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Health & Fitness

Compassion Speaks: Hope for Compassion

by M. Doretta Cornell, RDC

Last week I received a marvelous gift – the Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) to which my community belongs will allow me to attend NGO activities at the United Nations.

Doing this about five years ago opened new doors for me.  Most unexpected was the new hope it brought to my life.  As a religious woman, a Catholic Sister, my faith brings me hope, hope that the words of Jesus are true, that all that he taught and inspires will be the salvation of the world, not only in an afterlife, but also in our present living.  At the UN, I learned that this is happening; compassion is actively changing the lives of millions of people around the world,

Right now, with a few members of Congress forcing the shutdown of much of our government, especially the services for the millions of children and adults living in poverty, and threatening to destroy our nation’s credibility in the eyes of the rest of the world, I could use a new infusion of hope!  The lack of compassion in this political manipulation is in sharp contrast to what much of the rest of the world is doing.

Hope for the Future
One of the many things I learned is that compassion is at the heart of the work of non-governmental organizations – and also that of many governmental ones, too.  The understanding that the sufferings of people must take priority over greed, the desire for profits, and ideological posturing dominates the work of these organizations.  Their continuing work makes clear that world peace, with justice and dignity for all people, is possible.  All we need is political will to collaborate for the good of the whole, especially those most in need.  

As I mentioned here last June, too much of what we hear about the United Nations is limited to the political speeches at the opening of the General Assembly each year and Security Council responses to various violent crises.  But the United Nations (see its structure) is huge!  It has four other primary organs –  the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council, the International Court of Justice, and the Secretariat – fifteen official Agencies, six major Committees, and innumerable other tightly connected and more loosely related organs.  

NGOs at Work
Besides these, the United Nations is also a meeting point for over 1600 non-governmental organizations associated with the UN Department of Public Information.  These range from well-known ones like the International Red Cross to the Partnership for Global Justice, to which my community belongs.  These “civil societies” (not government agencies) do everything from monitor conflict to provide immunization and education that have eradicated, or nearly so, many debilitating diseases, like small pox, measles and Nile River blindness.

The most ambitious UN project in recent years has been the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), in which the nations of the world pledged to cut extreme poverty in half in the opening fifteen years of the twenty-first century.  Much, but not all, of what was pledged has been carried out, and plans are being made to continue the program, with adjustments in light of all that was learned in the past fifteen years. Current statistics on successes and work still needed can be found at the MDG website.  A click on each of the colored squares at right will show the statistics for that Goal.  Last week’s briefing looked at post-2015 needs and plans to meet them.  (Click here to see the webcast of the session.)

A Few Things I Learned
From the weekly briefings for NGOs, I learned how the UN Rescue Committee was coordinating efforts after a devastating earthquake in Pakistan and of environmental justice work in nearby Newark, New Jersey, the hazards of Latin American flower production, and of specially designed “skateboards” for victims of a rare genetic condition that cripples people in a particular region of Africa.

A series of educational workshops introduced me to the then-new idea of micro-loans, which enable people to open small businesses to support themselves and send their children to school.  Repayments on these loans continue to be in the high 90%, so each $50 loan might fund three or four new businesses in a single year.

Most encouraging to me was the determination to enable people, not just give them things.  This is true compassion at work – to share the skills and knowledge, experience and research so readily available in places like New York with the poorest people, so that the artificial divides created by poverty will crumble.  Communities and families work together to improve their lands, plant crops that will survive better in the changing climate, and, for the first time for many of them, take effective control of their situations.

I am excited about again participating in this “other world” and look forward to sharing what I learn with you.

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