No, not the un-day. That would be called night. I’m talking about United Nations Day.
- Gates Sr. and a fan, Mehrit Teshome
- Tom Paulson
The UN turned 65 yesterday and if you’d have been paying attention you could have had dinner with Bill Gates Sr., travel writer Rick Steves, Kay Bullitt and a roomful of other leading members of our community who gathered at St. Marks Cathedral Sunday evening to mark the creation of the UN.
Despite the explosion of interest locally in international affairs, the long-standing United Nations Association of Greater Seattle is not a well-known group. Gates Sr. was honored with the organization’s Humanitarian award. Steves served as moderator and the UW’s Steve Gloyd talked about problems with the UN’s Millennium Development Goals.
The main impression I came away with from last night’s celebration is that the average age of this group’s membership seems to be perhaps only a few years younger than the UN itself.
So, come on all you young people who say you want to make the world a better place. Join up! Fly the blue flag.
The Seattle group was created in the 1950s to show local support for the only organization that I can think of that actually represents all of humanity. Here’s a video featuring George Clooney (whom it never hurts to mention) singing the praises of the UN:
Frank Jones, president of the Seattle UN Association, said it is crucial that young people recognize and support the United Nations and its many programs aimed at fighting poverty and disease, responding to disasters and reducing conflict around the world.
“There’s really no other organization that can do what it does,” said Jones.
Here’s an article by UNA board member Collin Tong, published in the SeattlePostGlobe, that gives a good overview.
