United Nations Association San Francisco
Bay Area Council of Organizations (COO)
Meeting Notes, June 18, 2015
by Roger Eaton - rogerweaton@gmail.com
When: Thursday June 18, 2015 from 6:15 to 8:15 pm.
Where: Impact Hub Lighthouse Meeting Room, 901 Mission St, SF (at 5th and Mission).
Attending were:
Ken Coelho
Larry Danos
Peter DuMont
Roger Eaton
Bob Flax
Jill Huinder
Justin Kaplan
Matthew Martinez
Nate Paluga
Trilight Tom Ray
Maya Silverman
Melvin Starks
David Vuong
Roger Eaton led the opening discussions.
- Minutes from our February meeting were distributed.
- Roger Eaton Treasury report: we have $235.
- UN 70th Charter Day – Friday June 26, noon – SG Ban Ki-moon at City Hall.
- UN 70th Charter Day – Saturday June 27 – Keep the Dream Alive – all day event at Grace Cathedral co-sponsored by UNA-SF and United Religions Initiative (URI).
- UN 70th Anniversary – Sunday, October 25 early afternoon – student led discussions of selected Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – Jill Huinder presented for approval by the COO.
The major discussion of the evening was led by Jill Huinder with major help from Bob Flax. We decided to go ahead with the October 25, 2015 event at the Unitarian Universalist Church. The student led event will be put together under the leadership of Jill Huinder and the student team she has assembled, including Ken Coelho, Justin Kaplan, Matthew Martinez and Maya Silverman.
Jill presented her idea as revolving around table discussions of the Sustainable Development Goals, with each table led by a student/professional pair. Jill is particularly interested to recruit disadvantaged students and pair them up with professionals in a way that might be of real benefit down the road to the students.
Roger mentioned that at a recent UU UNO meeting with Larry Danos and Mel Starks, the expectation was that the participants in the event would include UU Church goers and adults generally as well as students. Jill agreed to this possibility and also to the idea of having a Keynote speaker who would educate the participants about the SDGs before we break into table discussions.
Bob Flax suggested we needed to decide what the event would be about as a prelude to deciding how to structure the event. We then spent a lively half an hour developing a list of possibilities and suggestions. Time ran out before we could narrow the list down properly, so it was decided the discussion would continue with a meeting before the end of June, either in person or online. Jill gathered names of those interested, including the student team and others whom she will contact.
The raw list was as follows:
Opportunity for youth to understand UN and work with it. Meet where at.
How you can get involved.
Ongoing connection.
Actionable plan for NGOs and Professionals who are present.
State of the World.
Internships.
Competition.
Conflicts and controversies.
Philosophers Walk
COP 21
Global Convention.
In the process David Vuong and others had suggestions: Bringing in the World Affairs Council and the AIESEC.
Bob Flax is concerned that there is no place for the Democratic World Federalists to make a presentation about the need for a democratic global governance to handle global issues. As we continue putting the event together, let’s see if there isn’t a way to accommodate him.
There was a short discussion of the need for replacing Roger as COO Chair after he terms out of UNA-SF for a year in Feb 2016. One suggestion was that we seek such a replacement from the professionals we will be engaging for the UN 70th event on Oct 25, 2015, and that we don’t worry too much about it, since the issue does not come to a head for more than half a year.
Peter Dumont of the Star Alliance and Maya Silverman of the SF Waldorf High School Model UN Club presented their organizations for membership in the COO. Both organizations were accepted as new members with no objections. Roger will get the new members listed on our web site.
Daniel Paluga spoke briefly about the Sunday June 28, noon – Philosopher’s Way Trail Hike at McClaren Park with focus on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Looks like we might expect between 5 and 15 hikers to enjoy the day.
The next meeting will be held in September. Roger will email possible dates. We will have a wide-ranging discussion on how we can actually help get the world through what appears to be a perilous passage as we run up against the limits of Earth. SDGs, The Great Transition, Democratic World Federalism, UN Charter reform, Global Citizens Movement and so forth will be in the mix as we consider the role of the COO going forward. Venue possibilities are the UU Church on Franklin, Impact Hub and Sports Basement on Bryant, or maybe better, the Public Library in Civic Center.
