A People’s Movement for the United Nations
March 2010 Update – Vol 2, No
3
News
Flash!!
Visit us
online at www.unaa-wa.org.au and keep abreast of our activities
throughout 2010!
Renovations have begun at Claisebrook Lotteries House. There is no doubt we will be inconvenienced by the work taking place in the building. However, the end result will be that the UNAA(WA) office will be painted and carpeted. The meeting room will be able to cater for 90 people. My sincere thanks to the office volunteers who are working under difficult conditions.
Fundraising
has begun for the National Conference with a $500 donation from the women who
attended a lunch time talk that I presented on International Women’s Day. Further
funds will be raised by an auction on eBay and a Tupperware demonstration to be
held on Friday 26 March at
Intern Katharina is busily working on the two documents recording
Past Presidents and Life Members. She has discovered an interesting fact
searching the minute books. Three UN Peacekeeper soldiers were awarded life
membership when they returned to
Donations are still being sought for the Yolanda Frank Memorial Fund. Please send your donations to the office. The following three people have agreed to be judges for the inaugural award to be presented in August: Gillian Green [National Council of Jewish Women WA], Diana Warnock [previous MLA of Perth and Patron of the Arts] and Owen Loneragan [Life member].
UNAA(WA) participated in a number of events during the week of International Women’s Day. These are detailed below.
May you have a blessed and peaceful Easter.
Judith A. Parker AM DSJ -
President
Diary Dates/Events
March
21: International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
March
22: World Day for Water
March
23: World Meteorological Day
March
25: International Day for the Remembrance of the Victims of
Slavery
April
2: World
Autism Awareness Day
April
4: International Day for Mine
Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action
April
7: World Health Day
April
13: UNAA(WA) Book
Club 11.00 am
UNAA(WA)
Human Rights Committee
Recent Events to mark
International Women’s Day 2010
Exploring the meaning of Leadership for Western Australian Women: This forum was presented by the Department of Communities.
The speakers included:
Susan Hunt:
Chief Executive Officer of the
Liz Harris: Managing Director, Challenger Institute of Technology and responsible for guiding WA’s most diverse provider of vocational education and training. She won the Telstra Business Women’s Award. She has worked at Universities and spent 4 years at the former Australian National Training.
Maria Saraceni: Chairperson of the Women’s Advisory Council of Western Australia and a partner of Norton Rose Australia.
The forum provided excellent speakers and an opportunity to network. For instance, I met two representatives from Australia Post involved in the training of indigenous workers for Australia Post. We discussed UNAA(WA)’s priority during 2009 to connect with indigenous people in WA. Both expressed an interest in speaking with the UNAA(WA) Human Rights Committee about their work.
UNIFEM
Breakfast: Held on
International Women’s Day Event Rockingham: This event, billed as "The Three Judes" was attended by 140 women. President Judith Parker was one of three guest speakers. Judith Parker, Judith Fordham and Judith Killen spoke of their work to protect the rights of women. It was a celebration of women and their achievements past, present and future. The Three Judes are ordinary women doing extraordinary things. A cheque for $500 was presented to President Judith Parker for the work of UNAA(WA). This event provided an opportunity to showcase the work of UNAA(WA), gain new members and make new contacts.
International
Women’s Day Event at the Karrakatta Club: Guest speaker was Liz Butson, State Commissioner for Guides WA. Liz spoke of the
centenary of guiding in Australia 2010 and how the organisation is meeting new
challenges in
Business
and Professional Women’s International Candle Lighting Ceremony 12 March: This
ceremony acknowledges the plight of women throughout the world and the
influence of business and professional women to assist women living in poverty.
WA BPW President, Arlene Quinn invited UNAA(WA)
President to speak about the work of UNAA(WA). BPW has expressed an interest in
partnering with UNAA(WA) during 2010 to present
events, in particular a Model UN designed especially for women to debate an
issue relating to women and learn more about the working of the UN. Dialogue
was established with the City of
Judith A. Parker AM DSJ - President
UNAA(WA) Environment
Committee
During March
2010, UNAA(WA) Environment Committee have had discussions with Patty
Weaver, Vice President of Sustainable Population Australia-WA Branch (http://www.population.org.au/) about
the possibility of holding a public talk and forum to coincide with the
International Day of Biodiversity on 22 May and the concurrent UNEP's theme for 2010 (http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?ArticleID=6182&DocumentID=585&l=en;
http://www.unep.org/iyb/).
Both parties
agree that a main speaker should present issues regarding the biodiversity of
WA, associated ecosystems and the impact from the projected population growth
in WA and
Rob Hewson – Environment
Committee Convenor
_____________________________________________________________________
Additional Information
UNAA(WA)
Strategic Planning - Lotterywest Grant Application
Our grant application has been submitted to Lotterywest and we will be advised the outcome around the middle of the year. If successful, we hope to commence the Strategic Planning process in July. The involvement of UNAA(WA) members will be vital to ensure the success of the plan. As UNAA(WA) has a strong grassroots environmental and human rights base, it is intended that the strategic planning process will consolidate these areas of strength and raise opportunities for potential new growth - such as through the 2011 UNAA Conference to be held in Perth.
The grant application to Lotterywest is seeking funding to produce a strategic plan for our future development that shall:
· provide direction about organisational priorities;
· include a detailed focus for the next three to five years (including key objectives, actions, outcomes and responsibilities);
· investigate and plan for the specific challenges of increasing membership, promotion and sustainability; and
· give consideration to longer term objectives (five to ten years) and ensure that our short term priorities are complementary.
We will advise members further once we hear back from Lotterywest. In the meantime, you are welcome to contact the office with your thoughts or suggestions about the plan.
UNAA(WA) Registered for GST
Thanks to the persistent work of Treasurer Harvey Davies, UNAA(WA) is now registered for GST. This will be to UNAA(WA)’s advantage when applying for grants. The committee will discuss at its next meeting the change to the cost of membership costs 2010-11 caused by the need to pay GST on membership dues in the future.
Upcoming Events - Vice
Chancellors Oration 2010
Her
Excellency, Ms Quentin Bryce AC Governor General of the Commonwealth of
Australia, will present the oration to mark the International Day for the
Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
UNAA(WA)
Office Volunteers
The UNAA(WA) office is open
most week days and is staffed by a dedicated group of volunteers. UNAA(WA) is most appreciative of their support, time and
expertise. The following members are regular volunteers: Nola Andrews, Kadi Ngele, Scott Lambert, Harvey
Davies and Curtis Clark. Please call the office on 9221-9455 if you can offer a
few hours. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank our volunteers
for their time and effort within the UNAA(WA) office.
Further Resources
·
Subscribe to UNity for 2009,
as well as earlier issues are available at: www.unaa.org.au
·
For international updates, sign up for UN Wire: http://www.smartbrief.com/un_wire/index.jsp
·
Read more about the Millennium project: www.unmillenniumproject.org
