The United Nations Association (UNDP) is a movement of Americans dedicated to supporting the United Nations. With over 20,000 members (60% under the age of 26) and more than 200 chapters across the country, UNA members are united in their commitment to global engagement and their belief that each of us can play a part in advancing the UN’s mission and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
We are dedicated to educating, inspiring, and mobilizing Americans to support the principles and vital work of the United Nations and its agencies. Our nationwide network is committed to strengthening the United Nations system, promoting constructive United States leadership in that system, and achieving the goals set forth in the UN Charter. UNA is a program of the United Nations Foundation. UNA and its partner organization, the Better World Campaign, comprise the largest network of UN advocates in the world.
We’re proud to work with the Better World Campaign, our sister organization, to mobilize Americans to support the ideals and vital work of the United Nations. Together, our organizations represent the single largest network of advocates and supporters of the United Nations in the world.
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By combining our grassroots network and public outreach capacity with the United Nations Foundation’s advocacy resources and global convening power, we create an ever bigger impact.
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UNA was founded in 1943 by a passionate group of Americans committed to building an organization that could win the peace following World War II. UNA played an instrumental role in the creation of the UN Charter, its ratification by the US Congress, and in every chapter of the US-UN relationship since the UN’s founding.
Pictured above: US Secretary of State Edward R. Stettinius, Jr., Chairman, US Delegation, signing the UN Charter at a ceremony held at the Veterans’ War Memorial Building on 26 June. President Harry S. Truman stands by at left. (Photo courtesy of the United Nations)
In 1953, Eleanor Roosevelt, recently retired from her role as US Ambassador to the UN General Assembly, walked into the UNA office and offered to build UNA’s national membership as a volunteer leader asking only for an office in return. From that moment until her death in 1962, Mrs. Roosevelt crisscrossed the country speaking of the importance of the UN to all Americans in venues large and small, inspiring local leaders, and leaving behind a network of UNA chapters in communities and on college campuses. It is this same network, now led by a new generation of globally engaged Americans, that forms the foundation of UNA’s mission and work to this day.
Throughout its history UNA has also played an important role in advancing global thought leadership. From conducting groundbreaking research on UN reform to hosting citizen diplomacy during the Cold War, UNA has helped shape the debate on many of the most pressing issues facing the UN system.
Pictured above: UNA and UNA-Russia joint delegation meeting with Governor Jimmy Carter, 1974 (Photo courtesy of Tobi Gati)
In 2011, UNA merged with the United Nations Foundation, combining our grassroots network and public outreach capacity with the Foundation’s advocacy resources and global convening power. This merger created the largest network of UN advocates worldwide, advancing the impact of both organizations.
From 2013-2014, UNA conducted the US national public consultation process for the development of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals hosting hundreds of events and sourcing thousands of individual public submissions from Americans on priorities for the new goals.
Today, our movement of UN advocates brings together over 20,000 members from more than 200 chapters across the country. We are working to build a brighter future by helping the UN help the world. Registered Members!
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