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"the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." - MLK 

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UNANIMA International Needs Your Grassroots Stories

April 06, 2023
By Tracy Abler, Justice Coordinator

The Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes (CSA) is one of 22 congregations worldwide who belong to UNANIMA International (UI). Tracy Abler, CSA JPIC Coordinator, represents the congregation on the UI Board of Directors. At the February 2023 Board Meeting, Tracy was elected to the Executive Committee and serves as Secretary. Tracy provides UI updates and writes of her experience:

“It is an absolute honor to represent CSA at UI. I continue to be in awe and wonder of the work that the very small staff (of three) do from their tiny office in the Church Center building overlooking the United Nations headquarters in New York City. With the amazing leadership of Executive Director, Jean Quinn, DW, UNANIMA International has a high public profile at the United Nations. Jean and her Executive Assistant, Lara Hicks, are very active with other NGO working groups and committees. Please take a moment to read Jean’s latest (and very impressive) newsletter here.

Image of Tracy with St. Agnes statueA highlight of my recent trip to New York, for a UI board meeting, was touring the United Nations. While walking through the wing dedicated to the Permanent Disarmament Collection, I was shocked to discover a statue of  St. Agnes that stands in the center of the collection. The damaged statue was found in the ruins of a Roman Catholic Cathedral in Nagasaki, Japan in 1945. The Cathedral was completely destroyed when the atomic bomb exploded half a kilometer away. While I did not get a picture of the back of the statue, the charring and mottling were an astonishing result of the intense heat and radiation.  

UI advocates on behalf of women and children experiencing extreme poverty and homelessness/displacement, and brings the voices of refugees, migrants, the homeless, and victims of human trafficking to the United Nations, with the aim to educate and influence policymakers at the global level. UI gets the attention of UN leaders because of their knowledge and expertise that comes from research and grassroots stories of their members. With a current focus on homelessness/displacement, I am urging anyone who has a story, or knows someone with a story of homelessness, displacement, migration, or trafficking to please consider sending it to me at tabler@csasisters.org 

You can get a good idea of the types of stories we are looking for by viewing any one of the many UI publications on homelessness and trafficking. These and more can be found on the UNANIMA International website.  While there, please also consider signing up for their e-newsletters, which are published once every two months.“

TAKE ACTION: Submit a story idea on the topics of homelessness, displacement, migration, or trafficking to tabler@csasisters.org 

 

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