UN Charter at 70: Ki-moon Seeks Sustainable Future for All

The United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Kimoon has canvassed for a safer and more sustainable future for all peoples of the world, on the anniversary of the adoption of the Organisation’s founding Charter on June 26, 1945 in San Francisco, USA.

In a personal message he released to mark the day, the Scribe said, “my hope is that the human family will come together with greater determination to work for a safer and more sustainable future for “we, the peoples”, in whose name the Charter was drafted”. In his message titled, ‘The UN Charter at 70: Towards a Safer and Sustainable Future for We, the Peoples’, Ban recalled that, “Long before I became Secretary-General, the United Nations occupied a special place in my life. I was six years old when the Korean War broke out. I have memories of my village in flames as my family sought refuge in nearby mountains. But another sight is even more lasting: the UN flag. We were saved from hunger by UN food relief opera- tions; we received textbooks from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO); and when we wondered whether the outside world cared about our suffering, the troops of many nations sacrificed their lives to restore security and peace.

“I know from my childhood, and now from decades of public service, the immense difference the UN can make. As we mark the anniversary of the adoption of the Organisation’s founding Charter on June 26, 1945 in San Francisco, my hope is that the human family will come together with greater determination to work for a safer and more sustainable future for “we, the peoples”, in whose name the Charter was drafted.

“The United Nations at 70 can look back on a proud record of working with many partners to dismantle colonialism, triumph over apartheid, keep the peace in troubled places and articulate a body of treaties and law to safeguard human rights. Every day, the United Nations feeds the hungry, shelters refugees and vaccinates children against polio and other deadly diseases.