United Nations Day

United Nations Day was established by Presidential Proclamation to commemorate the establishment of the United Nations in 1945.

It is celebrated very generally in all states and American possessions, and by all eighty-one countries, which are members of the United Nations for the purpose of informing the people of the world as to the aims, purposes, and achievements of the UN. The day is part of the United Nations Week, October 20-26. The name "United Nations" was devised by United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt and was first used in the "Declaration by United Nations" of January 1, 1942, during the Second World War, when representatives of 26 nations pledged their governments to continue fighting together against the Axis Powers.

The representatives of 50 countries at the United Nations Conference drew up the United Nations Charter on International Organization, which met at San Francisco from April 25 to June 26, 1945. Those delegates deliberated on the basis of proposals worked out by the representatives of China, the Soviet Union, and United Kingdom in the United States at Dumbarton Oaks from August to October of 1944. The representatives of the 50 countries signed the Charter on June 26, 1945. Poland, which was not represented at the Conference, signed it later and became one the original 51 Member States.

The United Nations officially came into existence on October 24, 1945, when the Charter had been ratified by China, France, The Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, United States and by a majority of other signatories. United Nations Day is celebrated on October 24 each year.

On April 25, 1945, delegates from fifty countries drove through the rain to meet for the United Nations Conference on international Organization at the Flag-bedecked War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco. Although the delegates came from nations, "small, weak, and strong, and in different stages of political and social development," these earnest individuals were "determined to set up an organization which would preserve peace, advance justice, and constitute a permanent structure for international cooperation." For nine weeks (from April 26 to June 26) the conference worked on the Charter. Its preamble is considered by many to be one of the finest expressions of purpose ever set forth in any language. By October 24, 1945, the majority of the signatory nations had ratified the charter, and had sent formal notes to the State Department in Washington, D.C. These signers included China, France, the U.S.S.R., the United Kingdom, the United States, and many others. Therefore, on October 24, 1945, with flags of fifty nations flying together, the United Nations came into being.

In order to stress the charter's importance, in 1947 the General Assembly of the U.N. passed a resolution:that October 24 shall hereafter be officially called United Nations Day, and shall be devoted to making known to the people of the world the aims and achievements of the United Nations, and to gaining their support for the work of the United Nations.

Anglican UN Office Welcomes New Observer

The Rev. Canon Kenneth Kearon, secretary general of the Anglican Communion, in consultation with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, announced Hellen Grace Wangusa's appointment as the Anglican Observer at the UN on 3 October 2006.

A lay woman from Uganda, Hellen Grace Wangusa holds a BA (Hons), Diploma Ed (Hons) and an MA in Modern Letters. Her undergraduate studies were taken at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, where she worked as a teaching assistant and later as a lecturer for the Literature Department. After leaving this post, Wangusa worked as the National Women's coordinator for the Anglican Church of Uganda and was responsible for developing national programs, fundraising and managing a staff of 27 women. She was also the national link person for the global Mothers' Union movement and the Anglican Communion.

From 1997-2004, Wangusa worked as coordinator of African Women's Economic Policy Network (AWEPON), a faith based women's organization in Africa that also co-ordinates the UN's Millennium Campaign for Eastern Africa. In this role, she advocated for policies that meet the needs of women, children and those from marginalized groups, and ensured that those most affected were central in influencing economic decision making.

Wangusa is one of the founding members of AWEPON, as well as Gender and Economic Research in Africa (GERA), and the Council for Economic Empowerment of Women in Africa (CEEWA). She successfully reactivated two organizations that had been closed: The Joint Mothers' Union and Women's office in the Province of the Church of Uganda and AWEPON.
With her experience as a representative to the United Nations for the World Council of Churches (WCC), Wangusa said she will be able to deepen her contribution to the Anglican Communion as a key player in promoting International Relations at the UN through Peace, Dialogue and Diplomacy.