United Nations Day (2023)

Show your support for the United Nations and its principles of peace and non-violence.
This program is free and open to all.

LWVW will host a table at UN Day. This year’s topic is Appreciating Peace and Promoting Non-violence: the Role of the UN and Local Youth Movements.

Keynote Speaker: Michael Kingsley-Nyinah in conversation with Ambassador Francis Okelo, Former UN Special Envoy for Peace*

*Mr. Michael Kingsley-Nyinah is currently Director of the Central and Southern Africa Division in the UN Secretariat Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations (DPPA/ DPO). He has served the UN for nearly three decades in senior leadership roles in political and legal advice, and refugee protection, in armed conflict, emergency and headquarters contexts, and across the domains of humanitarian, political, human rights, and development work. Mr Kingsley-Nyinah formerly served in the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in Damascus and Gaza.

Planned Speakers:

• Marcia Brewster: President, UNA-Westchester
• Eduardo Albrecht: Associate Dean, School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (SSBS), and Director, International Relations and Diplomacy Program, Mercy University
• Michael Kingsley-Nyinah: UN Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Department of Peace Operations (DPO)
• Ambassador Francis Okelo: former UN Special Envoy for Peace

Youth Peace Activists:

• Casiopia Sandt: Horace Greely High School, WESPAC intern
• Emiliano Juarez: Westchester County Youth Council
• Natalya L. Martin: Manhattanville Clark Scholar on Social Justice
• Jonathan Alvarez: 914 United
• Margaret Engel: Peace Action New York State
• Beth Schuman: Combatants for Peace
• Kevin Brickle: Youth Justice & Equity Team (YJET) of New Rochelle

Program Schedule:

1:30pm: Registration & Networking
2:00pm: Welcome remarks
2:05pm: Remarks by special guest speaker Michael Kingsley-Nyinah and Ambassador Francis Okelo, followed by Q&A session
2:35pm: Lightning Round: Youth Movement Peace Activists
3:15pm: Reception with refreshments
3:55pm: Closing

This event is cosponsored by Mercy University, School of Social and Behavioral Science and Center for Global Engagement; Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Zeta Nu Omega chapter; Concerned Families of Westchester; International Institute on Peace Education; League of Women Voters of Westchester; The Links, Inc.; WESPAC Foundation; Manhattanville College, Mary T. Clark Center for Religion and Social Justice; Westchester County Youth Bureau; and UNA-USA Southern NYS Division.