UNA Luton Zoom webinar 31 July 2024

Objective

Apply lessons from the avoidable genocide in Srebrenica to promote sustainable peace and community cohesion in plural societies

On 23 May 2024, the United Nations General Assembly declared 11 July to be the International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica. We are holding our own commemoration on a different date to avoid clashes with other commemorative events.

Message from UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterrez

11 July marks the first International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica.
Twenty-nine years ago, the United Nations and the world failed the people of Srebrenica. Over 8,000 Bosnian Muslims were systematically murdered, and their remains buried in mass graves. This was the worst atrocity in Europe since the Second World War.
Today, we honour the memory of the victims and stand in solidarity with the survivors.
We also reaffirm our support for the families of those killed, in their relentless quest for truth and justice. We must combat denial and revisionism and pursue efforts to identify every victim and bring every perpetrator to account.
And we commit to continue learning from this unspeakable tragedy and sharing the stories and lessons of Srebrenica.
The genocide in Srebrenica stands as a harrowing testament to the devastating consequences of inaction in the face of hatred. We must fight against division and intolerance, stand up for human rights, and promote mutual understanding and reconciliation.
May the memory of Srebrenica strengthen our resolve to build a world free from the scourge of genocide – a world where justice and peace prevail, where “never again” is a solemn promise fulfilled for all humanity.

Webinar held on Tuesday 18 June 2024

Objective

To raise awareness about Autism, which affects millions of people worldwide, both in economically developing and in developed countries.

The World Health Organization is concerned about the rising trajectory of this condition that has serious social and economic implications for countries and families. It regards Autism as a Global Health Challenge.

We will share with the audience/participants a film in Bengali with English subtitles. It is based on the real-life story of a family and their boy (now an adult), who has been affected by autism from his birth and cannot speak. The film also makes important points about the serious need for raising awareness in society about autism. Empathetic social support can make a difference to families dealing with autism day in and day out. The film, produced by Rupa’s Vision, will give our guests an opportunity to understand this condition’s impact on families and society. The film is unique also because it includes the entire family of the boy, Samim, in their actual roles as a family. We in UNA-Luton believe that it will give viewers an opportunity to consider the human rights concerns associated with Autism and its support services. The more we understand the nature of Autism and linked issues such as economic class, ethnicity, gender, disability, faith, culture, social attitudes, etc, the better equipped we will be to promote appropriate policies and support services in the home and institutions and improve equalities in accessing services.

This is a unique opportunity for us all to directly hear from Mehedy Kabir, the mother of Samim, how she and her family have dealt with many challenges linked to autism and taken actions to positively impact their social circles.

Programme

Bornil Sutor Setu: Film in Bengali with English subtitles: This is a powerful drama, which people from all communities will be able to identify with.A powerful feature of the film is that the family play themselves, including the autistic young man, Samin. All members of the audience were moved by it, and it launched a lively discussion about the persistent stigma around autism and how to raise awareness and empathy across society

Zoom Webinar held on Sunday 16 July 2023

United Nations Association Luton Theme:

Preventing Hate Crime - Racism & Genocide

Remembering Srebrenica UK Theme:

Together We Are One

OBJECTIVES

To learn lessons from the preventable genocide in Srebrenica in 1995 and in other places and contribute to building sustainable peace in plural societies.

Programme

Click on the pictures to see the videos of the sessions

Zoom webinar held on Sunday 12 March 2023

This year's UN theme was 'DigitALL: Innovation and technnology for gender equality.'
Coincidentally, our online even in itself demonstrated our faith in technology and recognition of the importance of this year's theme but, to ensure our clear understanding of the concept of equal access to available technology, the meeting explored the key issues and challenges faced by women, especially BAME women, and celebrated their achievements. We agree with the UN that 'Innovation and technical change, and education in the digital age, can and should be harnessed to achieve gender equality for women and girls.

Zoom Webinar Held on Thursday 19 January 2023 at 14.00 – 15.30 GMT

We set up this
webinar to raise awareness about the Dementia/Alzheimer that affect millions of people
worldwide, both in economically developing and in developed countries. The World Health
Organization is concerned about the rising trajectory of this illness that has serious social and
economic implications for countries and families. It regards Dementia, of which Alzheimer’s
disease is the most common form, as a Global Health Challenge.

The Webinar gave us and our guests an opportunity to understand this health challenge
for families and societies and also consider the human rights concerns associated with this
illness and its support services. The more we understand the nature of the illness and linked
issues such as economic class, ethnicity, gender, disability, faith and culture, the better
equipped we will be to promote better policies, support services in the home and in
institutions and equalities in accessing services. This will help to achieve more positive
outcomes for patients and families.

UN Human Rights Day 2022 - Homelessness

To mark the 75th anniversary of the UN Declaration of Universal Human Rights, we held a webinar to focus on homelessness and action to prevent it

Zoom meeting 11 December 2023: 4:30 pm - 6:30 pm (GMT)

Homelessness - international, national, local

Housing is a fundamental human right. Homelessness damages people's dignity, their self-respect and their physical and mental health - and it is preventable. Decent housing reduces pressure on health services. It improves children's performance in school. It reduces emotional pressures within households, giving them greater stability. Increasing the supply of good housing in the right places is one of the best investments any society can make.
So why does tackling homelessness so often fall low on the list of political and social priorities?
This webinar reviewed homelessness internationally, nationally within the UK and locally in Luton and discussed the action that can be taken to move homelessness up the political agenda so that resources can be targeted towards its elimination.

UN Human Rights Day actually falls on 10 December. We held our webinar on 11 December to avoid clashing with other UN events.

Programme

Dr Nazia Khanum OBE DL, Chair of the United Nations Association Luton Branch - the global context on homelessness

Dr Khanum has decades of experience of promoting policy and practice in equality, diversity, justice and human rights, was a former Head of Equalities in 5 English local authorities and chairs six community empowerment organisations.

Dr David Cheesman, Secretary of UNA Luton - national challenges relating to homelessness in England and ideas for the way forward.

Board member (former Chair) of a local housing association, formerly Head of Policy and Research at the Housing Corporation, the government agency formerly responsible for funding and regulating English housing associations (functions now undertaken by Homes England the Social Housing Regulator); former Visiting Professor of Society and Development at Sheffield Hallam University; policy adviser on financial services regulation.

Nazakat Ali, Head of Housing Needs at Luton Borough Council - challenges and solutions in Luton

Nazakat Ali has extensive knowledge and many years practical experience of dealing with homelessness, with a deep understanding of the underlying issues and local policies and practice.

Zakir Hussain, founder Director of Film for Development (FFD) - to talk about a documentary he is making about homelessness in Luton

Published author, poet and script writer and a director of plays, passionate about influencing social change through films to promote a more just and fair society.

Sue Beaumont, Member of UNA Luton - interactive session with questions, answers and comments.

A long career in the Probation Service gave Sue extensive experience and insight into issues of justice and fairness. She is a member of the Remebering Srebrenica Project Board for the East of England and a member of many voluntary organisations.

UN International Day of Peace

Zoom meeting 17 September 2022: 5.00pm - 6.30pm (British summer time)
UN theme: End Racism. Build peace.

Objective: Forming alliances against racial discrimination and promoting human rights, equality, justice and peace

We held a virtual event on Saturday 17th September from 5:00 pm to mark the UN International Day of Peace 2022. It was due to end at 6:30 pm, but the participants were so stimulated by the presentations, they agreed to defer the close to 7.00 pm. A report and recording will follow shortly.
The actual UN Day was on 21st September. We picked our date for the convenience of the weekend. This year’s theme is End Racism. Build Peace. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has said:
“Racism continues to poison institutions, social structures, and everyday life in every society. It continues to be a driver of persistent inequality. And it continues to deny people their fundamental human rights. It destabilizes societies, undermines democracies, erodes the legitimacy of governments, and… the linkages between racism and gender inequality are unmistakable.”

This important webinar will revisit some of the persistent challenges to peace and possibly to find our own roles in working towards a world free from racial hatred, discrimination and conflicts and promote fundamental human rights, equalities and Justice - vital ingredients for sustainable peace.

Programme

Dr. Nazia Khanum OBE DL

Chair United Nations Association Luton

Messages from dignitaries

Paul Salver

Award winning HET Educator and Vice Chair of the Remembering Srebrenica Board for East of England, with vast knowledge of and insights into the harmful nature of racism and how to combat it through education and promoting peace

Dr. Helen Connolly

Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Course Coordinator for MA in Human Rights and Social Enterprise (University of Bedfordshire); Academic Representative of the University’s Board of Governors & Chair of Srebrenica Remembrance Board for East of England.

Dr David Cheesman

Secretary United Nations Association Luton

Welcome address and background.

'So we can better face the future'-The importance of education in preventing conflict, genocide denial and challenging hatred.
The speaker will examine how education should be used to effectively help young people understand conflicts and wars, to have the evidence to combat denial and challenge hatred and how it is only through knowledge that we have hope of securing a safer and better future.

Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking & Refugee Children in the UK: What could be done to improve their Human Rights?

Interactive session: questions answers and comments

Concluding remarks and way forward

Muhammad Shafaq Hussain: Chair and Organiser

Dr Nazia Khanum OBE DL, Chair of UNA-Luton, was the Guest of Honour and Keynote Speaker at a webinar organised by Bangladesh Event Express to discuss this year's theme for International Youth Day - Transforming food systems. She stressed that it was important for young people to take a leading role on key issues of international importance such as the safe and sustainable production, distribution and consumption of food, since they represent the future.

Dr (Brigadier-General - Retd) Muhammad Sakhawat Hussain, former Election Commissioner of Bangladesh, was the Discussant.

Other speakers were:

Fatima Akter Naz, President, JCI Dhaka North

Ratul Dev, Executive Director, GenLab

Shammy Wadud, President, UN Youth and Students Association of Bangladesh

Sumaiya Zaman, Co-organiser and moderator

Objective

To learn lessons from the Srebrenica genocide in 1995 and contribute to building peace in plural societies

Focus

The massacre at Srebrenica in July 1995 was the worst atrocity on European soil since World War II. This Zoom meeting

follows up the Remembering Srebrenica memorial programmes on 11 July by facilitating debate on the practical actions that we can all take to prevent such events happening again.

Programme:

Paul Salver, retired Senior/Teacher/Leader in a secondary school in Milton Keynes who has been involved in holocaust education since 1999, organiser/coordinator of MK Holocaust Memorial Days for MK Council events for all schools and faith groups for 21 years, and a recent proud winner of an international award organised by the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum: Understanding through education - a personal view of the impact of genocide awareness in schools

Community engagement with Keech Hospice: Zoom meeting 25 April 2021, 11:00 - 12:00

We arranged a meeting between Keech Hospice staff and members of the community, to promote awareness of the Hospice's services, encourage greater use of the facilities by diverse communities and facilitate dialogue about local needs. Keech Hospice provides terminal care for in-patients, supports patients in their homes and emotionally supports their families. The event was stimulating and interesting, and four bilingual participants offered on the spot to become Keech volunteers.

Click on the links below to see the recordings of the sessions.

Zoom event, 28 March 2021, 16:00 - 18:00 (GMT)

Objective

Forming alliances against racial discrimination and fostering a culture of respect for diversity, equality and anti-discrimination

Focus

An examination of the prevalence of racial prejudices and discrimination and consideration of remedies with a particular focus on Islamophobia and the human rights of unaccompanied asylum seeking and refugee children

Programme

Welcome: Dr Nazia Khanum, OBE DL, Chair or UNA-Luton

Messages of support: Helen Nellis, Lord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire; Susan Lousada, High Sheriff of Bedfordshire; Councillor Maria Lovell, Mayor of Luton; Sarah Owen MP (Luton North). Other guests included Lord Bill McKenzie and Mitty Tohma, Chair of the Women’s Federation for World Peace UK.

Racism and Islamophobia: Dr Mohammad Alramahi, Principal Lecturer in Law and Chair of the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Staff Network, University of Bedfordshire

Without my family: unaccompanied asylum seeking and refugee children in the UK: Dr Helen Connolly, Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Course Coordinator for MA in Human Rights and Social Enterprise, University of Bedfordshire ; University Board of Governors – Academic Representative; Chair of Srebrenica Remembrance Board for East of England.

Click the link below to read Dr Connolly's full report: Without my family: the impact of family separation on child refugees in the UK, published by the Refugee Council, Save the Children and Amnesty International, 2019.

Report

The International Day was actually 21 March, but we chose 28 March for our event to fit with diary commitments. The original date was chosen by the United Nations to commemorate the Sharpeville Massacre of 21 March 1960, when the South African police opened fire on an unarmed crowd protesting against the apartheid pass laws, killing 69 and wounding about 180. It shocked the world and, far from strengthening apartheid as the government intended, unleashed the antiracist movement which eventually abolished it just over 30 years later, in 1992.

Introducing the event, Dr Nazia Khanum OBE DL, Chair of UNA-Luton, explained that Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, has taken his inspiration for this year from the young people across the world who took to the streets after the racist murder of George Floyd to protest against what he called ‘the vicious global pandemic of racism.’ Condemning racism as dangerous, abhorrent and ugly,’ Mr Guterres has set the UN theme for 2021 as ‘Youth standing up against racism.’

Young people are growing up in an interconnected world, where diversity is taken for granted and climate change is the common enemy. Dr Khanum speculated that they may have stronger immunity against the virus of racism than the older generations, so maybe this is at last a turning point. After all, apartheid seemed invincible in 1960, but we saw it crumble with our own eyes.

There were strong statements of support from Helen Nellis, Lord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire, and Councillor Maria Lovell, Mayor of Luton, followed by two powerful speakers from the University of Bedfordshire.

Dr Mohammed Alramahi pointed out that islamophobia is a form of racism. It is used as a cover for targeting hatred at particular minority communities. The media have a key role, both positive and negative. Too often, they perpetrate stereotypes. For example, the killing of innocent people is only described as a terrorist attack if it is perpetrated by a Muslim. If a non-Muslim carries out a similar atrocity, it is just murder or mass murder. On the other hand, the media can be a crucial force for good, by presenting the facts and combating misinformation.

Dr Helen Connolly made a disturbing presentation drawing on evidence from her research for Amnesty International, the Refugee Council and Save the Children on the plight of unaccompanied asylum seeking and refugee children in the UK. Her findings have been published as Without my family: The impact of family separation on child refugees in the UK. Our website has a link to the published report. The arrival of these unaccompanied children in the UK is a testament to the desperation of their parents. One father explained that, if your house is on fire and there is no escape, you will throw at least one of your children out of the window in the hope that they will survive. They have no legal right to bring their families to join them, and many cry at night for their mothers.

Susan Lousada, High Sheriff of Bedfordshire, and Sarah Owen, MP for Luton North, gave their responses to the two presentation. The High Sheriff commented that she had been made aware of the efforts of sinister individuals to use the pandemic to play upon people’s fear and suspicion by disseminating fake news about Muslims breaking the lockdown. She had been delighted to give High Sheriff’s awards to local people who had bravely taken a stand to present the true facts. Sarah Owen referred back to the evidence Dr Alramahi had presented that Muslim job applicants are often rejected simply because of their name. She urged employers to practise blind selection. In a recent recruitment exercise, she had instructed Human Resources to remove from the applications all references to name, gender and age. This produced the most diverse shortlist she had ever seen.

All participants were deeply concerned about the circumstances of unaccompanied children.

Government consultation on immigration

The goverment launched a consultation on 24 March about its New Plan for Immigration. This is an opportunity to influence government policy on immigration more generally, and on refugees and asylum seekers in particular. The closing date is 6 May.

Ideologies of hate will be defeated: Black Lives Matter

UNA Luton supported the worldwide protests that took place against the brutal murder of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis on 25 May 2020. We hope justice will be done in the trial that has opened. It is the US law ebforcement system that is on trial, not a single police officer.

The protests took place because Floyd's murder is symptomatic of the racism that damages the lives of minorities in many societies, not only in America - genocide against Rohingyas in Myanmar and Uighur Muslims in China, the removal of citizenship from Muslims in India, the displacement of indigenous people in the Amazon basin and across the world and many more examples of community injustice.
In the UK, the USA and Europe, racism has been hardwired into the culture for centuries through the slave trade and the establishment of empire. Slavery has been abolished and the empires are gone, but the imperial mindset persists. It permeates our language and conditions the way we look at the world. We have to recognise its distorting impact and consciously challenge it.

After the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s, and legislation against racism and discrimination from the 1970s onwards, it sometimes looked as if the battles had been won and it was only a matter of time before we achieved societies which respected people as individuals and promoted equality of opportunity regardless of race, religion, gender, sexuality, disability and age.

In practice, progress has been painfully slow. The Me-Too movement has highlighted the gulf between expectation and reality on gender equality. Like the murder of George Floyd in the USA, the Windrush scandal in Britain confirmed that slavery is not past history. Black British citizens were deported to the Caribbean countries where their ancestors were transported as slaves even though they lived all their lives in the UK and their parents had responded to the call for workers to rebuild the country after World War II. The mass deaths in care homes during the Covid-19 pandemic have shown how little we as a society value the more vulnerable members of our community.

The protests were a wake-up call for change. The deficit persists across all the protected characteristics - age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. We cannot resolve problems unless we recognise their existence. Every individual and institution should question their own attitudes and assumptions and take action to make a difference. For individuals, it means reflection and improvement. For institutions, the response needs to be more structured. Every organisation should carry out a rigorous equality impact assessment of its own policies, practices and procedures, and produce an action plan with measurable targets and realistic timescales to eliminate discrimination and improve equality of opportunity.

We believe the worldwide protests over Black Lives Matter in 2020, and in 2021 the resistance to authoritarian regimes of ordinary people in Myanmar, Russia, Thailand and elsewhere, are a signal that we will not go back to the status quo when the pandemic passes. We will take the opportunity to build a better world.

UN International Human Solidarity Day

Zoom event, 20 December 2020, from 16.00 - 18.00 (GMT) presented in association with the Muslim Professionals Forum

Promoting solidarity for social wellbeing and peace by taking action through faith, interfaith and secular initiatives

Messages of solidarity

Helen Nellis, HM Kord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire

Councillor Maria Lovell, Mayor of Luton;

Susan Lousada, High Sheriff of Bedfordshire

Sarah Owen MP (Luton North)

Rachel Hopkins MP (Luton South)

Speakers

Laura Church, Corporate Director for Population Wellbeing, Luton Borough Council: Strategy for population wellbeing during and after the pandemic

David Jonathan (Johny), Director, Grassroots and Luton Council of Faiths: Solidarity from faith and interfaith perspective

Sr Maire Hayes, Spirituality of Justice Programme coordinator for Grassroots and Luton Council of Faiths and Interfaith Coordinator for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Northampton: Solidarity with Creation

Vinod Tailor MBE DL, former High Sheriff of Bedfordshire: Solidarity in the voluntary sector – dealing with the challenges of the Covid-19 Pandemic

Kim Greig, Coordinator, Near Neighbours Programme in Luton: Neighbourly solidarity through social action

Meryl Dolling, Chair, Inner Wheel, Rotary Club, Luton North & former High Sheriff of Bedfordshire: Inner Wheel - Women’s solidarity for humanitarian actions

The Mandela Mile, 18 July 2019

The United Nations has declared 18 July an international day to honour Nelson Mandela. The United Nations Association-Luton sent out invitations to 'walk the Mandela Mile' in Wardown Park, Luton, to promote Nelson Mandela's inspiring principles of freedom, democracy, equality, justice, forgiveness, reconciliation and peace.

Participants gathered at Wardown House at 10.00 and were welcomed by Dr Nazia Khanum OBE DL, Chair of UNA-Luton. Vinod Tailor DL, former High Sheriff of Bedfordshire, spoke about Nelson Mandela and why we are walking a mile. Meryl Dolling, High Sheriff of Bedfordshire and her Consort, Cllr Michael Dolling, led the guests on the walk around the lake and back to Wardown House where they had a discussion over tea and coffee about the life and work of Nelson Mandela and their relevance to our life and times. Cllr Maria Lovell, Deputy Mayor of Luton, was one of the speakers.

Luton Conference on Commonwealth Women, 26 March 2018

Recommendations to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), 16-20 April 2018

This conference was organised by UNA-Luton with support from UNA-Harpenden and the University of Bedfordshire. It was held at the University of Bedfordshire Luton campus and attended by over 90 people from diverse backgrounds. Most were women from minority communities who were keen to get women's voices heard. They broke into three workshops for lively discussions about forced marriage, female education and climate change. The workshops reported back to the plenary session, which agreed the recommendations on building sustainable and resilient societies that they wished to present to Commonwealth leaders. These were submitted to the CHOGM Commonwealth Women's Forum.

Speakers

Bill Rammell, Vice Chancellor of the University of Bedfordshire and Honorary President on UNA-Luton: Welcome address

Professor Gurch Randhawa, DL: Message from Helen Nellis, HM Lord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire, on behalf of HM the Queen

Trevor Evans, Chair, UNA-Harpenden: Message from Dr Carl Wright, UNA-UK, the Commonwealth Heads of Governments’ Meeting

Cllr Ghulam Ayub, Mayor of Luton: Message of support

Cllr Naseem Ayub, Mayoress of Luton: Message from Hazel Simmons, Leader of Luton Borough Council

Dr Diana Pritchard, Centre for Learning and Excellence, University of Bedfordshire

Dr Violet Cuffy, Senior Lecturer in Tourism and Events Management, University of Bedfordshire

Shaista Khan, Marketing Professional, International SDG Consultant-Life Coach-Communications Specialist

Dr Nazia Khanum, OBE DL, Chair of UNA-Luton

The seminar was held at Dallow Learning Community Centre, Luton. Accessing the best possible healthcare facilities is an important human right. The seminar promoted this objective by raising awareness of the social, cultural and religious issues and traditions that need to be addressed to encourage a wider range of communities to donate organs. The programme included the real-life experiences of donors and recipients with participation from nationally reputed medical consultants. The seminar was presented in liaison with Luton Community Health Forum and was supported by the UK Donation Ethics Committee and the Institute for Health Research, University of Bedfordshire.

Seminar on Health and Human Rights, 21 September 2011, at the Centre for Youth and Community Development, Luton

Professor Gurch Randhawa, Director of Institute for Health Research at the University of Bedfordshire and Chair of NHS Luton was the keynote speaker. Access to good health facilities is a primary need of all human beings, but the reality is different in developing countries, especially for the poor. Although we live in one of the most developed countries in the world and have a National Health Service, some people still face difficulties in accessing healthcare services when they need them. Patients’ experience of treatment and outcomes indicates that there are serious health inequalities in Luton as in some other parts of this country. It also appears that on average people in the affluent areas of Luton live nearly 10 years longer than those who are living in deprived areas. This is unacceptable.