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 Florida Division of the United Nations Association
Fall 2009
Newsletter
Stephen Baker, Editor (sbaker@ju.edu) 
 
Florida Division UNA-USA 2009 Convention in Tampa on November 14 
th 
 
Grab your suitcases and “come on down
!”
TheFlorida Division of the UNA-USA will meet on
November 14
th
 
for the annual convention to shareour common goals and help each other deliver ourmessages. We have a great deal to learn from eachother and this program will provide that forum. Ourkeynote speaker,
Steven Dimoff 
, is Vice President of Advocacy and Policy at the UNA-USA. Hisreputation as one of the foremost authorities on theUnited Nations guarantees this will be a greatconvention.
A flyer was previously sent out by thehosting Tampa Bay Chapter listing conventioninformation and registration procedures; thatflyer is reproduced here on the last page.
 
 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE 
 
The Florida Division welcomes the changesregarding the UN on the national level. The US has anew ambassador,
Susan Rice
, who is supportive of the UN and the Obama Administration believes indiplomacy, negotiating with those with whom wedisagree and multilateral solutions to commonproblems. Hopefully a new era of internationalunderstanding and co-operation has emerged inwhich the UN is increasingly important. UNA-USAalso has a new president,
Tom Miller
, who is adistinguished and widely experienced diplomat.Things are also changing for the Florida Division.With the cancellation of the 2008 annual meeting theDivision has been inactive for the past year. The newDivision Board met in Orlando March 21
st
and madea number of important decisions. We re-affirmedthat our mission is to support the chapters where themost important work of UNA-USA occurs. To this
end the Division’s annual meeting will focus on such
topics as recruitment of members, fundraising,lobbying, etc. In keeping with the times and to savemoney, our biennial newsletter will be distributedelectronically to the chapters for them to send to theirmembers. Publishing and distributing hard copies of the newsletter has been our largest expense.We decided to support
Dr. Franck Simon
’s
humanitarian work in Haiti. Please read the article inthis
Newsletter 
about all he does there. Your chaptermay wish to support him as the Tampa Bay Chapterand Division have done.I am pleased to report that the Miami Chapter isreorganizing under the leadership of 
MuhammedMalik
and has received a significant bequest. Also
Blanca Valez
is revitalizing the Broward Chapter.We look forward to both chapters being vibrantmembers of their communities and the Division.Obviously youth are the future of UNA and otherorganizations. Starting a Model UN (MUN) orYoung Professionals for International Cooperation(YPIC) chapter is an excellent way to educate youthabout the UN and world affairs in general andinvolve them in the chapter. Teachers of political
 
Page | 2science and international relations at local highschools and universities are potential organizers andresource persons for MUN and YPIC groups. Ask aboard member to see about starting a YPIC or MUN
group if you don’t already have them in your 
community.Members of the Foreign Service RetireesAssociation of Florida are also potentialchapter/board members, resources for youth andspeakers to the chapter and community. Invite themto your UN Day celebration and chapter meetings. If 
your chapter doesn’t have a copy of their membership directory, I’ll be happy to send you a list
of members in your area.Another good way of building membership,educating people about the UN and being recognized
in the community is to establish a speaker’s burea
u.College professors, foreign service workers amongothers are potential speakers. Such service clubs asRotary, Kiwanis, Lions, women
’s clubs and other 
community groups are always looking for speakers.
Finally come to our annual meeting in Tampa’s
Ybor City on November 13 and 14 to get other goodideas for your chapter and have a good time. I hopeto see you there. The Tampa Bay Chapter has workedhard to arrange for an informative and fun time.Please also read about the many exciting programsand events the chapters are sponsoring, e.g., Mexicanfolk dancers, golf tournaments, speakers, etc.Change has come not only on the national level butalso to the Division. I hope you like the changes wehave made
 — 
in any case we welcome your feedback.--
Robert
H. “Bob” Hornberger
 President
UNA-USA Florida Board Meeting 
On March 21, 2009 the UNA-USA FloridaDivision Board met in Orlando. President
BobHornberger
presided over the meeting with firstVice President
Franck Simon
, Recording Secretary
Rick Kennedy
, Membership Chair
Ed Cooke
aswell as
Kelly Miliziano
(Tampa Bay),
TaranehDarabi
(Gainesville), and
Steve Baker
 (Jacksonville).The proposed 2009 budget was discussedincluding an expected income of $2405 and expensesof $2005. The carry-over funds were $8317. Thelargest expense ($1200) was for the newsletter due toproduction and postage costs. The Board voted to trysending the newsletter electronically as a PDF toeach chapter president who would then be requestedto forward it to the membership by e-mail. Eachchapter would also be asked to print and mail copiesfor members without access to e-mail. This willrepresent a substantial savings for the Division.
Board meeting participants (from left to right) Rick Kennedy, Franck Simon, Bob Hornberger, Steve Baker, TaranehDarabi, Kelly Miliziano and Ed Cooke
The Board also approved $1000 to assist thepresident with the expenses to attend the NationalUNA-USA Convention in New York June 13-15.Another $200 was approved to sponsor an ad in thedirectory of the Foreign Service Retirees of Florida, auseful source of both speakers and participants in ourUNA-USA programs. An additional $500 wasapproved to support the work of Dr. Simon with hishealth project in Haiti (see article later). The TampaBay Chapter already donated $400 and Ed Cookemade a personal contribution of $100.Finally Kelly Miliziano was applauded forcompleting her Ph.D. She has done a great deal of research on the Model UN.--From the minutes submitted by Rick Kennedy
Broward County 
Broward County member activities includedinstallation of new officers, distributing UN-relatedbooks, sponsoring a Night of a Thousand Dinners tohelp eradicate landmines, membership drives, a jointventure with the Pembroke Pines Bahá
’i
 organization, a presentation on UNICEF by
Dr.Donna Williams
, preparations for the UN Day
 
Page | 3celebration and Thanksgiving baskets for needyfamilies. Membership chairperson
Bob Velez
hasbeen active in promoting renewals.--
Blanca Moore-Valez
 
Dr. Franck Simon’s Mission to Haiti 
 
I am authorized by the Haiti Department of Healthand the Department of Social Services to practicemedicine in Haiti and have been doing so for over 40years. In December, responding to the United NationsMillennium Development Goals Project, I initiated ahealth mission in the Republic of Haiti, authorized by
Dr. Daniel Luu
, then president of the UNA-USAFlorida Division. This mission received the approvaland logistical assistance of Gen. Gabriel Valdez,Commander of Peacekeeping Forces of the UN inHaiti. The Ambassador of the UN DevelopmentProgram granted us UN security clearance. Officialsof the Haiti Government conferred diplomaticprivileges at the Diplomatic Salon of Port-au-Prince.I travel to Haiti on that mission every other monthor so and have established a central office in Port-au-Prince as well as a clinic-on-wheels using mypersonal truck to reach the remote villages. I offermedical consultations, medication, lectures on UNissues and
food. I’ve also donated a deep
-rock well tothe village of Bamboo (in the south) where the onlyavailable water was from the river.From March 24 to April 9, 2009, I attended 300Haiti village victims of hunger, TB, malaria,HIV/AIDS and other conditions and distributedchemically treated mosquito nets, food andmedications.The Jolicoeur family of Jacmel (in the south),volunteered their time and labor for food preparationand Father Gladimir, a Catholic priest, was kindenough to drive our truck converted into a mobileclinic to reach remote villages.Officials from Haiti Foreign Affairs Ministryexpressed their support. I returned to Haiti on thesame mission from June 9 to June 30 and willcontinue every other month thereafter.
--Dr. Franck Simon
Gainesville 
The Gainesville Chapter supported active civicparticipation in social and economic issues throughseveral avenues: Public Lectures series, UN Day and
Speaker’s Bureau.
 
Public Lectures Series:
 The Gainesville UNA Chapter provided four wide-ranging programs to UNA members, Model UN Clubmembers and other citizens and students in thecommunity this year. High profile and experiencedspeakers addressed a range of topics from tradepolicy and health to human rights. The year beganwith an address by
Otton Solis Fallas
, the prominentCosta Rican scholar-politician, speaking on "ThePolitics of the Central American Free TradeAgreement (CAFTA)." In April a presentation by
Dr.Barbara Oberlander
, Santa Fe College Professor,featured the many contributions by the UN's ownEleanor Roosevelt in a talk entitled "EleanorRoosevelt and Human Rights: First Lady of theWorld." In the fall, emphasis on health deliveryconcerns in Africa brought forth
Dr. Lenny Rhines
,University of Florida Librarian Emeritus, to speak on"The UN Program for Developing Countries:Information Technology to Bridge the HealthInformation Gap." In closing an exciting, if notexhausting, year of political contest and change,
Ambassador Nancy Soderberg
covered a widerange of issues with "International Challenges Facingthe New President." Each of these presentationsanticipated many of the far reaching challenges thatlie ahead while anchoring our group in the rich UNhistory.
UN Day:
Our UN Day took place on October 23rd withproclamations by our city and county as the UN flag
of 00

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