Editorial Note

Seventy-five years ago, at the city of the Golden Gate, 850 representatives from 50 countries helped conceptualise the United Nations (UN) as an organization that would strive to ‘save succeeding generations from the scourge of war’. When the final draft of the Charter drawn up in the meeting was put to vote, Lord Halifax, who presided at the conference, said: ‘It is as important as any we shall ever vote in our lifetime’. The Charter was passed unanimously and has guided its activities ever since, with mixed results, to fulfil its two major objectives, i.e., to secure and to sustain international peace and security. As per the Charter, the UN Security Council was mandated with the primary responsibility of securing peace and security, and the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the General Assembly were entrusted with sustaining international cooperation. As the UN marks 75 years of the entry into force of the UN Charter on October 24, 2020, celebrated as the UN Day, its vision and functioning need to be put into perspective.