75th anniversary of the first session of the United Nations General Assembly
New York: Today marks the 75th Anniversary of the first session of the United Nations General Assembly. It was on January 10, 1946 when the United Nations General Assembly met for the first time with representatives from the original 51 signatory nations at Central Hall in London, United Kingdom. It was during this session that the Security Council too met for the first time.
This was four years after the name “United Nations” was coined. On January 1, 1942 it was United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had first used the word, “United Nations”, in the Declaration by United Nations of 1 January 1942, during the Second World War, when representatives of 26 nations pledged their Governments to continue fighting together against the Axis Powers.
On the New Year’s Day 1942, US President Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Churchill, Maxim Litvinov of the The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), and T. V. Soong of China, had signed a short document which later came to be known as the United Nations Declaration. The next day the representatives of twenty-two other nations too had added their signatures. This important document pledged the signatory governments to the maximum war effort and bound them against making a separate peace.
The original twenty-six signatories were: the United States of America, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, China, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Poland, Union of South Africa, Yugoslavia. Subsequent adherents to the Declaration were (in order of signature) were: Mexico, Philippines, Ethiopia, Iraq, Brazil, Bolivia, Iran, Colombia, Liberia, France, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Paraguay, Venezuela, Uruguay, Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lebanon.
Finally, it was on October 24, 1945 when the United Nations officially came into existence following a meeting of the representatives of 50 countries in San Fransisco at the United Nations Conference on International Organization to draw up the United Nations Charter.The Charter was signed on June 26, 1945 by the representatives of the 50 countries. Poland, which was not represented at the Conference, signed it later and became one of the original 51 Member States.
The United Nations officially came into existence on October 24 ,1945, when the Charter was ratified by China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the United States and by a majority of other signatories.
However, it was on January 10, 1945 that the UNGA met for the first time in London and on this historic occasion, it adopted its first resolution that focussed on peaceful uses of atomic energy and elimination of atomic and other weapons of mass destruction.
It has been 75 years since then and the relevance of the General Assembly remains undiminished. Its strength has grown in numbers and today, it has 193 nations as its member, each with one vote. The General Assembly is also known as the world’s town hall. It is the place where UN Member States can peacefully address their differences and find solutions to global challenges, according to the current President, Volkan Bozkir of Turkey.
For all these 75 years, the UN General Assembly has occupied a central position as the chief deliberative, policymaking and representative organ of the United Nations.
The present UN Secretary General, António Guterres, while speaking today during a virtual event to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the first meeting of the UN General Assembly, said: “The work of the General Assembly has helped to boost global health, literacy, and living standards, and to promote human rights and gender equality.”
– global bihari bureau
Very informative and interesting
Thanks, I needed that