UN Day 2020: The United Nations turns 75

Tomorrow is the 75th UN Day – the historic day on which the United Nations officially came into being after the ratification of the Charter by the world’s biggest countries. The UN Charter is the founding document of this great non-partisan institution that has been working towards global peace and equality.

India commemorates this special day every year by raising the United Nations flag along with the tricolour atop all the significant buildings barring the Raj Bhawan and courts. It was US President Franklin D. Roosevelt who came up with the name “United Nations”. No other global institution today commands the respect and impact that the United Nations does. It represents collaboration, communication and dialogue at the inter-governmental level.

UN Day 2020 – what is the theme?

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought everyone face-to-face with the reality of how interdependent and interconnected we really are. It is only when governments and people across borders come together to work in solidarity that we can defeat this crisis.

Secretary General Antonio Guterres opened up a global conversation at the beginning of 2020 to ask people about their hopes and fears for the future. World leaders read the answers from these surveys and dialogues. The result of this massive activity was an official “political declaration” at a high-level event. The theme that resulted from this event: The future we want, the United Nations we need: reaffirming our collective commitment to multilateralism.

75th anniversary of UN Day

October 24th is observed as United Nations Day since the year 1948. It was established in 1945. Therefore, this year marks the 75th anniversary of UN Day. To commemorate this milestone, Member States held a special event on September 21st where they reaffirmed their commitment to multilateralism. In this context, multilateralism means an alliance of many countries pursuing a common goal.

To celebrate UN Day 2020 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, a virtual concert by La Scala Theatre in Milan was screened in the UN General Assembly Hall in New York and live-streamed on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook. The concert was sponsored by the Mission of Italy under the theme ‘Reimagine, Rebalance, Restart: recovering together for our shared humanity’. It featured musician Roberto Bolle as well as the Orchestra of Teatro alla Scala, besides classical and modern dances, curated specifically for the gig.

Turning Europe UN Blue

The UNRIC (UN Regional Information Centre for Western Europe) has launched the pan-European campaign ‘Turn Europe UN Blue’ for the 75th anniversary. Many of the United Nation’s founding states are from Europe, so the gesture will definitely be grand. For a continent known for its architecture and iconic classical structures, it’s not surprising that on UN Day over 180 landmarks and museums there will be lit up in deep blue, the official colour of the global body.

This is a symbolic effort to speak the language of international cooperation, peaceful dialogue and sustainable development, everything that the United Nations stands for.