Ua Mau Ke Ea O Ka `Aina I Ka Pono.
Top - The delegation from Incomindios, a Swiss NGO that has been faithfully supporting our efforts at the UN for the past 10 years!
Bottom - Room at the Palais des Nations where the Human Rights Council conducts its plenary meetings.
At the UN
I arrived in Geneva as Switzerland was beginning to react to the Coronavirus emergency. The day before I got there, thousands of people who had traveled to attend the famous International Geneva Motor Show were abruptly told, on the eve of its opening, the week-long event was canceled. Within two days, Geneva hotels, hostels, BNBʻs, etc. plummeted from 100% occupancy to 15%!
The UN also began to make adjustments, canceling all of the panel events that make up the bulk of the activities at the Human Rights Council. Civil society delegates who had come from all over the world, some at great cost and sacrifice, were told they could not make their presentations. It was devastating to many. After two weeks of schedule and venue changes and other disruptions, the last week of the 43rd Session of the Human Rights Council was cancelled. It was time to “Get out of Dodge.”
I left Geneva a day earlier than originally planned, just a few hours before the Europe “travel ban” went into effect. I intended to stay in New York for a couple of weeks, but things were shutting down there also. So I flew back to Honolulu. Good to be back home.
What happened at the UN
As you know, I go to the UN headquarters both in New York and Geneva several times a year. We are not trying to join the UN. We are there to point out that one of its principal members, the United States, is committing international wrongful acts with regard to the Hawaiian Islands; and that the United Nations needs to stop aiding and abetting these criminal acts.
Foreign affairs is also called foreign relations. The building of friendly relations is crucial to the interest of our nation. The disruptions in the UN agenda in Geneva meant that many of the diplomats had some unexpected spare time. Thus, I was able to use the opportunity to have face-to-face, talk-story with several ambassadors and officials to update them about our situation and to discuss strategy. For this reason, I consider this trip as one of the most productive for our purposes.
Having these extra one-on-one talks was a God-send, and will prove extremely beneficial to our cause when things settle down a bit and the UN resumes its meetings… and we are able to launch our initiatives to Free Hawai`i.
Year of the Hawaiian Kingdom
If you are (or if you know of someone who is) interested in being a facilitator for any aspect of the Year of the Hawaiian Kingdom Celebration, please contact: info@HawaiianKingdom.net
Things are intensifying... this year is going to see some breakthroughs as we travel and interact with the global community to support our initiatives.
Your kokua is vital to this effort... (see below about contributing through GoFundMe)
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Your kōkua, large or small, is much appreciated will help greatly to move this work forward.
To contribute, go to GoFundMe.com/FreeHawaii
To contribute in other ways (airline miles, travel vouchers, clerical help, etc...) email us at Info@HawaiianKingdom.net
Also...
Check out the great FREE HAWAII products you can purchase HERE
All proceeds go to help the cause.
Mahalo Nui Loa!
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Malama Pono,
Leon Siu
Hawaiian National
