Sister Germaine Price, representing the Company of the Daughters of Charity at the United Nations, shares the news below from the UN in New York:

From the international Site of the Daughters of Charity...At the conclusion of my studies in Chicago, Superiors offered me the opportunity to have an experience in New York at the United Nation to learn about the complex system of this structure and organization. Sr. Germaine Price, who has been working at the UN as a representative of the Daughters of Charity for more than 6 years, introduced me little by little, for about one month, to this complex and fascinating world.

At the UN Headquarters, I had the opportunity to visit the General Assembly Hall, where the 193 members of the Organization convene to discuss global issues, the Security Council Chamber and a variety of exhibits grouped under the theme “The United Nations: From War to Development”. It was moving to see the contributions of peacekeepers from all over the world, the 30 articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the work of the United Nations system to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

As Daughters of Charity we are part of the Non-Governmental Organizations from the UN and therefore I was allowed to participate at several committees of the NGO’s with Sr. Germaine. In these committees, different organizations from all over the world fight against human trafficking, poverty, war and so forth.

A responsibility I had during my time at the UN was to work on an on-line global survey with the theme: Eradication of Poverty. The survey questionnaire asked for responses to seven questions about the obstacles the poor face when it comes to their participation in decision-making that affects them; how the organizations surveyed work to achieve participation of those living in poverty in their programs and what the organizations believe are the best practices to facilitate participation. Out of 168 responses received from 59 countries, 54 Responses came from the Daughters of Charity from all over the world.

Isn’t it amazing that all member states of the UN, no matter if small or huge, poor or rich, strong or weak, are empowered with an equal voice? Every nation occupies an important place and has the opportunity to speak and a chance to listen but first of all, every nation has to transcend their own narrow views in order to reach a deeper level of sharing among human beings. In this kind of sharing there is no place for hatred, violence and war but the only thing that matters is love and peace.

As Daughters of Charity at the UN, we are asked to help build a world in which people of all nations, tribe and language are gathered together in joy like it is written in the book of Revelation!

Sr. Christina Laim