United Nations Day

 

UN Day marks the anniversary of the entry into force in 1945 of the UN Charter. With the ratification of this founding document by the majority of its signatories, including the five permanent members of the Security Council, the United Nations officially came into being.

There is no other global organization with the legitimacy, convening power and normative impact of the United Nations. Today, the urgency for all countries to come together, to fulfil the promise of the nations united, has rarely been greater.

24 October has been celebrated as United Nations Day since 1948. In 1971, the United Nations General Assembly recommended that the day be observed by the Member States as a public holiday.

History and milestones

The Charter was signed on 26 June 1945 by the representatives of the 50 countries. Poland, which was not represented at the Conference, signed it later and became one of the original 51 Member States.

The United Nations officially came into existence on 24 October 1945, when the Charter had been ratified by China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the United States and by a majority of other signatories. The name "United Nations" was coined by the United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt and was first used in the Declaration by United Nations on 1 January 1942, during Second World War.

The year 2021 marks the 76th anniversary of the United Nations and its founding Charter. The anniversary of the Charter of the United Nations, as United Nations Day, by proclaiming that the day would be instrumental in making people aware and it shall be devoted to making known to the people of the world the aims and achievements of the United Nations and to gain their support for its work. By a further resolution that of the United Nations Resolution 2782 adopted in 1971 by the United Nations General Assembly, it was declared that the United Nations Day would henceforth be celebrated as an international holiday, and it was recommended that it will be maintained as a public holiday by all United Nations member states. The event is instituted primarily to disseminate to people worldwide the aims and accomplishments of the United Nations Organization. The United Nations Day is part of a longer United Nations Week which spans from the 20th to the 26th of October.

The United Nations Day involves celebratory events such as food festivals showcasing food from around the world and cultural concerts. The United Nations Day concert is an important part of the day's celebrations at the United Nations Headquarters. The concert for the year 2011 was sponsored by the Permanent Mission of Mongolia. It featured the traditional "long song" and "throat-singing". The previously mentioned oral music forms have henceforth been included in the UNESCO's list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Cultural diversity is the drive-force behind greater development, a step towards leading a more enriching and wholesome intellectual, emotional, moral, and spiritual life. It is an important economic growth. Cultural diversity is thus a huge asset and a grand alleviator of poverty and a potent precursor of sustainable development. Moreover, a larger and more receptive acceptance and recognition of cultural diversity particularly through innovative use of media are conducive to a better understanding, cooperation, and dialogue between nations and varying civilizations and cultures.

UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, 2001, and its following dialogues have become the core mandate of UNESCO. And in celebrating United Nations Day, the world is encouraged to celebrate these core principles of inter-cultural understanding and synthesis and a larger and more acute sense of being in the world, of belonging to a family, the largest family, the universe.

The aim of celebrating such a day, the United Nations Day, is the essential celebration of the values which this organization spells forth-the principles of humanity, unity, and world peace. Coming into effect after the two world wars and the cold war the United Nations was an attempt to salvage humanity from the scourge of war and the wrath of destruction-most importantly to ensure that the human world would never be subject to such instances of horror again. The promise has since been shouldered by the organization and many efforts to alleviate the human condition have been attempted.

Written by: Rtr.Ranudika Dinenthi 

 Public Relationship Director 2021/2022