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It’s been nine months since I arrived in New York City to take on the position of UN Representative for the Dominican Leadership Conference. Just as I was beginning to understand some of the workings at the UN everything shut down due to the Coronavirus. I have learned a lot in these first months, my […]

By Viviana Garcia-Blanco, Dominican Volunteer This year the 51st Commission on Population and Development takes place from April 9th to the 13th at the United Nations Headquarters. The Commission functions as a way to advise the UN’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) on matters related to population issues and trends, integrating population and development strategies, […]

By Jareen Aquino, MM (Maryknoll Sister of St. Dominic) For the past six years, the Dominican Sisters International has been sending sisters to participate in the United Nation’s Commission on the Status of Women. This commission invites the Thinkers-Shakers-and-Doers to work together and strengthen their relationship to make our society a better place for all, especially […]

By Viviana Garcia-Blanco, Dominican Volunteer The first round of intergovernmental negotiations on the zero draft for the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, otherwise known as the Global Compact for Migration, took place on the 20th, 22nd, and 23rd of February. The negotiations focused on contributions from individual parliaments and other multi-stakeholders towards […]

By Viviana Garcia-Blanco, Dominican Volunteer The UN Commission for Social Development serves as a means to advise the Economic and Social Council on matters of social policy and development. The 56th Session of the Commission (CSocD56) was in session from January 29th through February 7th. The priority theme of this year’s Policy Cycle was “strategies […]

By Viviana Garcia-Blanco, Dominican Volunteer This December the UN is preparing for the 70th Anniversary of the inception of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by means of a yearlong campaign. The Universal Declaration is an internationally recognized document that states the fundamental freedoms that all human beings are entitled to regardless of their race, […]

By Viviana Garcia-Blanco, Dominican Volunteer As of 2017, there are 65.6 million forcibly displaced people, 22.5 million refugees and 10 million stateless people roaming the face of the earth. (1) Most refugees seek asylum in their immediate regions, which as it happens, tend to be low-or middle-income countries. The countries currently hosting the most refugees are: […]

By Sister Margaret Mayce, OP The Paris Climate Accord has been a hot topic in the news lately, in light of President Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the hard-fought agreement. The only other country not party to the agreement is Syria. Now climate negotiators are meeting once again, this time in Bonn, […]

By Viviana Garcia-Blanco, Dominican Volunteer There are certain people who enter the direct service sector with an idea of what poverty is and what it looks like. Coming from the world of academia, these people spend a majority of their time reading and researching this topic, never really acknowledging that they only engaged with this […]

Arrival of New Dominican Volunteer By Margaret Mayce, OP (NGO Representative) Once again, I am blessed with the assistance of a Dominican Volunteer. Viviana Garcia-Blanco is a graduate of Dominican University, River Forest, IL, where she majored in Political Science with a concentration in International Affairs. Viviana will be engaged with the Working Group on […]