Proclamation 4454—United Nations Day, 1976

On October 24 we will observe the 31st anniversary of the United Nations Charter, adopted in 1945 by governments determined to prevent a repetition of world war, to encourage the development of human rights and justice, and to remove the underlying causes of conflict by promoting economic and social progress for all nations.

The United States has played a leading role in encouraging the Organization to fulfill the promise of the Charter. We, and the rest of mankind, have benefited greatly from the vital contributions made by the Organization, particularly the Security Council, to the maintenance of world peace-the most striking reminder being the current peacekeeping role of the United Nations in the Middle East.

The United Nations has also been a forum for other areas of international concern: conferences to work out laws to govern the use of the oceans, to promote arms control, and to focus world attention on such problems as human rights, health, education, and hunger; new programs to promote trade and economic developments; and other activities designed to solve many of the new problems associated with independence in today's world.

Now, Therefore, I, Gerald R. Ford, President of the United States of America, do hereby designate Sunday, October 24, 1976, as United Nations Day. I urge the citizens of this Nation to observe that day with community programs that will promote the United Nations and its affiliated agencies.

I have appointed Edgar Speer to be United States National Chairman for United Nations Day and, through him, I call upon State and local officials to encourage citizens' groups and all agencies of communication to engage in appropriate observances of United Nations Day in cooperation with the United Nations Association of the United States of America and other interested organizations.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this seventh day of September in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred seventy-six, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and first.

GERALD R. FORD