World Union representatives attended the 68th United Nations Civil Society Conference in Salt Lake City, UT. The aim of the conference was to bring Civil Society together around UN Sustainable Development Goal No. 11, “Building Inclusive and Sustainable Cities and Communities”.
With over 22 years of service, Janet Stovin, devotes her commitment to the World Union for Progressive Judaism by representing its mission of connecting Judaism from every corner of the world at the United Nations. Stovin serves as the World Union’s NGO representative at the UN and sits on the NGO Department of Public Information executive committee. “I filter things through the Jewish perspective,” Stovin said.
The role of the WUPJ representative at the UN is to share the international take on Judaism. Due to progressive Judaism’s ever changing involvement in relation to social justice, the representative is held responsible to report the efforts made by the WUPJ that relate to the social justice efforts in the respective UN committees. The WUPJ serves as the only Jewish voice on some committees the representative sits on and on others, the only progressive Jewish voice. It is considered one of the main contributors to religious freedom around the world.