For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
October 23, 2002
United Nations Day, 2002
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
The United Nations was founded 57 years ago to improve our global
community by strengthening the ties among member nations through
improved communication, expanded understanding, and enhanced security.
On United Nations Day, America joins the world in commemorating the
founding of this important international organization and recognizing
the profound impact it has had on our world and the role that it
continues to play.
Since October 24, 1945, the United Nations Organization has grown
to include 191 member states. Through its relief agencies, the U.N.
aids and protects millions of refugees and displaced persons
worldwide. For example, in 2001, the United Nations World Food Program
provided aid to 77 million people in 82 countries and helped to avert a
severe famine that threatened Afghanistan. The U.N. also seeks to
improve living conditions around the globe by immunizing children,
providing safe drinking water, and fighting disease.
The United States remains committed to helping the U.N. to advance
human rights, healthcare, security, and education throughout the world;
and we will continue to meet these and other commitments as we rejoin
the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization.
Our country continues to work with the U.N. in supplying aid for
nations and peoples in need or distress, and in providing medical care
and other essentials through U.N. agencies such as UNICEF.
As our world faces new challenges and opportunities, the efforts of
the United Nations take on a renewed significance. The United States
recognizes the U.N. for its efforts to support and strengthen the
international coalition against global terror. And we hope the United
Nations will fulfill its role in addressing the threats posed to the
civilized world, particularly the threat now posed by Iraq. As a
founding member of the U.N., the United States reaffirms our dedication
to this vital organization and our hope that it will continue to
fulfill the vision of its founders.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States
of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution
and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim October 24, 2002, as
United Nations Day. I call upon the people of the United States to
observe this day with appropriate programs and activities.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-third
day of October, in the year of our Lord two thousand two, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and
twenty-seventh.
GEORGE W. BUSH
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