THE "United Nations" was the idea of US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The name was first used in the "Declaration by United Nations" on January 1, 1949, where representatives of 26 nations in World War II pledged their governments to fight together to defeat the Axus Powers. After the end of the war, representatives of 50 countries gathered in San Francisco from April 25 to June 26, 1945, and drew up the United Nations Charter. They ratified it on October 24, 1945, thus giving birth to the United Nations.
The UN was established to promote global understanding; strengthen ties among nations; and advance human rights, health care, security, and education throughout the world. It reflects the efforts of world leaders to create a government of One Humanity where race, religion, and other barriers are erased. To this end, the United Nations General Assembly in 1947 declared October 24 as "United Nations Day" to inform the world about the aims, activities, and achievements of the UN and gain global support for this world body. In 1956, the UN General Assembly approved a resolution declaring the period October 20-26 as "United Nations Week."
We celebrate "UN Week" this week with "UN Day" today as the centerpiece of our activities. Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s October 24, 2005, United Nations Day message asked world leaders to reflect on the vastly different global conditions the UN faces today. Today, the United Nations and humanity is confronted by new challenges – global hunger, climatic change, environmental degradation, nuclear proliferation, and disarmament.
While, the reasons for which the UN was created continue to be valid today, world’s leaders must recast their ideas to meet the new challenges cannot be confronted by one or several memberstates by themselves but by all member-states of the UN.
The United Nations has been successful in its past because the member-states supported it. It is only the future of the United Nations that is at stake – the whole of humanity is.
The Manila Bulletin, led by its Chairman Dr. Emilio T. Yap, extends its cordial greetings and heartfelt congratulations to the United Nations and all its member countries on the occasion of its United Nations Week and United Nations Day and wish them all the success in their endeavors.
