United Nations Day is celebrated on October 24 every year. It marks the official establishment of the United Nations in 1945. On this day, the UN Charter was ratified by the majority of signatories, including the five permanent members of the Security Council, and this led to the official establishment of UN. The Day was first celebrated in 1948. The UN, in 1971, also recommended the member states to observe it as a public holiday.
The year 2020 will mark the 75th year of the UN's existence. The theme for 2020 is 'The Future We Want, the UN We Need: Reaffirming our Collective Commitment to Multilateralism’. To mark the 75th anniversary, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has announced “a large and inclusive global conversation on the role of global cooperation in building the future we want”. The UN will also hold dialogues around the world. However, due to Covid-19 pandemic, all the events will be held virtually.
What is UN
The United Nations was founded immediately after the end of World War II. It succeeded the failed League of Nations with the aim of preventing further wars. It is an intergovernmental organisation whose primary role is to maintain world peace and security.
It plays an important role in developing friendly relations among countries, achieve international cooperation and be a centre of coordination for nations.
50 governments met in San Francisco on 25 April 1945 and started drafting the UN Charter which was adopted on 25th June, 1945. The organisation’s objectives are to maintain international peace, protect human rights, deliver humanitarian aid, promote sustainable development, and to uphold international law. The UN had 51 members at the time of its establishment which has now increased to 193 countries.
The UN has different organs: the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council, the International Court of Justice, and the UN Secretariat.
It also has many different specialised organisations overlooking different sectors. Some of them are: the World Bank, the World Health Organisation, Unesco, Unicef, the World Food Programme.
