United Nations, Jun 27 (IANS): The UN Charter "brought rules and hope to a world in ruins" Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told a virtual ceremony, commemorating 75 years since the organization's foundational text was signed.
Adopted by member states as the Second World War was ending, the UN chief on Friday noted that the world today was marking the milestone anniversary "as global pressures are spiraling up", reports Xinhua news agency
The Charter was signed in San Francisco on June 26, 1945 and came into force on October 24, 1945.
Conceived above all as a means to save future generations from the scourge of war, the Charter calls for the organization to maintain international peace and security; promote social progress and better standards of life; strengthen international law; and promote human rights.
The UN Charter "remains our touchstone for a world mired in a pandemic, torn by discrimination, endangered by climate change and scarred by poverty, inequality and war", Guterres said.
Speaking of the post-war multilateral arrangements, Guterres said that they "have compiled a solid record of service - saving millions of lives, advancing the human condition and fulfilling its cardinal task of preventing World War Three".
Recalling what the founding people of the UN did 75 years ago, Guterres said that the delegates in San Francisco in 1945, "having themselves lived through a global pandemic, depression and war, seized their opportunity to plant the seeds of something better and new".
"Today, we must do the same," he stressed.
The penholders of the Charter "dared to imagine a better world defined by peace and equality", General Assembly President Tijjani Muhammad-Bande told the commemoration.
Mona Juul, President of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) pledged "to continue engaging ... to ensure that ECOSOC remains as relevant today and, in the future, as it was when first envisioned in the Charter 75 years ago".
"Seventy-five years ago, today, the UN Charter was signed in San Francisco," chief for UN political and peacebuilding affairs Rosemary DiCarlo said.
"A declaration of unity of purpose after the ravages of the Second World War, it set out our mission: 'to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war' (and) guides us to this day."