United Nations Day 2007

Global Health: A Critical Component to Development

Hartford Event: 

Welcoming Remarks and Proclamation:

Nancy S. Nicolescu, Legislative Liaison, Office of Government Relations, Department of Public Health

Featured Speaker:

Rosa M. Biaggi, Section Chief for HIV/AIDS and Chronic Disorders, Department of Public Health will be the featured speaker.  The topic of her talk will be "Connecticut's Response to HIV/AIDS." She will be followed by speakers who will talk about "HIV/AIDS Community Partners"

To download a flyer for the Official Connecticut event, click => here

For more information on UN Day and UN activities and , click => here

United Nations Day History

In the spring of 1945, representatives of fifty nations gathered in San Francisco to put the final touches to a document of far-reaching consequences - the Charter of the United Nations. Enthusiastically supported by the United States, the UN Charter went into effect on October 24, 1945. Two years later the UN General Assembly adopted a US-sponsored resolution declaring October 24 th United Nations Day, to be commemorated annually by all member states of the United Nations. Since 1947, UN Day has been observed in nations large and small around the world.

In the United States, each President, beginning with Harry Truman, has issued a proclamation asking citizens to observe UN Day and to reflect upon the importance of the United Nations to our national interest, as well as to each American individually. At the time of the drafting of the Charter, close to one hundred US national nongovernmental organizations were represented at San Francisco, giving their advice and support to the official US delegation. Out of these organizations grew the United States Committee for the United Nations, a group consulted regularly by our government on matters related to the United Nations. In 1961, President Kennedy appointed Robert S. Benjamin, Chairman of United Artists Corporation, as chairman of the US Committee for the United Nations and as the first National UN Day Chairman.

In 1964, the US Committee for the United Nations merged with the American Association for the United Nations to become the United Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA). UNA-USA, under the guidance, first of Robert Benjamin, and later under other outstanding Americans, took on the coordination and supervision of the National UN Day Program working closely with the National UN Day Chairman.

Over the years, the observance of UN Day in hundreds of communities all over the United States has changed significantly. In the early years, community observances tended to be symbolic events consisting of an international dinner in the town's high school or the UN flag flying from an official building. Today's program delves into world issues that are on the agenda of the United Nations and that affect every American citizen. The university campus, city hall and the governor's mansion have become sites for serious debates of issues before the UN and how to approach them through international cooperation.

Those born after the founding of the UN in 1945 have come to realize that the UN offers no "quick fix," but is an instrument through which nations can identify common problems, set international standards, and take action. The UN is only as strong and effective as its 192 member states make it. Citizens and non-governmental organizations play an essential role in building public support for the UN. Your United Nations Day observance can expand that support in your community.