While the Governor’s UN Commission has been in existence for almost 50 years, at times it has been inactive. When Gov. Jim Doyle took office, he revived the commission through Executive Order #1, on Jan. 27, 2003. Doyle, as a former member of the Peace Corps, said the mission of the UN is one that every citizen of the world should be aware of. Smart was appointed to the commission by Doyle after the two men became friends. “I met Jim and Jessica Doyle in March 2001 at the 40th anniversary convocation celebrating the Peace Corps at UW-Madison,” Smart explained. “We ended up on a discussion panel together and became friends. Later, when he was elected governor, he appointed me to the UN Commission because he figured that a former Peace Corps volunteer would be a good, ‘practical’ addition to the group.” Since Doyle’s re-establishment, the commission has been meeting regularly since that time, typically every two to three months, to discuss world issues and fulfill the governor’s vision. Smart, along with six other commissioners and members of the public, worked on plans for the 2007 UN Day, to be held Oct. 24. Smart, along with fellow commissioner Joe Tulbane, dean of International Studies at St. Norbert’s College in DePere, lobbied hard for holding the observance in Northern Wisconsin.
Uzbekistan RPCV John Smart is a member of the Governor’s UN Commission that was instituted by Gov. Gaylord Nelson in 1959 to spearhead a UN day celebration and to educate Wisconsin's residents as to the purpose of the UN
"Give peace a chance"
UN commission gathers in Brantwood for discussion
Patti Wenzel
THE-BEE
Thursday, July 12th, 2007 10:40:14 AM
The issues of peace, feeding the hungry and clothing the poor throughout the world are not the typical topics of conversation in the Northwoods, but on July 7, members of the Governor’s Commission on the United Nations (UN) gathered at Palmquist’s “The Farm” in Brantwood to tackle these issues, which are at the heart of many of the world’s ills.
John Smart, of Park Falls, is a member of the commission. He suggested the Northwoods resort for the meeting, to get the discussion “out of the Milwaukee-Madison Axis Zone,” as he referred to it.
Smart said it’s important to have more meetings, such as the UN commission, state Legislature and school funding organizations, held north of Highway 29 to obtain a wide variety of opinions. He added that bringing these events to the north acknowledges the intelligence and wisdom found among the state’s more remote locations.
The Governor’s UN Commission was instituted by Gov. Gaylord Nelson in 1959 to spearhead a UN day celebration and to educate the state’s residents as to the purpose of the UN.
Gov. Nelson was said to have been dismayed that so few Wisconsin resident’s had any knowledge of the United Nations, its history, goals and operations.
In 1945, representatives of 50 countries met in San Francisco at the United Nations Conference on International Organization to draw up the United Nations Charter. The Organization came into existence on Oct. 24, 1945, when the charter was ratified by China, France, the Soviet Union, United Kingdom, United States and a majority of other signatories.
The purpose of the United Nations, as set forth in the Charter, are to maintain international peace and security; to develop friendly relations among nations; to cooperate in solving international economic, social, cultural and humanitarian problems and in promoting respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms; and to be a center attaining these ends.
While the Governor’s UN Commission has been in existence for almost 50 years, at times it has been inactive.
When Gov. Jim Doyle took office, he revived the commission through Executive Order #1, on Jan. 27, 2003. Doyle, as a former member of the Peace Corps, said the mission of the UN is one that every citizen of the world should be aware of.
Smart was appointed to the commission by Doyle after the two men became friends.
“I met Jim and Jessica Doyle in March 2001 at the 40th anniversary convocation celebrating the Peace Corps at UW-Madison,” Smart explained. “We ended up on a discussion panel together and became friends. Later, when he was elected governor, he appointed me to the UN Commission because he figured that a former Peace Corps volunteer would be a good, ‘practical’ addition to the group.”
Since Doyle’s re-establishment, the commission has been meeting regularly since that time, typically every two to three months, to discuss world issues and fulfill the governor’s vision.
Smart, along with six other commissioners and members of the public, worked on plans for the 2007 UN Day, to be held Oct. 24.
Smart, along with fellow commissioner Joe Tulbane, dean of International Studies at St. Norbert’s College in DePere, lobbied hard for holding the observance in Northern Wisconsin.
The commission agreed to hold the annual celebration in the Green Bay area and developed a wish list of speakers to invite. Among the names bandied about were former UN Secretary General Kofi Anon, good will ambassador and actress Angelina Jolie, actor and activist George Clooney and public radio host/author Garrison Keilor.
While some of the suggestions may be seen as high hopes, the energy in the room made everyone believe any one of these internationally-known speakers would be on the program in Green Bay.
Commission chairman Dr. Wolfgang Schmidt said UN Day is something all Americans should be proud of.
“Even though some unscrupulous people are serving in the UN, this organization hopes to reduce the level of unsavory characters in this world. That is a good thing,” Schmidt said.
In addition to planning for the UN’s anniversary, each commission explained what they have been doing to promote the goals and increase knowledge about the United Nations.
Smart, as a former Peace Corps volunteer, teacher and current Park Falls school board member, focuses on bringing the message of the UN to school children. He has presented his program emphasizing the UN and his Peace Corps experience in Uzbekistan to students in Park Falls, Hayward, Solon Springs and Land O’Lakes over the past few months.
“If we can get children to understand the purpose and value of the UN, that will eventually spread to the rest of the American public,” Smart said, explaining why he is focused on the children.
He added that he is working to spread the UN’s message to the other school districts in Price County and throughout the area.
After the work session was complete, the commission discussed the genocide in Dafur. While it is not a subject within the commissions directive, Schmidt said the deaths of millions in the African region should move everyone to do something. He praised the work of the U.S. government for their aid and efforts so far but encouraged his fellow commissioners and the public to keep the pressure on Washington, D.C., to do more to help the refugees.
Schmidt also presented a video presentation about two trips he made to Tanzania. He described the conditions of the people living in the central-African nation and the dire poverty under which they exist.
Schmidt emphasized the work of the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF, two branches of the UN which are working to relieve the suffering throughout Africa.
Another commissioner, Robert Chase, discussed his role as the director of SERRV, Intl. SERRV is a clearinghouse of fair-trade goods, primarily from third world nations. SERRV, through its retail division, A Greater Gift, has stores in several cities, including Madison, and a Web site, www.agreatergift.org.
According to a spokesperson for SERRV, about one-third of the sales of crafts, food and clothing items offered by A Greater Gift goes back to the artisans and farmers in wages and business capital. In 2006, SERRV and A Greater Gift had more than $9 million in sales.
For more information concerning the Governor’s Commission on the United Nations or the United Nations, visit Doyle’s Web site www.wisgov.state.wi.us or www.un.org.
United Nations Charter
Preamble: We the people of the United Nations determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,
And for these ends, to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbours, and to unite our strength to maintain international peace and security, and to ensure, by the acceptance of principles and the institution of methods, that armed force shall not be used, save in the common interest, and to employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples,
Have resolved to combine our efforts to accomplish these aims accordingly, our respective governments, through representatives assembled in the city of San Francisco, who have exhibited their full powers found to be in good and due form, have agreed to the present Charter of the United Nations and do hereby establish an international organization to be known as the United Nations.
