This House of Lords Library Briefing provides information on United Nations Day which takes place on 24 October 2019.
United Nations Day: The UK and the UN (179 KB , PDF)
United Nations Day takes place on 24 October annually. The United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, António Guterres, states that the day “marks the birthday of our founding Charter—the landmark document that embodies the hopes, dreams and aspirations of ‘we the peoples’”.
On 31 October 1947, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring that 24 October be officially called ‘United Nations Day’. In 1971, the General Assembly recommended that United Nations Day be observed by member states as a public holiday. It is not a public holiday in the UK. United Nations Day is marked globally, including in the US whereby the President has issued an annual proclamation since 1948. The UK is one of the founding members of the UN.
This Library briefing will examine the United Kingdom’s (UK) involvement in both the creation of the UN and its role today.
United Nations Day: The UK and the UN (179 KB , PDF)
The Labour government has called for an “improved and ambitious relationship” with Europe, including a new UK-EU security pact and stronger bilateral partnerships with partners including France, Germany and Joint Expeditionary Force allies. This briefing outlines some of the actions proposed and undertaken by the UK government to improve ties since the July 2024 general election.
While international attention has largely been focused on the Middle East and Ukraine, the civil war in Sudan continues. The UN has characterised the conflict as the “world’s largest hunger crisis”. As peace negotiations stall, concerns are rising not only for the people of Sudan but also about the conflict spreading to neighbouring states.
This briefing provides a summary of a recent report by the international children’s rights charity Save the Children entitled ‘Stop the war on children: Let them live in peace’, as well as UK government policy in this area. It has been prepared ahead of Baroness Anelay of St Johns’ (Conservative) upcoming debate on 12 September 2024 on the government’s assessment of the impact of international conflict on children and the recommendations proposed in Save the Children’s report.
