SI MONTHLY NEWS AUGUST 2005 Servas and the UN
From SI Exco News
UNITED STATES SERVAS AND THE 58th ANNUAL UNITED NATIONS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INFORMATION,
NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS CONFERENCE
“OUR CHALLENGE: VOICES FOR PEACE, PARTNERSHIPS AND RENEWAL”
The 58th Annual UN DPI/NGO Conference, ‘Our Challenge: Voices
for Peace, Partnerships and Renewal’ will be held from Sept 7 to 9,
2005 in New York. It will provide the forum for a dynamic and diverse
gathering, and will assume an enhanced role as the central civil
society gathering prior to the Millennium +5 Summit the following
week. It is expected that a broad range of civil society partners at the
highest levels will participate in this event.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan and H.E. Mr. Jean Ping, President of the Fifty-ninth session of the General Assembly, will open the Conference on Sept 7 in the General Assembly Hall. In addition to the opening and closing plenary sessions, which will feature keynote speakers, the Conference will hold five morning and afternoon plenary panels, as well as interactive dialogues with civil society organizations. Speakers will include representatives of NGOs, academia, the private sector and the media with first-hand field experience.
The Following U.S. Servas United Nations Reps Will Be Attending The Un Dpi/Ngo Conference:
Sharon Wallenberg, United States Servas Main Representative to the United Nations, has the responsibility to maintain U S Servas in good standing with the United Nations by fulfilling their mandates, as well as assigning and coordinating the efforts of the other US Servas UN Reps, and disseminating information from the United Nations Economic, Social and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on World Heritage sites, and the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) and Rainforest Alliance on Ecotourism.
Sharon Wallenberg has been a member of Servas since 1984 and traveled all over Eastern and Western Europe, Asia, the Middle East, North America, Africa. As a Host, she has had many visitors . Sharon has been the Main Representative for U S Servas since 2002. Prior to that she represented Servas International at the UN. She was instrumental in Servas giving a UN NGO Briefing in 2000. When Sharon became US Servas UN Rep, NGOs not in compliance with UN requirements were asked to step aside. Under her leadership, US Servas became an NGO in good standing, and applied for an upgrade in status to ECOSOC. Sharon was invited to give a presentation at the UN World Summit on Peace through Tourism in February 2003. She has worked with other Peace and Travel NGOs.
Sharon is the Mother of two Daughters, has owned a home in Long Island for 25 years, and works in the Health Care field. She has an MBA from Long Island University, and studied on the Doctoral level at Fordham University. Sharon has been involved with her Church Peace and Justice Committee and a local Amnesty International Group member for over 20 years. She is a pilot and with own airplane.
Lynne Murguia, United States Servas Alternative Representative to the United Nations, has a vast network of United Nations contacts both in the UN and the NGO Community. Lynne will be a regular contributor of article to the US Servas Newsletter and web site. Lynne Murguia is a retired high school Spanish teacher, a career that provided lifelong opportunity for travel during vacations. As a long time Servas member, she became the third official Servas Representative to the United Nations in 1992, following Reva King, initiator of the Servas – UN connection, and Willeen Smith. Upon retirement, after training with the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, Lynne began initiating pilot projects in micro-credit (small loans to the poorest-of-the-poor) in Asia. She has been a volunteer at the international headquarters of Habitat for Humanity, Amnesty International and Lucius Trust.
At present, she is focusing on spiritualizing the United Nations and the world media by effecting realization of their underlying spiritual purpose, given their roles as organizations with widest direct contact with the One Humanity. Lynne has been involved for many years in astrology, meditation and activities of social progress worldwide. Kathleen Harnig, United States Servas Representative to the United Nations, is working with UNICEF and the NGO, ECPAT (End Child Prostitution and Trafficking) to end the serious issue of so-called child sex tourism, as well as working with other UN agencies and NGOs. Kathleen Harnig is a retired Deer Park Teacher. Kathy taught for 14 years as a second grade teacher and 18 years as a kindergarten teacher. She also taught one year in the Philippines on Clark Air Base, and taught ESL in Silistra, Bulgaria for the Peace Corps. Kathy as a Servas Host, Manhattan, has had 100+ Servas Travelers from all over the world. As a member of Servas, she has gotten to know New York City and loves taking her Servas guests. She has traveled in Europe. Kathy represented Servas International at the United Nations for several years.
Kathy has also volunteered as a language partner for the International Center, in the Mid-Manhattan Library. Kathy is a member of E-buddies, an organization headed by Anthony Shriever. Carole Silverman, United States Servas Representative to the United Nations, will be planning and co-coordinating dinners with Permanent Representatives (Ambassadors) from the United Nations and the United States Servas UN Reps.
Carole Silverman works as an Administrative Assistant in a large New York City hospital. She has been a member of Servas for over 26 years, both as a Host and Traveler. Carole has volunteered as a Host and Traveler Interviewer, Host Co-ordinator, Area Representative, chaired and served on various committees, arranges local gatherings, and attended UN NGO Conference several years ago.
Carole has traveled extensively for over 30 years in the United States, Great Britain, Europe, Middle East, Canada, and the Caribbean. Carole has also researched Kurdish folk dance with Kurds in Iran. She enjoys diverse cultures, hiking, dancing, aerobics, writing, event planning, and teaches travel solo courses and folk dancing.
Karl Wolf, United States Servas Representative to the United Nations, will be involved in lobbying efforts to the United States government in Washington to further United Nations Peace initiatives and Travel issues that United States Servas is working on Karl Wolf, a Servas Host and Traveler for many years, has traveled in Africa, South, Central and North America, Europe and Asia. Karl is a member of the Society of Friends, and has been very involved in peace activities, several not-for-profit organizational Boards, and many other volunteer activities.
Professionally, Karl has been in the not-for-profit world at the senior management level with Yale-New Haven Medical Center, Lucille Salter Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford (University), Saint Jude. Children’s Research Hospital and other world-class organizations. His managerial responsibilities have included strategic planning, marketing, communication, fund raising and public affairs Karl is from the Boston area and was educated in New England obtaining an MBA from the University of Vermont. He now resides in Reston, VA, a suburb of Washington, D.C. Willeen Smith, United States Servas Representative to the United Nations, will be involved in the wording of documents being prepared at the United Nations on the issues of Peace and Travel. Willeen Smith was the first Representative of Servas International after the late Reva King, who originated Servas at the United Nations. With Servas International’s then General Secretary, Vibeke Matop, Willeen attended the 1995 World Summit on Social Development with the main emphasis on following and working on wording documents. Later that year Servas International brought her to their meeting in Australia. The major interaction was with the International Peace Secretary and National Peace Secretaries.
During Willeen’s tenure, Servas members from Lyon, France and Geneva, Switzerland served as Servas International NGO Reps at the United Nations in Geneva, and a Servas member from Bratislava, Slovakia served at the United Nations in Vienna. In New York City, seven Servas members represented Servas International at the United Nations Headquarters. They included Lynne Murguia, Jeanette Gear, Mary Shoikett, and Lyn Fine. Lynne Murguia succeeded Willeen as Servas International Main UN NGO Rep.
Willeen is a Social Worker by profession. She loves yoga, opera, and the international scene. She is exploring a growing interest in astronomy and the space program. Willeen is semi-retired after 17 ½ years administering an international grants program of the Episcopal Church USA. She now administers grants that support a premier medical college and hospital in India.
Mary Shoiket, United States Servas Representative to the United Nations, is a long-time member of the United Nations Non Governmental Organizations Committee on Disarmament, and will continue to serve there.
Mary Shoiket hails from New Jersey where she has been a Servas Host and Traveler for more than 20 years. Together with her husband, Henry, she has traveled in Europe: Greece, England, Spain, Italy, Bulgaria, Russia, and Turkey; Africa: Morocco and Egypt; Central American: Mexico and Panama; the Caribbean: Cuba and Maastricht; and China. The couple has an insatiable appetite for travel!
Guided and inspired by Reva King, Mary became a Servas United Nations Rep, and a member of the UN Non Governmental Organizations Disarmament Committee, where she has faithfully served for all these years.
Mary and Henry have two children and four grandchildren. They are volunteer teachers of English as a Second Language (ESL), long term members of ‘Peace Action’, the largest Peace organization in the USA, and are active in ‘Health Care for All’, which hopes to educate US citizens to demand health care for all under Medicare.
