United Nations Day 2024: Advancing Global Sustainability
United Nations Day, celebrated annually on 24 October, marks the founding of the United Nations (UN) and the coming into force of the UN Charter in 1945, the founding document of the organisation. It is a day to honour the collective efforts of nations to promote peace, security, and cooperation across the globe.
This day is not just a reminder of the UN’s origins but a call to renew efforts towards addressing pressing global issues like poverty, inequality, climate change, and economic development. It also offers an opportunity to reflect on the progress made toward the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a set of global targets aimed at creating a more equitable, sustainable world.
History and Background of United Nations Day
United Nations Day was first celebrated in 1948, three years after the UN Charter came into effect. The decision to designate 24 October as United Nations Day was made during a period of post-war recovery. The UN quickly became a platform for dialogue and cooperation among countries, growing from 51 original member states to 193 today.
Traditionally, United Nations Day has been marked with events that highlight the role of the UN in fostering global cooperation. Last year, VISTA, one of the STELAR partners focused on Pilot B, which involves early crop growth predictions, co-hosted a side event at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The event centred around the role of digital solutions, particularly AI, in promoting sustainable agricultural practices. During the discussion, VISTA shared insights on their yield forecasts, directly linking them to food security challenges.
This also highlighted STELAR’s work on developing advanced data management methods to enable early crop growth prediction, showcasing the project’s contribution to enhancing sustainable food production.
You can read more about this in our blog: STELAR at the UN: How Digital Ecosystems and AI Help Food Security?
2024 Theme: Prospects for Growth
In 2015, United Nations member states adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, outlining a global vision for a more sustainable future through the achievement of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This year’s UN Day focuses on promoting decent work and economic growth that benefits everyone and fostering global partnerships to achieve sustainability.
A key part of the celebration will emphasise the need to move beyond traditional measures like Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is increasingly seen as insufficient for capturing progress. The discussion will explore how economic growth can include environmental sustainability, social justice, and a more equitable distribution of wealth.
In this context, the STELAR project has garnered notable recognition on the Innovation Radar for its groundbreaking Knowledge Lake Management System (KLMS), specifically designed for agrifood applications. This acknowledgment underscores a commitment to innovation and sustainability, as the KLMS contributes to 11 of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
As organisations increasingly rely on data-driven decision-making, the KLMS offers a collaborative infrastructure that enables users to handle large datasets efficiently. One of the system’s key value propositions is its ability to support a diverse range of users, including startups, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), medium professional users, and large enterprises throughout the supply chain.
These users seek to manage FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) and AI-ready data in a manner that is both automated and energy-efficient. Equipped with a comprehensive suite of data management tools, the KLMS facilitates this process, reinforcing its role in advancing sustainable development in the agrifood sector.
By empowering organisations to manage, share, and extract value from vast amounts of data, the KLMS aligns with the overarching goals of the 2030 Agenda.
Conclusion
United Nations Day 2024 offers a platform for profound reflection and actionable discussions on how we, as a global community, can redefine progress in ways that are equitable, inclusive, and sustainable for future generations.
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References
- United Nations. United Nations Day. Retrieved from https://www.un.org/en/observances/un-day
- United Nations University. (2024). United Nations Day 2024. Retrieved from https://unu.edu/flores/event/united-nations-day-2024
