Campaigns: United Nations Association- UK

Current campaigns


UNA-UK supports a number of campaigns that further the work of the UN. Current campaigns are listed below.

	Haiti On 12 January 2010, an earthquake devastated Haiti, one of the world’s poorest countries. The people of Haiti will need substantial humanitarian assistance. It is crucial that we continue to support longer-term reconstruction efforts, even after the immediate crisis has receded from the headlines. Click here to read more Donate to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Haiti Earthquake Appeal. Visit www.dec.org.uk, call 0370 60 60 900 or send a cheque made payable to ‘DEC HAITI EARTHQUAKE’ to DEC Haiti Earthquake, PO Box 999, London, EC3A 3AA Click here for the UNICEF Haiti Appeal Click here for World Food Programme 'How to Help Haiti' Click here for Jubilee Debt Campaign's call to drop Haiti's debt

Just 42 states have ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Migrant Workers and their Families, and only 15 further countries have signed. No member of the European Union is among them.

On the occasion of the Convention’s 20th anniversary, a global campaign was launched last year on 18 December – International Migrants Day, to challenge countries to end abuse of migrants by protecting their human rights.

The campaign will call on governments to act immediately to ratify the Convention, which provides legal standards for national law that recognise the specific vulnerabilities of migrants and promote humane and lawful working and living conditions.

The International Steering Committee for the Campaign for Ratification of the Migrants Rights Convention – a network of UN agencies, international organisations and NGOs – is leading the campaign. Write to your MPs and MEPs to urge them to ensure that this issue is brought to the table in 2010.

Click here to find out more

'Billion for a billion'
For the first time in human history, the number of hungry people worldwide will exceed one billion this year. UNA-UK is supporting the World Food Programme in the call for people to contribute to bringing food to the table of the world's hungry through the 'Billion for a Billion' online campaign. You are part of the one billion people online who can help.

Click here to find out about the use of the Red Plastic Cup >>>.

Do something now!

	One third of all recorded cluster bomb casualties are children. Yet despite efforts to ban these indiscriminate weapons, 138 banks and other financial institutions continue to invest over US$20 billion in companies that produce them - and YOUR bank could be complicit. Click here to do something

	10:10 is a UK-wide initiative calling on individuals and organisations to pledge to reduce their carbon footprint by 10% in 2010. Thousands have already made this pledge. UNA-UK has too – have you? Click here

	e-Parliament super-grid The transition to renewable sources of energy requires government investment and support for ambitious and essential long-term projects such as energy super-grids to see the light of day. Click here to urge the government to act

	Fight corruption in all its forms, on all fronts Corruption can lead to the ruin of a country's economy. Ask the CEO of your company to support a letter urging governments to effectively implement the UN Convention against Corruption. Visit the UN Global Compact website to sign the letter

	Safeguard the honey bee! UNA-UK supports a Soil Association campaign urging the UK government to protect honeybees by banning the use of neonicotinoids. Neonicotinoids have already been banned in a number of European countries. Click here to sign a petition calling for ban on neonicotinoids

	Support calls to release Aung San Suu Kyi There are currently over 2,100 political prisoners in Burma. In August 2009 Burma's pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, was sentenced to a further 18 months house arrest.Support Amnesty International's call for the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all prisoners of conscience in Myanmar by sending a letter to the Senior General, Than Shwe. Click here to find out more.

Ongoing campaigns

	End the vulture culture Vulture funds are private companies looking to scavenge huge profits from some of the world's poorest countries. On 26 November 2009, a British court ordered Liberia to pay two such funds more than $20 million for a debt that dates back to 1978. >>> Click here to take action

	Hold the government of Sri Lanka to account Between 120,000 and 140,000 displaced civilians are still languishing in internment camps in Sri Lanka. After months of sustained pressure and with an election looming in early 2010, the Sri Lankan government announced in November 2009 that it will ‘resettle’ all those still confined by the end of January 2010. >>> Click here to read more and to take action

	Towards zero Support 'Towards Zero', UNA-UK's campaign for nuclear non-proliferation & disarmament Visit Twitter to add you voice to the growing disarmament campaign You can learn more about nuclear issues by visiting the Nuclear Security Project’s website and completing their interactive online tutorials. Watch and/or screen ‘Last Best Chance’, a film by the Nuclear Threat Initiative, that can be ordered for free via their website. To sign the Global Zero petition - click here

	UNite to end violence against women! One in five women worldwide will become the victim of actual or attempted rape. If you are a woman aged 15 to 44 years, you are more likely to die as a result of rape or domestic violence than from cancer, war or road accidents. Ending violence against women is one of UNA-UK's major campaigns this year in support of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s UNite campaign. Launched in February 2008, one of the central planks of the campaign is its bid to promote leading among men and boys in the global effort to end violence against women and girls. Find out more here. Click here to take action!

	'Lobby for the UN' 2009-10 'Lobby for the UN' is UNA-UK's annual campaign to promote dialogue between voters and MPs on UN issues throughout the parliamentary year. On 27 October 'Lobby for the UN' 2009-10 was launched with a focus this year on climate change and nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament. Click here to find out how you can get involved in 'Lobby for the UN' 2009-10

Campaign successes

Click on the arrows below to find out about past campaign successes.

UK legal loopholes on international crimes closed

A series of government amendments to the Coroners and Justice Bill will close a loophole in UK legislation which has hitherto allowed those suspected of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes to escape being brought to justice.

The amendments have come after sustained pressure by a cross-party group of back bench peers, which included UNA-UK Chair Lord Hannay of Chiswick, and organisations such as UNA-UK, the Aegis Trust and REDRESS.

Click here to read more.

Resolution for a global moratorium on the death penalty

On 18 December 2007, the General Assembly voted 104 to 54, with 29 abstentions, to adopt a resolution calling for a global moratorium on capital punishment. The resolution, spearheaded by Italy and tabled by the European Union, calls on states to progressively restrict the use of the death penalty and asks those countries that have abolished it in practice not to reintroduce it.