United Nations Day Malaysia 2024

United Nations agencies in Malaysia reaffirmed their commitment to a future of peace, dignity and prosperity for all during the United Nations Day Malaysia 2024 celebrations today. The theme Our Common Future echoes the Pact for the Future, adopted by UN Member States, including Malaysia, on 22 September 2024 at the Summit of the Future.

UN Day, observed every year on 24 October, commemorates the entry into force in 1945 of the UN Charter. It amplifies our common agenda and reaffirms the purposes and principles of the UN Charter that have guided us for the past 79 years.

Leading the commemoration were Ms. Karima El Korri, the UN Resident Coordinator for Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei Darussalam, and YBhg. Dato' Ahmad Rozian Abd. Ghani, Deputy Secretary-General, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Malaysia. The event witnessed the participation of 500 participants including UN staff, representatives of government, diplomatic community, civil society, universities, private sector, youth, and media.

The United Nations in Malaysia is comprised of 22 UN agencies working in support of Malaysia's efforts to achieve inclusive and sustainable development. 

Karima El Korri, UN Resident Coordinator, in her remarks said, "The UN presence and work in Malaysia as a 20-agency country team is firmly aligned with Malaysia’s aspirations and the 2030 Agenda. 

Over the past year, we have provided policy advice and technical assistance in areas such as social protection, education, health, environmental sustainability, and governance, in line with international standards and principles. We have dedicated special attention to the pledge to leave no one behind – notably through programmes on poverty eradication, social protection, women’s empowerment, spatial inequalities, and the protection of the most vulnerable, including undocumented and stateless persons, migrant workers, refugees, children, persons with disabilities and indigenous peoples.

We have recently launched the second call for proposals under the Malaysia-UN SDG Trust Fund. I take this opportunity to renew our appreciation to the Government of Malaysia and to Yayasan MY-SDG for their renewed trust and contribution to SDG acceleration nationally and locally.”

YBhg. Dato' Ahmad Rozian Abd. Ghani, Deputy Secretary-General, Minister of Foreign Affairs, reaffirmed Malaysia’s commitment to the UN, “I hope that, in the years to come, our younger generation are able to gather again, in this Taman Tugu Monument Park, with its lush greens sustained and protected. 

I hope that then, we are able to truly as well as gratefully embrace the common future that we envisaged, hand-in-hand with the UN that we reformed, and reaffirm our staunch support to multilateralism. 

As we look to our common future, Malaysia reaffirms our commitment to the United Nations and its noble mission. We recognise that the challenges ahead are complex, but we remain confident that, through the strong leadership within the UN and the collective will of its Member States, we can overcome these challenges and create a more resilient and just world for future generations.”

As part of the UN Day commemoration, the UN joint programme by UNDP and UNICEF named the Youth Environment Living Labs (YELL) celebrated its 2nd Anniversary while unveiling new partners, the European Union and OSK Foundation. YELL is a platform for youth to engage positively on climate change issues, raise awareness, act on climate issues, and contribute to local solutions. The Journey with YELL event featured Lightning Talks by YELL grantees and Partners including Amanjaya Bioblitz, Madeline Jison and TONIBUNG.

Furthermore, a fireside chat titled Mydiplomacy Ambassador Series: Youths' Directions Post-Summit of The Future brought together the youth group MyDiplomacy and UN Resident Coordinator Karima El Korri. They engaged in a discussion on the role of Malaysia’s young people in realizing the commitments and actions in the Pact for the Future and its two annexes, the Declaration on Future Generations and the Global Digital Compact.

UN personnel conducted storytelling sessions throughout the event, with over 30 booths on display to showcase the work of the UN agencies, funds and programmes as well as the global service centres. Other booths also displayed initiatives by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, SUHAKAM, APPGM-SDG and other partners of the UN in Malaysia.