October 24 – United Nations Day
The United Nations: A Symbol of Hope, Reform, and Global Solidarity
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On this United Nations Day, we at the Roya Institute for Global Justice join the global civil society in honoring the United Nations and reaffirming its indispensable role in advancing peace, justice, sustainable development, and human dignity.
Since the signing of the UN Charter in 1945, the organization has served as a vital platform for dialogue, cooperation, and collective action. Through its many organs and initiatives — from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) — the UN has shaped frameworks for international justice, equality, and coexistence.
Yet today’s world faces new and complex challenges — from climate crises and digital divides to forced displacement, armed conflicts, and deepening discrimination. In this context, we believe in the urgent need for a stronger, more inclusive, and more effective United Nations that reflects the realities and aspirations of the 21st century.
The future of the UN must embrace justice in access to technology and bridge the global digital divide. Just as economic and environmental justice are essential to sustainable development, technological justice is a prerequisite for fairness in the age of artificial intelligence and digital transformation.
We also reaffirm that gender equality and the full participation of women in decision-making processes are not only goals but essential pathways to achieving lasting peace and equitable progress. True equality also demands that the world be made safe for women and children — in every city, village, street, and school, ensuring that all spaces are free from fear and violence.
A just and peaceful world must also include persons with disabilities, the elderly, and Indigenous peoples. Their voices, experiences, and wisdom are vital to the moral foundation of humanity and must be respected and integrated into all dimensions of global policy and action.
We must also confront climate apartheid, the widening gap between those protected from environmental degradation and those suffering its gravest consequences. This is particularly urgent for small island nations and landlocked developing countries, which face disproportionate risks from climate change. Environmental justice, together with the eradication of poverty and access to a dignified life for all, must remain at the heart of global governance and sustainable development.
The United Nations and the international community must also stand firmly with the displaced, the refugees, and the asylum seekers — those who have fled their homes because of tyranny, persecution, or war — and ensure their safety, dignity, and access to justice.
In a world still marked by systemic discrimination, the UN must champion true multilateralism and promote South–South cooperation and dialogue grounded in mutual respect and shared learning among developing nations. It must also give voice to marginalized individuals and vulnerable groups, ensuring that no one is left behind in shaping the shared future of humanity.
At Roya Institute, we believe that all human beings are entitled to all human rights, without distinction of race, religion, gender, nationality, age, or belief. Upholding the universality and indivisibility of human rights is both the spirit of the United Nations and the shared moral duty of humanity.
Despite the words and actions of certain political figures who seek to weaken or discredit the UN’s achievements, we stand firm in our support of this institution as a symbol of hope and global conscience. Strengthening the United Nations is not an act of dependency but a reflection of our collective ethical and human responsibility to build a more just, inclusive, and sustainable world — where every person can live in safety, equality, and dignity.