UN Secretary-General Concluding the week with celebrations of the 70th Anniversary of the UN, both the General Assembly and the DPI NGO Executive Committee

GFDD/Funglode were present at the UN Headquarters for the 70th Anniversary commemorations of the United Nations on Friday October 23. The events which were held by the General Assembly and the DPI NGO Executive Committee (the liaison office between the NGO community and the United Nations Department of Public Information) to mark the anniversary of the entry into force in 1945
of the UN Charter, and the creation of the United Nations.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was present at the informal meeting of the General Assembly to commemorate the seventieth anniversary of the ratification of the Charter of the United Nations. He pointed out that’s even decades after its founding, the United Nations had renewed its pledge to humankind.  He commented that “by adopting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Member
States have united behind a promise to end poverty and provide a life of dignity for all on a healthy planet within a generation”.

H.E. Mogens Lykketoft of Denmark, President of the 70th Session of the General Assembly, provided remarks at the DPI NGO Executive Committee event before a crowded room on the role of civil society in shaping the post 2030 Development Agenda. He stressed that “in recent years, the role of civil society and NGOs in preparing the 2030 Agenda stands out as a
tipping point in UN/civil society relations”. He further praised the NGO community explaining that it had “brought the voices of the world’s most vulnerable to the UN negotiating tables”. President Lykketoft pointed to three upcoming high level events that he was looking to hold in the Spring of 2016 focused on coherent implementation of climate, financing and 2030 Agenda commitments; on a comprehensive approach to Peace and Security matters and on
how to advance UN efforts at strengthen human rights, governance and the rule of law”. He called the engagement of stakeholders in the events themselves, and in any preparatory process, to be a key feature of the events.

The afternoon celebrations were organized by the DPI NGO Executive Committee in collaboration with United Nations Association of the USA and included a musical performance by The Lumine String Quartet, featuring a world premiere of
“Luminous” and artistic presentation of calligraphy work by the Junior United Nations of Caligraphy.

The crowning moment of the celebrations was when the UN Headquarters building was light up in blue on Friday October 23, to mark the anniversary of the entry into force in 1945 of the UN Charter, and the creation of the United Nations. More than 200 other iconic monuments, buildings, statues, bridges, and other landmarks in nearly 60 other countries
across the globe were also lit up in blue on UN Day (Saturday October 24), as part of an exciting new global campaign to help unite global citizens and promote the message of peace, development and human rights.

Related Links
http://www.un.org/un70/en/content/events/upcoming
http://www.wfuna.org/partner/ngo-dpi-executive-committee