UN celebrates its 80th Birthday!

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United Nations – The United Nations completed 79 years on October 24, 2024. On that day, in 1945, representatives of 50 countries met in San Francisco at the United Nations Conference on International Organization to draw up the United Nations Charter. The UN organization was formed with the signing of this Charter by member states and the five permanent members of the Security Council.

October 24 was declared by the 1947 General Assembly the anniversary of the UN Charter, to “be devoted to making known to the people of the world the aims and achievements of the United Nations and to gaining their support for its work”.

By another resolution in 1971, the General Assembly declared the UN Day as an International Day and recommended that it be observed as a public holiday by member states.

At the UN, the UN Day is celebrated every year to underscore the world’s common agenda and reaffirm the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.

Over the years, the UN has held a major influence on world peace through legitimacy, convening power and normative impact. As a global organization it gives hope to so many people for a better world, and also has the capacity to deliver that future, according to its website.

On the occasion of this year’s UN Day, Secretary General Antonio Guterres who was attending the 16^th BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, sent the message, “The United Nations was built by the world, for the world.”

In his message, Guterres emphasized the unifying and constructive role the UN has been playing since 1945, offering global solutions to global problems. Guterres spoke of the importance of the UN in today’s world, saying it has been establishing peace, easing tensions, eradicating poverty, protecting human rights, and forging sustainable development.

The UN has also been instrumental in delivering “lifesaving relief to people living through conflicts, violence, economic hardship, and climate disasters,” Guterres said.

The UN has also been working on enforcing social justice and equality for women and girls, and on important global issues of climate change, digital technology, artificial intelligence, and outer space, said Gutteres.

Referring to the Pact for the Future, and its annexes – the Global Digital Compact and the Declaration on Future Generations, all adopted by the General Assembly in September, Gutteres emphasized the need to follow the principles of the UN Charter while following them.

Guterres also stressed the urgent need for the UN to change. He said those milestone agreements will help ensure that the United Nations system will remain fit for the changes and challenges and deliver solutions for all through adapting, reforming and rejuvenating.

Calling for cooperation of all countries to abide by the principles of the UN Charter, Gutteres said, “In today’s troubled world, hope is not enough. Hope requires determined action and multilateral solutions for peace, shared prosperity and a thriving planet. Hope requires all countries working as one. Hope requires the United Nations”

Calling the UN the beacon for the world, Guterres called on all countries to keep the beacon and its ideals shining.

To highlight the UN’s role in adapting to global changes, the UN website put up the poem ‘Hymn to the United Nations’ by W.H. Auden.

Let music for peace

Be the paradigm,

For peace means to change

At the right time,