The United Nations Charter (ميثاق الأُمَم المتَّحِدة) was ratified as the founding document of this international organization by the majority of different member states, including the five most powerful and permanent members of the Security Council (مجلس الأَمِن)– United States of America, France, Britain, China and Russia (formerly the Soviet Union). Following the ratification of the UN Charter, the United Nations came into being as an international organization that facilitates cooperation in international law (القانون الدوليّ) , international security (الأمن الدوليّ), economic development(النُّمو الاقتصادي) , social progress (النمو الاجتِماعيّ), human rights (حقوق الانسان) and achievement of world peace (السلام الدوليّ).

United Nations Day is devoted to underlining the aims, achievements and goals of the United Nations. It marks the anniversary of the entry into force in 1945 of the UN Charter. In 1947, the United Nations General Assembly (الجمعيَّة العامَّة) declared October 24 as the anniversary of the UN Charter, which became recognized as the United Nations Day. Furthermore, in 1971 the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 2782, which declared that the United Nations Day shall be an international holiday. United Nations Member States  (الدول الأعضاء)were encouraged to celebrate the United Nations Day as a public holiday in their respective countries. The United Nations Day is part of a United Nations Week that runs annually from October 20 – October 26. The United Nations Week includes different celebrations that can include musical performances and concerts, as well as, cultural and dance festivities. In addition to musical and cultural festivities, food fairs that include food from the around world are also part of the festivities. All these celebrations and festivities highlight the diversity of the different member states that emerge from different corners of the world with different cultural practices.

As part of celebrating diversity and multiculturalism, the United Nations Day highlights the organization’s Millennium Development Goals(الأهداف الانمائية للألفيَّة) . The plan and strategy put forth by the UN is to achieve eight goals by choosing 2015 as their target date. These eights goals are:

– Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger – القضاء على الفقر المدقع والجوع

– Achieve universal primary education – تحقيق تعميم التعليم الابتدائي

– Promote gender equality and empower women – تعزيز المساواة بين الجنسين وتمكين المرأة

– Reduce child mortality- تقليل وفيات الأطفال

– Improve maternal health- تحسين الصحة النفاسية

– Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases – مكافحة فيروس نقص المناعة البشرية/الإيدز والملاريا وغيرهما من الأمراض

– Ensure environmental sustainability- كفالة الاستدامة البيئية

– Develop a global partnership for development – إقامة شراكة عالمية من أجل التنمية

While many of these goals might seem overly optimistic and unachievable, this should not lead to the conclusion that the UN is a nonfunctional organization. Since 1945 it has in fact achieved many important things, like enhancing cooperation between member states, intervening in times of genocide and civil war and providing aid to disadvantaged countries. However, its history also includes moments of inaction and paralysis where it was restrained from taking action by the most powerful states. In 1994, its inability and paralysis to act in war-torn countries led bloodshed and massive genocide in countries like Rwanda. Irrespective of these inadequacies, the United Nations Day should be celebrated as a day of multiculturalism and diversity reminding the world of noble goals and aims, even if they sometimes seem unachievable and highly utopic.