The United Nations Association of Berkeley (UNAB) is a student-run political advocacy and service organization focused on supporting the United Nations and its work. We are a campus chapter of the United Nations Foundation, a nonprofit organization that supports the goals of the UN and the UN Charter. The Foundation has over 230 chapters across 46 states and territories, and UNAB regularly collaborates with our community chapter, UNA East Bay, on events and outreach.

UNAB advocates for continued and full U.S. funding and engagement with the UN, while also working to promote the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the Berkeley/Bay Area and beyond.  UNAB does this by working with local Berkeley and Bay Area governments on SDG-related projects, participating in hands-on community service, and doing educational outreach. This includes visiting local schools to teach about the UN and running student-led DeCal courses at UC Berkeley focused on global issues and the United Nations. 

The United Nations plays a paramount role in tackling some of the world’s biggest challenges. Through the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which all UN Member States agreed on in 2015, the UN works to end poverty, reduce hunger, improve health and education, promote gender equality, and protect the planet. 

The United States contributes 22% of the UN’s regular budget and is a major funder of peacekeeping missions (Ferragomo & Roy, 2025). Yet at the federal level, the U.S. has often been slow to pay its full dues. Caps on peacekeeping contributions and delayed payments have added up to over $1.1 billion in arrears to the UN (Blanchfield, 2024). When major contributors like the U.S. don’t pay on time, it puts the UN’s work at risk. Peacekeeping operations that protect civilians from conflict lose funding, life-saving healthcare services that people rely on become less accessible, and humanitarian aid for education and development programs around the world falters. Millions of people depend on the services provided by the UN, and their livelihoods are jeopardized by the U.S.’s delayed payments and ambivalence.