On June 26, 1945, delegates from 50 nations came together to sign the United Nations Charter – a historic moment for global peace and progress.
To mark the UN’s 70th anniversary this year, over the coming week, we will be sharing 70 facts about the UN and the work it does around the world.
You can find facts 1-10 here, facts 11-20 here, facts 21-30 here, facts 31-40 here, facts 41-50 here, and check out the list below for 10 more.
1. At the 1945 UN Conference in San Francisco, 850 delegates from 50 nations, 2,650 staff, and 2,500+ members of the press met for 62 days to negotiate and sign the UN Charter. (Tweet)
2. The United Nations Charter was signed at the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center on June 26, 1945. (Tweet)
3. The first elections observed by the United Nations were on the Korean Peninsula in the 1940s. (Tweet)
4. Flashback photo: In 1955, the United Nations Korean Reconstruction Agency provided equipment and supplies to clinics to help treat children suffering from tuberculosis and related illnesses. (Tweet)
5. In 2011, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon spoke about the importance of global cooperation, saying: “In our increasingly interconnected world, we all have something to give and something to gain by working together. Let us unite, seven billion strong, in the name of the global common good.” (Tweet)
6. The UN currently has 13 Messengers of Peace, distinguished individuals who help raise awareness of the UN’s work. (Tweet)
7. The UN Development Programme works in more than 170 countries and territories to help promote sustainable development, democratic governance and peacebuilding, and climate and disaster resilience. (Tweet)
8. You can follow the UN on Twitter at @UN and on Facebook at Facebook.com/unitednations.
9. The UN Economic and Social Council, often referred to as the ECOSOC, is the UN’s “principal body for coordination, policy review, policy dialogue, and recommendations on economic, social, and environmental issues, as well as for implementation of the internationally agreed development goals.”
10. The UN’s Department of Public Information has 63 UN Information Centers around the world. (Tweet)