Celebrating 71 Years of the United Nations


October 24, 2016

Today, October 24, 2016, is United Nations Day.

Every October, United Nations Association chapters around the United States engage their communities by hosting events to celebrate the founding of the United Nations and elevate awareness of global issues. This year, our network of campus and community chapters have banned together to host a record 160 UN Day events!

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Our theme for 2016 is “One Humanity, Shared Responsibility” which brings awareness to the worst refugee crisis since World War II. More than 65 million people have fled their homes and risked their lives in search of refuge. Most are children, but less than half have access to education.

This UN Day, the United Nations Association of the United States of America, in tandem with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and its fundraising arm, USA for UNHCR, is working to prevent a lost generation by helping provide refugee children with the education they need to build a better future. Through the Adopt-A-Future campaign, American communities can directly support refugee education, welcome refugee families at home, and build awareness of and advocate for the role of the UN in both assisting refugees and resolving the conflicts that create them. The campaign enables partners and supporters to raise funds to support either refugee education worldwide or to build a classroom for a specific school that teaches refugee children.  Learn more about how you can support education for refugees.

If you would like to join UNA’s UN Day celebration, have a look at our UN Day Directory of Events to find an event near you, or if you’re thinking about hosting an event of your own check out our UN Day Toolkit.

No matter how you celebrate, the core message is the same: the UN deserves our support. Thank you for adding yours.

Relive the excitement of UN Day with this Storify of UNA Chapters and partners posts on social media.