The United Nations was founded to build and sustain peace, promote human rights, and illuminate a path toward social progress for all humankind.
On October 24, 1947, the Charter of the United Nations entered into force after being ratified by 29 countries. This day is celebrated as International United Nations Day.
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United Nations Day
Born in the ashes of World War II, the United Nations was founded to build and sustain peace, promote human rights, and illuminate a path toward social progress for all humankind. More than six decades after its founding, the United Nations remains focused on those goals, and the United States remains the institution’s most resolute supporter.
U.S. President Barack Obama underlined the continuing importance of the United Nations during his recent speech at the U.N. General Assembly:
“For decades, the United Nations has in fact made a difference – from helping to eradicate disease, to educating children, to brokering peace.”
From the earliest days, the United States has been the largest contributor to the U.N.’s regular budget, currently providing 22 percent of the UN’s needs, and well over a quarter of the UN’s peacekeeping budget.
The United States provides this level of support because the United Nations plays a crucial role in advancing shared solutions to the world’s shared challenges. In so doing, the UN advances U.S. interests in innumerable ways.
For example, the United Nations played a key role in the remarkable progress made toward the Millennium Development Goals – progress that includes reducing the number of people living in extreme poverty by 50 percent.
The world needs the United Nations. It provides a space where the nations of the world can address their differences and identify their shared concerns. The United States will remain committed to working with the UN in advancing peace, development, and prosperity throughout the globe, and celebrates UN Day with those causes in mind.
