Today is a special United Nations Day, this one commemorating the 75th anniversary of the global peace institution.
As their website states: “ There is no other global organization with the legitimacy, convening power and normative impact of the United Nations. Today, the urgency for all countries to come together, to fulfill the promise of the nations united, has rarely been greater.”
In 1945, the United Nations was chartered with 51 countries and five permanent members of the Security Council: China, France, Soviet Union, United Kingdom and the United States. Those nations have as many disagreements as commonalities, yet for three-quarters of a century, they have prevailed together to make the world a better place. Working on such topics as women’s equality, climate change, COVID, poverty, space exploration, migration and health, the 193 Member States continue to grind it out toward “peace, dignity and equality on a healthy planet.”
When you feel challenged in finding cooperative partners or wondering how you can persist with other organizations that don’t fully align with you, remember the United Nations. They have overcome significant geographical distances, language barriers and philosophical polarization to find a higher purpose and commonality that they can agree on and work towards.
Let’s celebrate their endurance and use it as a model for our own work.
What a brilliant comparison and so important to remember this today more than ever. Thank you for the inspiration!