Current International & United Nations Activities

Global Family has been a non-governmental organization (NGO) associated with the United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI) since 1989. Margo LaZaro, based in New York City, is our on-site representative and has been very active for many years working on standing committees, organizing UN NGO events and participating in numerous interfaith initiatives on our behalf. Our Co-Director, John Zwerver, also represents Global Family at the UN.

Keep checking this area of our site for ongoing updates on UN and Global Family’s activities in support of international peace and cooperation.

International Day of Peace
September 21
A major initiative, spurred on by Margo LaZaro this past year, was the creation of a new UN International Day of Peace poster. She worked closely with the UN DPI and art and graphics staff to create this stunning poster, which will be used for the next several years. Margo dedicated this to her nephew, Anthony LaZaro, who was working closely with her and died suddenly the day the design was completed. Over 50,000 posters were distributed in 2006.

These posters were sponsored by Global Family, the World Harmony Foundation and Mayors for Peace. We were honored to partner with these two outstanding organizations committed to creating peace and harmony.

Click here to purchase your own copy of the poster.

Click here for additional information about the International Day of Peace celebrated on September 21st every year.

Click here to visit the UN Department of Public Information website for UN updates.

Global Family Day
We are pleased to support the creation of a day that focuses on families, the elimination of hunger and the support of peace around the globe.

Global Family Day, One Day of Peace and Sharing, to be celebrated on January 1 every year, is the world’s first-ever annual celebration of the reality that we are all one human family striving for a safer world. This unifying new tradition, initiated by children, was unanimously passed on September 25, 2006 by the U.S. Congress. It has also been endorsed twice by the UN General Assembly and by more than 20 sitting heads of state.

The following are the current plans for Global Family Day. For additional information, visit www.globalfamilyday.org

To prepare for a Worldwide Day of Reconciliation on January 1 each year:

• EASE HUNGER OF OTHERS - Participants will do all they can to see that members of our human family have food for the New Year - because, as a child at Capitol Hill's Hine Junior High School has pointed out, "Nobody can celebrate if they don't have anything to eat."
• LEARN TOGETHER - Schools will be furnished with a four part lesson plan explaining the importance of holidays in our lives, the logic of nonviolence, the senselessness of hunger, and the joy to be had in celebrating life as one global family.
• REACH OUT - Families, faith groups, and organizations are asked to reach across cultural barriers and develop new ideas and new efforts at cooperation and understanding.