24th October 2020 will mark and celebrate the founding of the 75th Anniversary of the United Nations, at a time when, following the end of the Second World War in 1945, nations worldwide decided to change the course of history and took the commitment to work together for peace.
Today the UN has to address many more global challenges, including those related to poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace and justice, and has given the world a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS) to work towards.
75 years on, there has never been a greater need for global cooperation. The current pandemic is once again showing how global challenges can be tackled and overcome only through global, coordinated action. 2020 must be a year of dialogue, when we come together to discuss our priorities as a human family, and how we can build a better future for all.
To this end we are inviting and encouraging schools to mark this occasion, and we would like to offer some suggestions below as to how schools could have input into contributing and getting involved throughout this 75th UN anniversary year starting on UN Day Saturday 24th October.
Consider School Assemblies and/or school lessons in the week leading up UN Day and throughout the Anniversary Year to discuss the UN 75th anniversary and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS), both of which link with the Primary Curriculum’s Areas of Learning ‘The World Around Us’ and ‘Personal Development and Mutual Understanding, and with the Post Primary Curriculum’s key elements of ‘Citizenship’ and ‘Cultural Understanding’.
Use short UN videos aimed at young people on the UN75 anniversary and UN SDGS (please see attached list)
Use questions from the recent UN75 survey on global priorities, to engage pupils to put forward their ideas on the sort of UN they want to see for the future (please see attached questions).
We would encourage you to take part in marking this UN75 special anniversary year and would be keen to hear what your School decides to do. Thank you for your interest and support.