78 Years Engaging Global Citizens
OCTOBER 24 2025 – Geneva – Message from the Secretary-General of WFUNA Aziel-Philippos Goulandris for the 80th Anniversary of the United Nations
OCTOBER 24 2025 – GENEVA – Message from the Secretary-General of WFUNA Aziel-Philippos Goulandris for the 80th Anniversary of the United Nations
As the United Nations, our United Nations, celebrates 80 years of existence, I speak on behalf of the World Federation of UN Associations (WFUNA), the global movement of citizens who have pledged to defend and advance the principles of diplomacy and cooperation in the hope of building a better world for all. Ours is a simple conviction: a rules-based international order is not an option – it is the keystone that makes peace possible, human dignity attainable, and cooperation practicable in a fractured world; and the only all-encompassing organization that represents this international order is the United Nations.
The UN remains humanity’s most ambitious and inclusive experiment in collective security. With near-universal membership and unparalleled expertise, it can set norms, deploy peacekeepers, mediate conflicts, protect civilians, and coordinate relief when disaster strikes. It can drive long-term change through the Sustainable Development Goals and mobilize governments, civil society, and business to confront poverty, climate change, ill health, and inequality. It is fully equipped to act as a forum that can address the most complex issues threatening humanity and serve the needs of future generations.
We commemorate this milestone with clear eyes. The UN faces the hard test of reality driven by geopolitical antagonism, wars, and humanitarian catastrophes – yet, the Charter’s authority stands. Its legitimacy is rooted in its principles, set in 1945 but forged long before that, and distilled through centuries of diplomatic practice. They remain our most developed guide to shared peace and purpose; the most advanced framework of its kind that humanity has yet devised.
As the inheritors of those principles, and precisely because the system is strained, we must rally behind the Charter’s commitments and maintain the UN as the indispensable table around which the world sits and argues, negotiates, gives voice to the most marginalized and vulnerable, finds common ground, compromises, and shapes solutions.
WFUNA exists to make these principles of multilateralism understood by people everywhere. We represent and coordinate a network of over 100 United Nations Associations—millions of citizens who connect their local concerns to global decision-making, who translate UN values into daily action, and who insist that “we the peoples” is to be taken literally. Through education, advocacy, and hands-on programs, we help young people gain the skills to engage the UN system and lead change at home. Our Movement’s heartbeat lies with youth: through mentoring project leaders, training human-rights defenders, and running the most accurate simulations of the UN, WFUNA is equipping the next generation to be problem-solvers. By investing in their capacity, we invest in strengthening the UN’s resilience to weather the challenges in the decades to come.
During this 80th anniversary year, let us rededicate ourselves to the Charter’s promise and to the UN’s agenda: defend international law; protect human rights; close the implementation gap on the SDGs; keep the door of dialogue open, even when a solution seems beyond grasp. This agenda is in the hands of governments, yes – but it is also the work of citizens. It is the work of WFUNA and its UN Associations.
The United Nations was born of the determination to “save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.” Today, let us add our determination to prevent our own generation from the scourge of indifference and disenchantment—forces that can deprive the UN of its popular support when it needs it most. May our voices be many and our resolve unshakeable: the founding vision of the United Nations in 1945 was to replace competition and conflict with compromise and cooperation. That vision remains as relevant and essential today as it was eight decades ago.
Do you want to learn more about the UN? Or implement an SDG project in your community? Our programs will give you the skills and connections you need!
Learn MoreAre you part of an organization, foundation or school that wants to help achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals? We are always open to collaborating to help connect more people to the UN and empower global citizens.
Let’s start a conversation!
