UNA-UK's 2014 AGM

On Saturday 29 March, UNA-UK held its Annual General Meeting, the second since adopting charitable status, at the Resource for London centre.

Over 50 members attended the formal process of accepting the audited accounts for 2012/13 and appointing auditors for the following year. The full draft minutes of the meeting are available here. The AGM was followed by an event entitled 'Staying Connected', which provided members with an update on UNA-UK's 2013 Policy Conference.

In his AGM speech, Sir Jeremy Greenstock, UNA-UK's Chairman, said that during the past year, UNA-UK had been steadily increasing its policy impact and developing its partnerships and reputation. He thanked the Association's staff, noting their growing effectiveness, and volunteers for the energy they brought to UNA-UK. He also paid tribute to two longstanding members of UNA-UK who passed away this year: Dr Alec Gaines, UNA Edinburgh, and Robert Lloyd, UNA Welwyn Hatfield.   Sir Jeremy then outlined some major developments, including:

• Securing FCO project funding at a time when their own budget had gone down
• Reaching new audiences through social media such as Twitter and Facebook
• A process of self-appraisal and review by the Board of Trustees

He said that UNA-UK’s main challenges for 2014/15 remained the need to secure long-term grants in a time of economic difficulty, and to continue to push for greater understanding of what the UN stands for, in order to encourage nations to cooperate and realise it is in their best interests to act collectively.    In her presentation, Natalie Samarasinghe, UNA-UK’s Executive Director, outlined in more detail the Association’s work over the past year, highlighting:

• Successful campaigns to keep the UN in the national curriculum and contributions to the Ministry of Justice consultation on the UK’s review by the Human Rights Council
• Outreach events for schools and young people, such as a 'UN masterclass' for schools and our Youth Conference in Edinburgh
• The growth in UNA-UK's supporter base, and the increasing number of members and supporters taking part in monthly email actions
• A major development publication: Millennium Development Goals – Leaving no one behind

Natalie also talked about exciting forthcoming developments, including UNA-UK and the UN’s 70th birthday celebrations and UN Forum 2014. You can read more on the Executive Director’s vision for the future in her full speech here.   The AGM concluded with the presentation of Distinguished Service Awards to members from the seven UNA-UK regions and nations, each of whom has made, and continues to make, an outstanding contribution to the work of UNA-UK:

• Dr Nigel Dower, nominated by UNA Scotland
• David Barrs, nominated by UNA Eastern Region
• Hassan Bin Azad, nominated by UNA Youth
• Sheila Kesby, nominated by UNA London & SE Region
• Rod Fielding, nominated by UNA Central Region
• Meic Peterson, nominated by UNA Wales
• Hilary Sloan, nominated by UNA Northern Ireland

Two recipients - Sheila Kesby and David Barrs - were in attendance on the day and received their awards from Sir Jeremy.