January 28, 1998-- Women’s Division president Sara Shingler participated in a high-level meeting with United Nations (U.N.) Secretary-General and leaders from other large U.S.-based non-profit organizations to discuss the state of the U.S.-U.N. relationship this week.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan commended Ms. Shingler and other leaders gathered at the U.N. headquarters in New York City for the organizations’ dedication to building support for the principles of the U.N. Charter. He urged Ms. Shingler and other leaders to redouble their efforts to inform the American public to mobilize their members in support of constructive U.S. leadership at the United Nations.
United Methodist Women has been involved in the United Nations since its founding, and members have and will continue to be supportive of its efforts through the years, responded Ms. Shingler.
"What happens at the United Nations influences what happens in the United States in relationship to peace, human rights, children, and women," Ms. Shingler says. "The U.N. plays a very important role in securing rights for people around the world that we consider a privilege here in the U.S."
She says that she was pleased with the way the Secretary-General is reaching out to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for help in communicating the role of the United Nations and how United Methodist Women and others can be involved.
The membership of United Methodist Women and United Methodist Church as a whole have a possibility for making a real impact on what happens to the U.N. They can influence how Congress and the President respond, says Ms. Shingler.
In recent years, the Women’s Division urged directors and staff to write to Congressional members encouraging the U.S. to make a good faith effort to carry out its financial and legal obligations to the United Nations.
As 1998 begins, U.S.-U.N. relations are strained by the failure of the U.S. to pay over $1 billion in arrearage to the U.N.’s regular budget and peacekeeping operations. Congress adjourned in November without taking action on a proposal to authorize $926 million in back dues for international organizations in return for satisfying over three dozen conditions for U.N. system reform. In the closing days of the session, the measure was linked to the issue of funding for international family planning programs and was caught in a deadlock between the White House and the congressional leadership.
The failure of the U.S. to meet its financial obligations to the U.N. weakens the work of the world body and has soured relations with other nations -- including closest allies. Because payment of current and past assessments is a solemn treaty obligation, the U.S. action undermines respect for the rule of law in international affairs and sets a bad example for others.
Ambassador Bill Richard, permanent representative of the U.S. to the United Nations, spoke to Ms. Shingler and others, affirming that the resolution of this issue is one of the Clinton administration’s top foreign policy goals in 1998.
UNA-USA chairman John C. Whitehead chaired the meeting. Besides Ms. Shingler representing the Women’s Division, General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church, other leaders attended the event. They represented the American Association of Retired Persons, American Association of School Administrators, American Association of University Women, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, Japanese American Citizens League, Jewish Council for Public Affairs, League of Women Voters of the U.S., The LINKS, Inc., Lions Clubs International, National Council of Churches, National Council of Negro Women, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Sierra Club, UNITE, U.S. Catholic Conference, Washington Working Group on the International Criminal Court, World Federalist Association, YMCA, and the YWCA.
"It was an opportunity for NGOs to be in touch with one another on the local level and in the nationwide arena," says Ms. Shingler. The organizations gathered represent close to 140 million people.
The Women’s Division represents United Methodist Women, an organization of one million members. The organization’s purpose is to foster spiritual growth, develop leaders, and advocate for social justice. Members raise more than $25 million dollars a year for programs and projects related to women, children, and youth in the United States and in more than 100 countries around the world.