United Nations Day, 2016

Proclamation 9528 of October 21, 2016

United Nations Day, 2016

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Seventy-one years ago, after rolling back a tide of
tyranny that threatened Europe and the world, members
of the international community came together to sign
the United Nations Charter--advancing a promise to
replace the ravages of war with the possibilities of
diplomacy. On United Nations Day, we reflect on the
progress we have made in the time since, resolve to
carry this progress forward, and reaffirm our
commitment to international cooperation rooted in the
rights and responsibilities of nations across the
globe.

Today, because of the international order the United
Nations has helped anchor for more than seven decades,
we live in a global community that, together, has
overcome the greatest financial crisis of our time,
lifted billions of people out of poverty, promoted the
emergence of more democracies, and taken meaningful
steps toward leaving our children with a world that is
safer, cleaner, and more stable. Yet the same forces of
integration that have helped forge closer ties and
stronger partnerships among the world's nations also
have exposed deep fault lines that we must address. In
too many places around the world, perpetrators of
atrocities go unpunished and those who violate
international law face no consequences. Climate change
remains a serious threat--even after we officially
crossed the threshold for the Paris Agreement to take
effect earlier this month. Too many governments still
silence journalists, quash dissent, and censor vital
flows of information. And in camps and cities around
the world, families live as refugees, surviving on aid
and the compassion of others. These issues present
crises of our shared security and challenges to our
international system in which all nations must share in
our collective responsibilities. Our world is too
small, and our destinies too intertwined, for us not to
see ourselves in one another. By upholding the values
upon which the United Nations was founded--pluralism,
diversity, human rights, and togetherness--we can
ensure we pass these tests of our common humanity. And
by continuing to build a more capable and effective
United Nations, we strengthen the world's capacity to
respond to global crises, keep peace in fragile
societies, and tackle unprecedented humanitarian
challenges.

The international community relies on the United
Nations today more than ever before. Now in its eighth
decade, this institution--and those selfless
individuals who devote their lives to sustaining it--is
vital to our mission of shaping a better world: one
defined by cooperation over confrontation, a shared
sense of purpose, and the understanding that the future
of a child in America is inextricably linked to that of
a child in Afghanistan. On this day, let us pay tribute
to the staff of the United Nations, particularly the
more than 100,000 uniformed personnel serving in
peacekeeping missions, for their selfless service to
the cause of promoting international peace and
prosperity, and as citizens of the world, let us renew
our shared commitment to forging a brighter tomorrow
for all.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the
United States of America, by virtue of the authority
vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the
United States, do hereby proclaim October 24, 2016,

as United Nations Day. I urge the Governors of the 50
States, and the officials of all other areas under the
flag of the United States, to observe United Nations
Day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
twenty-first day of October, in the year of our Lord
two thousand sixteen, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and forty-
first.