keep a penny because all funds go to WaterStep. The goal is to have a total of 26 water stations with each at the 26 HEALTH CENTERS which exist in GOMA, DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo - near Rwanda) and it would help to have better water during COVID-19 illnesses, of course. Many children die before reaching the age of 5 due to waterborne and other illnesses. Climate change is another important issue. This affects women because when displaced, families are often sheltered in temporary tents. Since tents do not have doors, women and children are more likely to be sexually exploited. Also warmer climate is better for mosquito growth which can cause malaria (carried by female of a certain species) so we have education about the UN Foundation's Beat Malaria, formerly called NothingButNets where a family of 4 can sleep in an insecticide laden bed net (used up to 4 years - but eventually get holes and need replacing). These nets cost $10.00 where a family of 4 can sleep safer. Two of our board members suffered bouts of Malaria (more than once) before coming to America and settling in KY. They said Malaria is very, very painful. UNA-USA KY had a book giveaway to help educate 3-6 year old children to better protect themselves and asked the recipients to not sit the book on a shelf but to pass on to another person to help more children. And we raised funds again to have the book in all of Louisville/ Jefferson County, KY Libraries and are working to raise funds for books to be in additional libraries: Lexington, then Frankfort and would like to have the book in all libraries in the Commonwealth of KY. We were able to have the author of "Good Pictures, Bad Pictures, Jr." on zoom in the past while Coronavirus was rampant. During sheltering for SARS-CoV-2 virus causing COVID-19 illnesses and deaths, women and children have also been increasingly abused. Domestic violence is also an issue seen in human trafficking and we have held meetings on Sexual Assault Awareness for several years, too. We work with our National Leadership and support many issues related to the UN. Before COVID-19, we were able to travel to NY to the UN. In 2019, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addressed us as well as other notables like U.S. Representatives, Ambassadors, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammad, etc. We also travel annually to Washington, D.C. in June but that was canceled, of course. Trips to the UN have been held in the UN General Assembly Room where 1900 of us pack the seats usually sat in by Diplomats, etc. And we are busy in meetings and sometimes on panels during these meetings. Now we are working virtually but it was safer to remain at home than travel to NY in Feb. 2020. So far, these zoom meetings have been very successful. March 15, 2022, on zoom for CSW66 (Commission on the Status of Women, 66th year), UNA-USA KY Div. recommended "Addressing the Impact of Forever Chemicals on Girls and Women" where over 300 registered. Panelist composition: and M.D. from WHO; UN Environment Programme Officer; Harvard youth ready to graduate in Environmental Health and UNA-USA KY Division. Sept. 18, 2022 we are partnering with Speed Art Museum Cinema for the doc. movie screening of "Dark Waters" which tells the story of attorney Rob Bilott who spent 20 years of his life to uncover that DuPont did not disclose findings to EPA. He is author of EXPOSURE to detail that work and his win of $671 MILLION for NC residents. After the film, he will be a panelist with other experts (2 filmmakers from NC and a U of L Asst Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology. New frontiers ahead to deal with PFAS pollution in drinking water and wastewater as well as in the environment and chemical cocktails in human bodies.