Dear Reader,

In the first two weeks of November, Coventry will celebrate its annual Peace Festival and UNA Coventry have prepared several activities that will happen then.

And we are still running UN75 sessions at 2-4pm UK time on the first Wednesday of every month during 2020. Join in a global conversation about what kind of world you want and what the UN should be doing to make it a reality simply by visiting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/71964075097

Read all these stories and more by following the links below.

Please stay safe and be considerate of others.

Philip Brown

Secretary, UNA Coventry Branch
philip@unacov.uk

Recent News Highlights

See our website for more of our recent news articles.

UK Campaign to Stop Killer Robots launches universities campaign

UK Campaign to Stop Killer Robots launches universities campaign

This article first appeared on the Together First website. By Niamh Healy, President Of Student Young Pugwash UK. Recent controversy over an ‘exams algorithm’ in the UK has shown how the unthinking use of artificial intelligence can have serious and harmful effects on people’s lives. This context framed the launch event of the UK coalition of the Campaign to Stop …

Designing a Roadmap to The Future of the UN

Below is a talk that Natalie Samarasinghe delivered on 19 September 2020 to UNA Warwick District entitled UN75 – Designing a Roadmap to The Future We Want, The UN We Need She is Executive Director of UNA-UK temporarily working at the UN in New York as Chief of Strategy at the Office of the Special Adviser on the Preparations for the …

UNA Coventry's Litter Pick featured in local press

In September, UNA Coventry working with students from Eden Girls’ School and Coventry University, young people from Gurdwara Guru Nanak Parkash, police officers and Coventry City Council spent two hours collecting litter during the Great British September Clean organised by Keep Britain Tidy. The story was featured in the Coventry Observer in early October. You can read it here. We …

Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons to enter into force in January 2021

Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons to enter into force in January 2021

This article first appeared on the UNA-UK website. On 24 October 2020 - the UN's 75th birthday - the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) gained its 50th ratification meaning that this ground-breaking Treaty which comprehensively prohibits nuclear weapons and related activities will become legally-binding international law 90 days later on 22 January 2021. Following tireless campaigning by …

The People of Calais

Care4Calais have launched #PeopleofCalais, a video series which gives a voice to people sleeping rough in Calais. Refugees tell their stories, in their own words, focusing not on their experiences as refugees in camps or on boats, but on their stories as people: the challenges they’ve faced, their dreams and their hopes for the future. Here is one example. For …

UN75 Interim Report

A second report on the feedback from the UN75 global consultation over the future of the UN was released on 21 September. Here are some of the highlights so far. The findings show that health is the most pressing issue right now, with access to healthcare and education seen as immediate priorities. Our inability to stem the climate crisis and …

Young People’s Peace Essay Competition 2020

In November 2020 the United Nations Association Coventry Branch will run the world’s first Young People’s Peace Essay Competition the winners of which will be announced during Coventry Peace Festival. They invite young people aged up to 25 to submit their essays of up to 500 words on the subject: The Role of Young People in Building Peace The prizes …

Peace Word Searches

Word searches are a great literacy exercise for children and are used both in homes and schools. On this page, the United Nations Association will publish word searches that encourage younger children to think about the word "peace" and ideas associated with this word. They are due to be published on 1 November 2020 as part of Coventry Peace Festival.

Free Website Training School

Coventry Lord Mayor’s Committee for Peace and Reconciliation are working with the United Nations Association Coventry Branch to create a free school which will train volunteers in how to create and manage websites, email, video and a number of other key skills that are in wide use around the world. The aim is to train volunteers who will want to …

Forthcoming Events

If you have an idea for an event you want us to organise, please contact events@unacov.uk

Coventry Peace Festival 2020

In 2020 the annual Coventry Peace Festival will be held from 1 to 15 November. This year will be the 80th anniversary of the Coventry Blitz, on 14-15 November, which is the event the Peace Festival was set up to remember. The programme has still not been announced but we expect it to be published on Coventry City Council's website.

Launch of Peace Word Search Puzzles

On 1 November, United Nations Association Coventry Branch will launch its brand-new series of word search games for young people (and others) on the theme of peace and reconciliation. Both online and printable versions will be published at unacov.uk/peace-word-searches. Word searches are a great literacy exercise for children and are used both in homes and schools. Schools who have registered …

Geneva Peace Week 2020

Geneva Peace Week 2020 will be held from 2 to 6 November in Maison de la paix, Chemin Eugene-Rigot 2, 1202 Genève, Switzerland and online. In 2020 the theme of GPW is Rebuilding trust after disruption: Pathways to reset international cooperation. For more information visit https://www.genevapeaceweek.ch/gpw20 Geneva Peace Week (GPW) is a leading annual forum in the international peacebuilding calendar in which …

Peace and the UN - a Presentation for Secondary Schools

On 3 November the United Nations Association Coventry Branch will run an online presentation aimed at secondary school students describing how the United Nations acts to prevent wars between nations and to end them once they have started. It will discuss how and why the UN was formed, what successes and failures it has had in preventing and ending wars …

UN75 TeleConversation November 2020

Participate in UN75, the biggest-ever global conversation on the role of global cooperation in building the future we want. These teleconversations will be held on the first Wednesday of every month during 2020. Why #UN75? Tackling issues such as COVID-19, the climate crisis, inequality, new patterns of violence and the major changes we are seeing in population and technology in …

RISING Global Peace Forum 2020

RISING Global Peace Forum 2020 will take place in Coventry 11th-13th November. The theme for this year's virtual event will be The Culture for Peace. Every year, RISING seeks to inspire peace by bringing together civil society leaders, policymakers, academics and peace practitioners to exchange ideas and inspiration about building and sustaining peaceful communities. RISING 20's aim is to explore the Culture of …

Coventry Peace and Climate Change Lecture 2020 by Sir David King

Coventry Peace and Climate Change Lecture 2020 by Sir David King

12 November will present a rare opportunity to hear the UK's ex Chief Scientific Adviser and Special Representative for Climate Change share his insight and wisdom. Some people claim that Covid19 is the world’s biggest threat since the end of World War II. It has galvanised governments into action because it is an immediate and obvious danger. But, within a …

2020 Young People’s Peace Essay Competition - Award Ceremony

At an online event on 15 November, United Nations Association Coventry Branch will announce the winners of the 2020 Young People’s Peace Essay Competition and they will be invited to read their essays on the subject: The Role of Young People in Building Peace The prizes for the 3 winners aged 17-25 will be: £50, £25 and £10 plus a …

Black Lives Matter Conversation

On 18 November, UNA Coventry will run In informal discussion about the Black Lives Matter movement. What are its aims? What has it achieved so far and how should the movement develop in the future? Speakers will include Zarah Sultana MP for Coventry South. Those who register below will receive an email containing the link to join the event near …

Anniversary of First UN General Assembly Meeting

The first meeting of the General Assembly was held in Westminster Central Hall, London, on 10 January 1946. The Security Council met for the first time a week later in Church House, Westminster. 10 January was also the date of the founding of the UN’s predecessor, the League of Nations, which was founded on 10 January 1920. The League of …

COP26

United Nations Climate Change and the UK and Italian Governments announced on 1 April that the 26th Conference of Parties due to be held in Glasgow in November (COP26) has been postponed due to COVID-19. It is now scheduled for 1-12 November 2021. Deferring the meeting should not mean deferring climate action, according to a leaked letter signed by Cop26 …

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