Skip to main content

United Nations and Rotary celebrate 80th anniversary of UN charter

Skip to main content

Leaders affirm their organizations’ historic, enduring relationship

By

Members of Rotary International joined representatives of the United Nations on 11 December to observe a key milestone in the quest for global solidarity: The 80th anniversary of the signing of the UN charter. Leaders from both organizations reflected on and reaffirmed the principles the UN stands for.

“In the 1940s, when the world was torn apart by war, visionary people began to ask the most urgent questions of all: ‘How could trust be rebuilt across borders where violence had reigned? And how would humanity guard itself against repeating its own worst mistakes?’” said Rotary International President Francesco Arezzo. “In that pivotal moment, Rotary was one of the few organizations in the world that stepped forward with both hope and ideas.”

  1. Rotary International President Francesco Arezzo sits with his partner, Anna Maria Arezzo-Criscione, at Global Goals, Local Action: Rotary Commemorates the United Nations at 80, 11 December 2025.

    Credit: Rotary International

  2. Cyril Noirtin, dean of the Rotary Representative Network, speaks at Global Goals, Local Action: Rotary Commemorates the United Nations at 80, 11 December 2025. 

    Credit: Rotary International

Rotary members served as official observers at the UN Charter Conference in 1945. They helped create agendas, proposed wording for resolutions, and mediated disputes between delegates.

The event, which took place in the building where the charter was signed in San Francisco, California, USA, was a moment to acknowledge a long-standing relationship and inspire future efforts. Committing to collective action has never been more crucial, said Melissa Fleming, UN/United Nations under-secretary-general for global communications. With the 2030 deadline for the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals fast approaching, she said, there’s still a long way to go.

“Raging conflicts, deepening inequality, runaway technologies, and a burning planet: None of these problems will fix themselves. And no one nation can fix them alone,” she said.

Cyril Noirtin, dean of the Rotary Representative Network, said the values that the UN and Rotary share are threatened as never before.

“Today, multilateralism faces serious challenges,” he said. “Political tensions, declining funding, and weak commitments threaten global cooperation when it is needed most.”

But there are signs of progress and hope, Fleming said. She noted that the number of girls in school is at a record high, and graduation rates for all students are rising. HIV infection rates are down, as are maternal and child mortality rates. And 1.5 billion people have been lifted out of extreme poverty since 1990.

“Momentum is building,” she said. “When we boost education, we boost gender equality. When we stabilize the climate, we strengthen food security. When we fight famine, we pave the way for peace. This progress doesn’t happen by accident. It is the result of hard work, by real people, day in, day out.”

That’s the kind of work Rotary members can do, Noirtin said.

“A Rotary club working on literacy can align with UNESCO's global education standards,” he said. “A health initiative can benefit from the World Health Organization’s technical guidance. A peace-building project can draw on expert knowledge from UN agencies.”

Rotary’s relationship with the UN has been strong since Rotary members were invited to participate in the charter conference.

“The invitation to Rotary International was not merely a gesture of goodwill and respect toward a great organization,” said Edward Stettinius Jr., then U.S. secretary of state, at the time. “It was a simple recognition of the practical part Rotary’s members have played and will continue to play in the development of understanding among nations.”

Stettinius’ prediction was fulfilled, and Rotary’s unique relationship with the UN has endured. Through the decades, Rotary members have worked alongside UN agencies in areas ranging from global health to peacebuilding to environmental protection. Rotary’s quest to eradicate polio has received crucial support from the UN, with the World Health Organization and UNICEF serving with Rotary as partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. In 2023, a new collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme empowered Rotary and Rotaract members to clean up, protect, and monitor their local waterways.

The UN’s wide-ranging impact may be taken for granted today, but there was a time when it was difficult to imagine. Arezzo asked attendees to put themselves in the place of those who were present at the charter signing. Those men audaciously insisted that lasting peace was possible amid the ashes of a worldwide war.

“Imagine those early Rotarians in San Francisco trying to articulate what a peaceful world might look like. Their words were fragile but powerful, as if they were lighting a lantern in a world still full of smoke,” Arezzo said. “And yet they saw beyond the ruins. They believed that peace could be built, not only by treaties, but by the quiet, steady courage of people who chose connection over division.”

See what Rotary said about the United Nations at its birth.

— December 2025

Related stories

The next global leaders: Young trailblazers find inspiration at Rotaract UN Days

Rotary partnership with the United Nations puts the focus on waterways

A dual investment: A Rotary scholar’s career path with the United Nations World Food Programme