Haiti Celebrates United Nations Day

October 24

Haiti Celebrates United Nations Day as a National Holiday.

 

Since 1948, the anniversary of the United Nations Charter coming into force on October 24, 1945 has been celebrated as United Nations Day in Haiti.

 

 

Haiti United Nations Day History

Haiti is one of the founding members of the United Nations. Haiti’s admission into the United Nations was on December 17, 1945. In the spring of 1945, the representatives of fifty nations assembled in San Francisco to put the final changes on a document of sweeping importance. This document came to be known as the Charter of the United Nations.

It was on October 24 when a sufficient number of endorsements had been obtained to inaugurate the new United Nations officially.

 

 

The United Nations General Assembly in 1971 issued a new resolution (United Nations Resolution 2782) which stated that the United Nations Day shall be an international holiday and recommended that it should be observed as a public holiday by all United Nations member states. United Nations Day aims to make the whole world aware of the goals and accomplishments of the United Nations Organization. The period from October 20 to 26 is known as United Nations Week, United Nations Day being a part of it.

 

 

 

Haiti United Nations Day Traditions, Customs and Activities

 

Hédi Annabi

Currently, there is no celebration of United Nations Day in Haiti because the event comes at a very difficult time for the island, according to the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for the country, Hédi Annabi.

January 2010 – Senior United Nations official Hédi Annabi, lauded by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as a “true citizen of the world” and a “mild man with the heart of a lion,” was laid to rest in the soil of his Tunisian homeland today, nine days after he died in the rubble of Haiti’s devastating earthquake. Mr. Annabi, head of the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), was accompanied on his final journey home by Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Alain Le Roy, representing Mr. Ban.

“Overwhelmed but guided by faith in God’s will, we today bid farewell to a dear brother, a faithful man and a brilliant diplomat; a devoted and emeritus son of Tunisia who was imbued with immeasurable principles and inexhaustible human values of this land, called back to God while being at the height of his work,” Foreign Minister Kamel Morjane said in a eulogy.

“Our dear departed died while performing his noble mission of United Nations representative for stabilisation in Haiti, whose people and Government showed him a special affection, as stressed by Haitian President René Préval, who mourned what he described as ‘a great loss for the United Nations, Tunisia and all Haitians’.”

Mr. Annabi, his Deputy Luiz Carlos da Costa, and UN Acting Police Commissioner Doug Coates of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police died when the Hotel Christopher, MINUSTAH’s headquarters in Port-au-Prince, the capital, was destroyed by the 12 January quake, which is estimated to have affected some 3 million Haitians, a third of the impoverished country’s population.

Nearly 50 UN personnel lost their lives and nearly 150 are still not accounted for.

When Mr. Annabi’s death was confirmed last week, Mr. Ban declared: “He gave of himself – with energy, discipline and great bravery,” adding that the envoy was the “gold standard of service against which all who had the privilege to work with him were measured.”

The Special Representative “was proud of the UN mission in Haiti – proud of its accomplishments in bringing stability and hope to Haiti’s people, proud of his UN staff,” he stressed.

 

Haiti has suffered tremendous casualties and loss of property during last year’s hurricane season. Overall damage was estimated at over $1 billion by the World Bank. All efforts are now geared towards rehabilitation and restructuring of the island.

Traditionally, United Nations Day has been marked throughout the world by meetings, discussions, and exhibits on the achievements and goals of the Organization.

A Celebration of Women

celebrates the Women of our World in Haiti; praying for speedy recovery with a special message of Gratitude is sent to all the members of the United Nations, especially the families of Mr. Annabi, his Deputy Luiz Carlos da Costa, and UN Acting Police Commissioner Doug Coates of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, who died during their call of duty, working great works Haiti and for the Women of our World.

 

 

God Bless us All!