Lieut. Gen. Ricard Costa Neves, center, the force commander of the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, May 2020. He is one of a succession of Brazilians to have led the UN operations there militarily. The authors reflect on Brazil’s long, extensive role in the UN but lament President Bolsonaro’s hostility toward it now. KEVIN JORDAN/MONUSCO
While Secretary-General António Guterres held a virtual press briefing on June 25, his spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, above, moderated. Guterres spoke about the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Charter and the relentless devastation of the Covid-19 pandemic. MANUEL ELIAS/UN PHOTO
Mary Robinson, chair of The Elders, an organization of eminent leaders, attending a youth world summit in London, 2019, with Manoly Sisavanh of the Wildlife Conservation Society in Laos. What do older statespeople and those ready to inherit the earth feel about the UN on its 75th birthday? That it has averted a third world war so far, but that it must also prevent another one: climate catastrophe. THE ELDERS
President Vladimir Putin delivering a speech at the first Russia-Africa summit, October 2019, in Sochi. In a new essay he wrote for the American magazine National Interest, Putin praises the original agreements among the big three powers who created the UN for keeping “confrontation under control.” JOE PENNEY
On June 17, 2020, Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, left, the current president of the General Assembly, announced the results of numerous elections by webcast and to an empty Assembly Hall; Movses Abelian, a UN official, right. The UN celebrates its 75th birthday on June 26, 2020, marked by a declaration that envisions renewed “collective action,” the authors say, toward a more perfect world. EVAN SCHNEIDER/UN PHOTO
Secretary-General António Guterres about to sign a book of condolences in memory of former Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, who died on March 4, 2020, at 100. The UN marks the 75th anniversary of the signing of the UN Charter in June. MARK GARTEN/UN PHOTO
The UNTV studio in New York, as Martin Griffiths, UN envoy for Yemen, left, briefs the Security Council by videoconference, April 16, 2020. The UN’s 75th birthday this year is a crucial chance, the authors argue, for the Council to recommit to the vision of the Charter. ESKINDER DEBEBE/UN PHOTO
The United Nations is turning 75 this year.
Secretary-General António Guterres stressed four threats to global progress for humankind in his State of the World speech in January 2020. Negotiations on writing a declaration to mark the UN’s 75th birthday could pinpoint ways to improve multilateral governance to make the anniversary truly meaningful to humanity, the essayist says. ESKINDER DEBEBE/UN PHOTO
Melissa Fleming, the new head of the UN’s Department of Global Communications, in New York, speaking at a Holocaust memorial ceremony, marking 75 years after the liberation of Auschwitz, Jan. 27, 2020. Fleming, who is from the United States, was most recently the spokesperson for the UN refugee agency. Her goal now is to reshape the public image of the UN through a solutions-oriented approach. EVAN SCHNEIDER/UN PHOTO
A UN Development Program workshop on gender and disaster-risk reduction related to climate change, Cambodia, August 2019. In an essay, an expert on the UN development system says it “cries out for reform” but is stuck in inertia. MANUTH BUTH/UNDP CAMBODIA
