In a collaborative effort to explain their mission at the United Nations to a wide audience, several NGO representatives at the United Nations have published a small book entitled It is Good for Us to be Here: Catholic Religious Institutes as NGOs at the United Nations.
In her foreword Professor Joy U. Ogwu, Nigeria Ambassador to the United Nations, writes:
Nowhere is their constructive role in promoting the common good more evident than at the United Nations, the heart of international politics. This study, It Is Good for Us to Be Here, epitomizes the unique advocacy work of an organized transnational actor. …
I am honored to write the foreword to this inspiring and encouraging reflection, conveyed in a truly simple and lucid prose, I believe it will help promote a better understanding of the nexus between faith life and working for social development. Perhaps it is through such a range of positive roles that we can truly beat our “swords into ploughshares.”
So why is it good for us to be here? That is the basic question that this collection of brief essays sets out to answer.
Most of the authors are members of religious congregations who represent their communities at the United Nations. Their stories, their motivations, their commitments give a striking insight into the world today in all its complexity, with a special focus on the populations that are most impoverished and most at risk.
Each contribution is truly unique – a word that is often over-used but exactly right in this case. The book would be an excellent resource for teachers and college professors who are trying to broaden and deepen their students' understanding of global realities. Justice and peace groups in parishes might also find it helpful.
Judy Garson, rscj
USC Province
March 2016
It is Good for Us to be Here: Catholic Religious Institutes as NGOs at the United Nations
Editors: Emeka Xris Obiezu, OSA; Joan F. Burke, SNDdN; and Cecile Meijer, RSCJ.
Published by Xlibris.
The book can be purchased through Xlibris.
It is also available for sale at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
Softcover edition is $15.99. The e-book version is $0.99.