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UNA-USA CONGRATULATES PRESIDENT-ELECT BARACK OBAMA AND URGES ACTIVE UNITED STATES ENGAGEMENT IN THE UNITED NATIONS

Nov. 7, 2008: Ambassador William H. Luers, president of the United Nations Association of the USA, issued the following statement concerning the election of Sen. Barack Obama as the forty-fourth President of the United States.

The United Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA) congratulates Senator Barack Obama and Senator Joe Biden on their election as President and Vice-President of the United States. As a national membership organization whose leaders and members are dedicated to informing policymakers and the public about the importance of a strong United States relationship with the United Nations, UNA-USA looks forward to working with the incoming Obama administration to enhance our country’s participation in the UN’s important work.

UNA-USA believes that many of the core foreign policy issues facing the incoming administration can be and are being addressed effectively within the UN framework. In dealing with the vitally important security and humanitarian issues in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf regions, the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, climate change, peacekeeping, sustainable development, humanitarian emergencies or the spread of disease, the United Nations is the indispensable forum in which solutions are being developed that hold all nations involved accountable for results.

First and foremost, UNA-USA urges the incoming administration to nominate as soon as possible a distinguished American with substantial international experience to serve as United States permanent representative to the United Nations and to include the new ambassador in the President’s cabinet. In many ways, a new style on the part of the United States at the United Nations will go a long way toward renewing the world organization itself at a moment in which its effectiveness is more important than ever.

In a letter to UNA-USA Board Member Josh Weston, (June 24, 2008) Senator Obama has promised to provide “bold and effective leadership to reinvigorate the UN so it finally achieves the potential that Roosevelt envisioned." We will strongly support President-elect Obama as his administration seeks to translate this promise into effective policies. Vice President-elect Biden is a long time supporter of the United Nations. UNA-USA also has full confidence that he will bring about the progress and renewal the world organization deserves. We are, therefore, optimistic that the United Nations can anticipate a strong partner in the Obama administration as it faces the daunting challenges ahead.

In “A Memo to the President-Elect” (.pdf) Ambassador Bill Luers lays out a broad agenda for the new administration’s engagement in the United Nations.

In keeping with our practice of targeting a specific cause for UN Day, UNA-USA has dedicated its 2008 celebrations to environmental sustainability as an essential tool for poverty alleviation. Achieving environmental sustainability is the seventh Millennium Development Goal and has profound implications on environmental, health and economic conditions in countries and regions everywhere.

UNA-USA’s president, Ambassador William H. Luers, invited governors around the country to appoint UN Day chairpeople to illustrate their commitment to international and multilateral environmental sustainability efforts geared towards curbing global warming and providing clean water and sanitation services to every area of the world. These chairpeople will participate in town-hall meetings, film screenings, UN flag-flying ceremonies and other chapter events nationwide.

For more information and a list of chapter organized events please visit www.unausa.org/unday2008.