UNA-NYC Gala Dinner Celebrates the 60th Anniversary of the United Nations
Cherie Blair, president of the Loomba Trust, with UN Foundation senior advisor Gillian Sorensen, alongside UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
The United Nations Association of New York commemorated the 60th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations with its annual UN Day Dinner, which took place at the United Nations, with 300 guests attending the event.
On October 21st of 2005, for the first time we held a highly successful fund-raising gala dinner. We honored the Links Incorporated, the International Federation of Health Plans and WHO Goodwill Ambassador Liya Kebede, for their significant work in global health.
Cherie Blair, wife of the British Prime Minister, and Jan Elliason, the President of the UN General Assembly, were the keynote speakers.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan delivers the opening address for the UN Day Gala Dinner
The gala evening was opened by UN Secretary-General Mr. Kofi Annan who, in his usual gracious manner, spoke encouragingly about the work and growing membership of our chapter. He was very positive about the potential of UNA chapters to further the aims of the United Nations.
The Gala was held in the UN Delegates Dining Room. Harry Smith of the CBS Early Show acted as master of ceremonies. UN General Assembly President Jan Eliasson gave an inspiring keynote speech, followed by an address by our president, Henry Sanchez.
Dr. Gladys Gary Vaughn, honoree and national president of The Links, Inc., greets UNA-NYC Executive Director Ann Nicol and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
During the evening, we presented UN Day Humanitarian Awards to the International Federation of Health Plans, The Links, Inc., and Liya Kebede, a Goodwill Ambassador for the World Health Organization for Maternal and Child Health — all for their outstanding contributions to bettering global health and education.
We also recognized The Loomba Trust, an organization that supports the families of widows in India and many other countries. The president of The Loomba Trust, Cherie Blair, wife of the British Prime Minister Tony Blair, together with Raj Loomba, founder of the Trust, gave short addresses to launch the Trust in the United States.
2005 Honoree WHO Goodwill Ambassador Liya Kebede
A portion of the funds raised will be donated to UNA-USA’s HERO campaign, supporting the education of children affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa. We will be directly supporting four schools in Namibia.
The guests were entertained throughout the evening by an international group of musicians from Trinidad/Tobago and Mexico, by the American jazz singer Morley, and by the Agape children of South Africa.
We are grateful to our corporate sponsors for their generous contributions that will ensure that our programs remain ongoing this year. We thank both our guests and donors for supporting this event, and our team of volunteers whose dedicated efforts made our gala a huge success, ensuring that our programs retained their important funding.
Master of Ceremonies Harry Smith with Gala Dinner Chair Desiree Watson
About the Honorees of the 2005 UN Day Dinner
The Links, Inc. is an organization of professional women, which has contributed significant service through community work in the areas of education and health. Their signature program entitled Education Across the Miles… Schools for Africa, begun in 1997, has improved the quality of life for disadvantaged South Africans by providing basic education facilities.
Liya Kebede was born and raised in Ethiopia and has achieved international recognition as one of the world’s leading supermodels and the first woman of color to represent Estee Lauder. As WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health, she is working to raise global awareness of the life-threatening struggles faced by mothers and children in developing countries around the world.
International Federation of Health Plans is the leading global network of the health insurance industry with one hundred member companies in 25 countries promoting excellence in health care in many regions of the world, and assisting in the maintenance of high ethical and professional standards throughout the industry.
We offer a heartfelt thanks to all of our Dinner Sponsors this year, including:
Mr. and Mrs. Nathaniel Adderley
America’s Health Insurance Plans
Burson-Marsteller
Communication for Social Change Consortium
The Dreyfus Corporation
Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield
The Estee Lauder Companies, Inc.
The Garth Group, Inc.
Edward and Michele Gray
Marcia Harris, M.D., P.C.
HIP Health Plan of New York
Kaiser Permanente
Kriskor, Inc.
The Marcus Group
Mediterranean Shipping Company, USA
Pricewaterhouse Coopers
Siren Group Company, Ltd.
Wellness Interactive, Inc.