THIS COLORFUL POSTER FROM the United Nations Association of Great Britain and Northern Ireland contains among its graphic elements a smiling boy holding a cup and a map of the world with a line suggestive of a heart monitor reading running through it. At the bottom of the poster is a daisy-chain of human figures, with the logos of the United Nations and the World Health Organization superimposed. The undated poster commemorates United Nations Day, October 24, and bears the words, “Health for All By the Year 2000: Basic Health Care Must Reach the Poorest.”
The United Nations was founded in October 1945. The fifty-one countries involved in its founding were committed to maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations, promoting social progress and better living standards, and protecting human rights. The preamble to the Charter of the United Nations begins:
“We the peoples of the United Nations determined
to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to humankind, and
to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and
to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and
to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom, And for these ends
to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbors, and
to unite our strength to maintain international peace and security, and
to ensure, by the acceptance of principles and the institution of methods, that armed force shall not be used, save in the common interest, and
to employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples.”1
The United Nations now comprises 192 member states. It provides a forum for representatives of its member states to express their views through the General Assembly and specialized agencies, such as the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the International Court of Justice, and many other councils and committees. Since 1948, the anniversary of the United Nations Charter—October 24—has been celebrated as United Nations Day.
“Health for All by the Year 2000: Basic Health Care Must Reach the Poorest” poster. From the United Nations Association of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Source. Image courtesy of the National Library of Medicine.
The staff of the United Nations work on a broad range of fundamental issues, including sustainable development, environmental health, protection of refugees, disaster relief, counterterrorism, nonproliferation of nuclear weapons, international health programs of every kind, improving the status of women, and promoting democracy, human rights, and economic and social development. They are involved in such activities as clearing landmines, monitoring climate change, addressing the global food security crisis, and implementing the Millennium Development Goals. The United Nations is an organization that embodies the vision of global public health.
References
- 1.United Nations. We the peoples… A stronger UN for a better world. Available at: http://www.un.org/en Accessed November 4, 2009