UN Day celebration

October 25, 2016

UN Day celebration

On October 24th 2016 an official reception on the occasion of the United Nations Day was held in the UN House in Moscow. On the same day in 1945 – 71 years ago – the Charter of the United Nations came into force. 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.

The theme of this year’s reception was “71 years for 17 goals”, emphasising the need for an increased effort that international community shall take in order to implement the 17 goals of sustainable development as stated in the Agenda 2030. The reception was attended by representatives of the 20 UN agencies working in the Russian Federation, as well as by partners of the UN in Russia: representatives of the ministries and departments of the Government of the Russian Federation, representatives of the diplomatic corps, international organisations etc.

The reception started with a welcoming word from the Director of the UN Information Centre Vladimir Kuznetsov, followed by a short speech from the head of the UN Country Team in Russia, Director of the Regional Support Team for Europe and Central Asia UNAIDS, Vinay Patrick Saldanha. In his speech Mr Saldanha congratulated the guests on the UN Day and emphasized that not only the UN, but every person in the room bore the responsibility to contribute to the 17 goals of sustainable development through her/his actions and commitment. After this, the Deputy Director of the Department of international Organizations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia Alexander Alimov greeted the guests as well with an official address from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. To mark the end of the official part of the reception a video message from the designated Secretary General Antonio Guterres was broadcast.

UN Day celebration

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.