JAVA CAFÉ--GLOBAL CONVERSATIONS SERIES

OUR FIRST CAFÉ TOPIC:

Congress & the Crisis for the United Nations

 GL-UNA Advocacy Chair Dave Wiley provided updates on recent U.S. threats to the UN as well as UNA-USA responses.

Our first Café was held on

February 22nd

at

East Lansing Public Library Meeting Room

OUR SECOND CAFÉ TOPIC:

"Women as Leaders in the UN - and the UN as Leaders in Women’s Rights”

Our evening featured brief presentations by

Sophia Koufopoulu, Adjunct Professor in Sociology who is working with the refugees flooding into Lesbos Island in Greece. She has worked with the UNHCR in dealing with the refugee needs and will speak about gender issues in the refugee crisis.

Nathalie Me-Nsope, a Cameroonian scholar who heads the gender initiative in the Global Center for Food Systems Innovation at MSU, a USAID Higher Education Solutions Network development lab designed to solve the critical problems in the global food system. She is an Assistant Professor, International Development in the Agriculture, Food, and Resource Economics Department, Michigan State University.

Florence Uwimbabazi, MSU Mastercard Scholar, who lived in the UNHCR -run Mugunga Refugee Camp in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo. She currently mentors young girls in her home country.

Our second Café was held on

March 23, 2017 

at East Lansing Public Library

OUR THIRD CAFÉ TOPIC:

We're All in This Together: Sustainable Development Goals for All

Our evening featured:

A brief presentation by Terry Link, Senior Fellow with the US Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development, and President of Starting Now; a company helping businesses, organizations and communities improve their sustainability potential. The presentation was followed by a Q and A and discussion. Participants learned and discussed the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) were accepted in September 2015 by the UN General Assembly - and are the goals that EVERYONE needs to help the world achieve by 2030. You can learn more about the SDG's here. 

Our third cafe was held on

May 23, 2017

at East Lansing Public Library

OUR FOURTH CAFÉ TOPIC:

As Told from the Frontlines

Our evening featured: 

Guest speaker Zeline Jatu Pritchard discussed respect, safety and dignity within the context of peace from 5 selected countries (Liberia, Angola, Zambia, Rwanda, Republic of the Congo) where she worked with the UN.  She will place special attention on the issue of women, adolescents and children in armed conflicts as they are the ones who bear the heaviest burdens. To learn more about Zeline Jatu Pritchard click here!

Our fourth cafe was held on

September 19, 2017

at East Lansing Public Library

OUR FIFTH CAFE TOPIC: 

Finding our Voices - Advocacy for the World We Seek

 

"Our elected officials need constituents and advocates who will encourage, teach, appreciate, and hold them accountable to work for the common good." - FCNL

This Java Café will help us explore how we as citizens can affect public policy, our democracy,  and efforts toward the Global Goals. A brief introduction to the Quaker approach as developed and used by the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) for nearly 75 years will be shared. Discussion around its applications for current issues will follow.   Terry Link, UNA Global Goals Local Leader award recipient will be one of the main presenters.

Please join us.

Tuesday, December 5, 2017,  7:00 - 8:30 p.m.

East Lansing Public Library

950 Abbot Rd, East Lansing, MI 48823

Arrive 6:45 p.m. for refreshments and conversation

"A better future is possible through dedicated effort, creative cooperation, right relationships, and well-directed resources." - FCNL