The 75th Anniversary of the United Nations: A Virtual Celebration
When last year’s UN Day Humanitarian Awards Gala Dinner came to a close, we looked ahead to the next, imagining the particularly festive night we would dedicate to the UN’s 75th anniversary. As we all know, the year had other plans in store for us; as a result of the pandemic, UNA-NYC’s programming has shifted entirely online, and safely holding our usual gala proved impossible. However, we were undeterred, and came together to bring our members and the public an exciting and diverse line-up of events to mark the historic anniversary.
In the first week of the month, high school and college students from around the city sent in their submissions for our first-ever Youth Essay Contest. To mark UN75, we asked entrants to write a succinct essay exploring what they see as the UN’s most important priorities in the months and years ahead. The top prizes went to Skye Lam, a junior at the Bronx High School of Science; Ava Hanadel, a senior at the Institute for Collaborative Education; and Gulshan Ashaque, a junior at Columbia University, in first, second, and third place respectively.
“It is critical that the United Nations leads the way in overseeing the development and implementation of solar geoengineering initiatives,” wrote Lam in his bold and focused winning essay. “Without governance for solar geoengineering, the future could potentially be a very dark place.” Read all the winning essays here.
On October 14, we welcomed journalist Michelle Young, founder of Untapped New York, for a fascinating webinar titled “Secrets of the United Nations.” Young took us through several lesser-known facts about the UN’s Headquarters, such as the large subterranean complex underneath, its vast and varied art collection, and the secret apartment that was formerly located in the Secretariat building. “I’ve always loved the UN — I’ve always found it a fascinating little parcel of New York City,” said Young. You can watch the webinar here.
In the latter half of the month, supporters in New York and around the world joined us for our first-ever UN Day 5K, which was organized with the help of the New York-based winners of the UNA-USA Emerging Leaders Fellowship. Held virtually over a two-week period that included UN Day itself, the event saw participants run, walk, and bike in celebration of the UN’s 75th anniversary. Among those celebrating were the PRunners, a group of UN diplomats that regularly run together, including Maher Nasser, Commissioner-General of the UN at Expo 2020, and Ivana Pajevic, former Deputy Permanent Representative of Montenegro to the UN.
“It is an honor to run not just for fun but for such noble goals,” read a tweet from Mike Gyula, a representative of the Permanent Mission of Hungary who joined the run.
Nearly 200 runners helped us raise approximately $3,300 —100 percent of which will be donated to One Community of Fort Green/Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, a charity that delivers food to 1,200 homebound low-income seniors every week. The success of the run was such that we hope to make it a yearly tradition—one which would, we hope, be in-person in future iterations. Check out our Instagram for pictures shared on social media by our runners.
The concluding event of the month was held on October 29, when we were honored to welcome a special panel of experts for a conversation marking the moment called UN75: Reflecting on the Past, Building Our Future. The esteemed speakers included Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the UN; H.E. Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the UN; H.E. Nicolas de Rivière, Permanent Representative of France to the UN; and Henrietta H. Fore, Executive Director of UNICEF.
Moderated by MSNBC anchor and UNA-NYC Advisory Council member Richard Lui, the discussion explored the past achievements and future challenges facing the UN, what it means to celebrate such a historic milestone amid the worst global health crisis in a century, and where the world stands in terms of progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“The greatest achievement that we’ve had on our watch has been keeping multilateralism alive.” Ms. Mohammed opened her comments by holding up her copy of the UN Charter and stressing that in upholding multilateralism, the UN has been integral to the response to global crises such as the ongoing pandemic. She furthermore stressed that despite the public health challenges currently threatening progress on the 2030 agenda, it is crucial to keep those aspirations in sight, and to use the SDGs as a framework for recovery.
Both Permanent Representatives echoed the Deputy Secretary-General in their comments, noting that while the inherently slow nature of multilateral negotiations can be frustrating for the press and the public, it is the only way to tackle issues that affect the whole world. “The UN remains more relevant than ever… we are facing global challenges, and unilateral responses cannot make it,” said Ambassador De Rivière of France. “For global challenges, you need a global response.”
Henrietta Fore, Executive Director of UNICEF, reflected on her agency’s achievements in saving countless young lives and stressed that moving forward, people must understand the importance of supporting—and crucially, funding—the United Nations. “Teach about it. Write about it. Talk about it. It’s very important to communicate it,” said Ms. Fore. “People need to hear about human rights and their importance in society. And that is something that the United Nations Association can do brilliantly.”
Abid Qureshi, President of UNA-NYC, noted that though the pandemic has prevented us from holding our annual gala, “it has not prevented us from bringing the issues that matter at the United Nations to our membership. Today is very much the culmination of a terrific set of programs that we have been able to put on throughout the pandemic.”
You can watch the full event here.