On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres inaugurated the exhibition, “United in Life, United in the Future” at the UN Headquarters, organized by the United Nations with the support of Italy as part of the celebrations for the 70th anniversary of our country’s entry into the Organization.
The Italian Permanent Representative, Ambassador Maurizio Massari, spoke after the Secretary-General and said, “There is no better way to celebrate these two important anniversaries than through the faces and stories portrayed in the exhibition of those who, around the world and in the most diverse sectors, benefit daily from the work of the UN.” He recalled the words of the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, at the celebrations on 16 October for the 80th anniversary of the FAO in Rome on the importance of multilateralism as “the only paradigm capable of responding to global needs.” Ambassador Massari went on to highlight some aspects of Italy’s commitment to the UN system: “We host the third UN hub in Italy after New York and Geneva, we are the seventh largest contributor to the UN’s regular budget and to peacekeeping missions, the largest Troop Contributing Country to peacekeeping operations in the West, and in 2024, we ranked among the top 10 for mandatory and voluntary contributions to the UN budget.”
The Ambassador also thanked the many representatives of Member States present at the inauguration for their support for Italy’s recent election to the Human Rights Council (HRC) with 179 votes, securing our country the highest position recorded by a Western country in the last 16 years in HRC elections.
The exhibition “United in Life, United in the Future” consists of a gallery of over 200 images from the 193 Member States illustrating the impact of UN activities on people’s lives in the various fields of peace and security, sustainable development, human rights, international trade, and environmental protection. Among the 24 panels currently on display at the General Assembly Building is the story of Luca, a student photographed in front of the Cathedral of Palermo, which highlights UNESCO’s role in protecting cultural and intangible heritage and Italy’s primacy in terms of sites included in the organization’s World Heritage List.
