This UN Day, Thanking United Nations
This United Nations Day, we have gathered a few interesting facts related to the United Nations and its specialised agencies.
Background
League of Nations was the first of its kind worldwide intergovernmental organization. It was established right after World War I with an objective to solve disputes between countries before they erupted into open warfare. This League of Nations was a precursor to the United Nations. However, the outbreak of World War II highlighted a grave need to form an organization with stronger pillars.
Franklin D. Roosevelt, the then President of the United States, has coined the name ‘United Nations’. The name United Nations was first used in the Declaration of 1 January 1942, during World War II, when 26 countries pledged to continue fighting together against the Axis Powers.
Later in the year 1944, the representatives of the United States, China, the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom had worked out the broad parameters on which the United Nations Charter must be drafted. Post which the representatives of 50 nations met at the United Nations Conference on International Organization to draw up the United Nations Charter.
On June 26, 1945, the Charter was signed by the 50 member nations. However, on October 24, 1945, the Charter was ratified by China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States and by a majority of other signatories. And that is how the United Nations came into being.
The United Nations Day was first observed on October 24, 1948. In the year 1971, the United Nations General Assembly recommended that the United Nations Day should be a public holiday in member states.
This day is celebrated in the fond memory of what the United Nations stands for and for the incomparable service it provides to the world. It commemorates the agenda of the United Nations of maintaining international peace and security, protecting human rights, delivering humanitarian aid, promoting sustainable development and upholding international law.
India is one of the founding members of the United Nations. It strongly believes in and supports the purposes and principles of the same.
United Nations Emblem and Flag
The current emblem is made of the world on a polar azimuthally equidistant projection surrounded by two olive branches. It consists of all the continents except Antarctica.
These elements of the emblem speak for themselves: the olive branch symbolizes peace and the world map represents the mission of the Organization to attain world peace.
The General Secretary at the second session of the General Assembly submitted a proposal stating the need United Nations Flag, to be used by United Nations Committees and Commissions around the world, as well as at United Nations Information Centres and Headquarters.
Consequently, the UN Flag came into being. The design of the flag is lucid: the official United Nations emblem in white centered on a light blue background.
Coronavirus Pandemic and United Nations
The role of the World Health Organization, a specialised agency of UN, has been quite controversial in dealing with the global pandemic. Whereas, every coin has its two sides given below are a few vital initiatives taken by the organization in order to contain and find ways to treat the coronavirus:
Launch of COVID-19 Global Humanitarian Response Plan in March 2020.
Launch of Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT Accelerator) in April 2020, a global collaboration to accelerate the production, development and equitable access to New COVID-19 therapeutics, diagnostics and vaccines.
Launch of COVID-19 Law Lab initiative in July 2020, to gather and share legal documents from over 190 countries to help states establish and implement strong legal frameworks to manage the pandemic.
Specialised Agencies that make the United Nations what it is:
These specialised agencies are international organizations who work with the United Nations given the terms of the relationship agreements between the parties. Named below are a few of such specialised agencies:
- WHO: World Health Organization
- UNESCO: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
- FAO: Food and Agriculture Organization
- UNICEF: United Nations Children's Fund
- ILO: International Labour Organization
Few phenomenal achievements by the specialized agencies of the UN are listed below:
Eradication of Smallpox:
WHO-led the global effort to eradicate smallpox. And after almost 13 years of strong undeterred campaigning, in 1980 WHO declared smallpox extinct.
Bettering Children’s Life Globally
The 2019 Annual Report of UNICEF states a few statistics that would make one feel proud of the work undertaken by the agency including:
- 307 million children under age 5 were offered services to save them from malnutrition
- 17 million out-of-school children were provided education
- 4 million children and young people were imparted with skills development
- 18.3 million people were given access to safe drinking water
- 15.5 million people were provided with basic sanitation services
ILO and its Stupendous Revolution
Through the Start and Improve Your Business (SIYB) programme, ILO has made possible the following:
- 9 million jobs
- 15 million entrepreneurs trained
- 65,000 individuals have been imparted the training to become Trainers
These are a few of the millions of initiatives taken by the United Nations and its agencies across every field of our day-to-day lives.
One cannot deny the good that the United Nations is bringing to this world by doing what it does. This United Nations Day, let us all take a moment to think of the fearful world we would be living in if the United Nations was not in existence and thank it for all it does.
