UN Day 2017

United Nations Day Brings Refugee Crisis Awareness

October 24th is United Nations Day. This day has been celebrated as United Nations Day since 1948 and marks the anniversary of the entry into force in 1945 of the UN Charter. With the ratification of this founding document by the majority of its signatories, including the five permanent members of the Security Council, the United Nations officially came into being. With its ratification, The UN has helped to facilitate a great leap forward in global negotiation and cooperation while stopping famine, averting wars and giving the world hope.

This year the United Nations Association of Santa Cruz County invites you to a UN Day celebration at the Resource Center for Nonviolence (612 Ocean St. Santa Cruz, CA) on Saturday October 28th from 1:00pm till 4:00pm. The event will focus on the U.N.’s work surrounding refugees and will feature a film highlighting the realities children face while growing up in the world’s largest refugee camp followed by a discussion the crisis facing the Rohingya people.

The United Nations has recently requested $430 million in aid from the international community to assist the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. Rohingyas are stateless Indo-Aryan people from Rakhine state, Myanmar and are categorized as one of the most persecuted minorities in the world. Around 40,000 Rohingyas have settled in India. Since the latest flare-up of violence against the community in Myanmar this year, many more thousands of Rohingyas have fled the state, pouring into nearby countries like Bangladesh seeking refuge.

Please join us Saturday, October 28TH for a film and discussion as your local United Nations Association brings community awareness to this global tragedy.