United Nations Day- 24 October

- October 24, 2016

"Humanity has entered the era of sustainability – with a global commitment to fulfil the great promise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In this, the Organization’s 71st year, we have 17 goals to propel us towards a better future for all on a healthy planet. " — UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon

UN Day marks the anniversary of the entry into force in 1945 of the UN Charter. With the ratification of this founding document by the majority of its signatories, including the five permanent members of the Security Council, the United Nations officially came into being.

24 October has been celebrated as United Nations Day since 1948. In 1971, the United Nations General Assembly recommended that the day be observed by Member States as a public holiday.

This year's UN Day will be used to highlight concrete actions people can take to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

UN Day Concert – 24 October, United Nations General Assembly Hall
A concert to celebrate and reflect on the work of the UN through the universal language of music, featuring the Hungarian State Opera with performances by soprano Andrea Rost and other notable artists. The theme of this year’s concert is “Freedom First”.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

Messages
Secretary-General's Message for 2016
This year’s observance of United Nations Day occurs at a time of transition for the world and for the United Nations.

Humanity has entered the era of sustainability – with a global commitment to fulfil the great promise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In this, the Organization’s 71st year, we have 17 goals to propel us towards a better future for all on a healthy planet.

The world is also moving at long last beyond the mindset which viewed the burning of fossil fuels as the path to prosperity. At a time of record heat, Member States have embraced the Paris Agreement on climate change in record time. This landmark measure will enter into force on 4 November. Across that historic threshold lies our best chance for greener, cleaner, low-carbon growth.

The United Nations is also in transition, from its eighth Secretary-General to the ninth. I have been honoured to serve “we the peoples” for the past ten years. Together, we have put in place some solid foundations for shared progress – which we must build on by working even harder to empower women, engage youth and uphold human rights for all. But we have also suffered enormous heartbreak -- including unresolved conflicts causing immense suffering throughout the troubled Middle East, South Sudan, the Sahel and beyond. On these and other frontlines of violence and disaster, courageous UN staff continue to rise to the occasion and respond to the plight of the vulnerable.

I thank people across the world for their support -- and urge all to give their full backing to Secretary-General-designate Antonio Guterres in continuing our global mission of peace, sustainable development and human rights.

Ban Ki-moon

Statement by the President of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly
United Nations Day marks the anniversary of the entry into force in 1945 of our Organization's founding document, the UN Charter. Its observation is an annual reminder of the long and often difficult road Member States have decided to travel together. We are sustained by common aspiration as defined in the Purposes and Principles of the Charter.

I salute the fact that this year's UN Day will be used to highlight concrete actions that people can take to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The central thrust of the General Assembly’s 71st Session is to achieve momentum in the implementation of all 17 SDGs.

H.E. Peter Thomson

Posters
Poster 2016