I dwell in the streets, no place to call homeI’m trapped in catacombs, where my future has been thrown.

I come to you for food, is that too much to ask for?

You gave me not an education, and envisage the sun to glare?

I ask of my father, why have you hurled me out of the door?

And of my unknown mother, was the torment of birth worth it to bear?

On the days when I’m sick, the crows of roosters bring me peace

I stare into unknowns and think of the might have beens

On the days my mind wanders, a song fills my soul

Of pain and dusty gales, the perils of loneliness cast a hole.

My loathe filled blood, continues to rise like bile

And a smog of darkness enshrouds my thoughts

A child of no one, a heritor of cold windsI was moulded by none, now I fight for my all

Though the present burns, shall the future glow?

The signing of the United Nations (UN) charter 75 years ago marked a new era in human history that heralded the emergence of a consensus-driven, rules-based international order and guided by multilateralism.

It was a great relief for a world exhausted by devastating horrors of the First and Second World Wars and ushered a hope and optimism for global peace and security, development and human rights.

The name “United Nations” was first coined by  the United States (US) President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, in the Declaration by UN of 1 January 1942, during the Second World War, when representatives of 26 nations pledged their Governments to continue fighting together against the Axis Powers.

In 1945, representatives of 50 countries met in San Francisco at the UN Conference on International Organisation to draw up the UN Charter based on the proposals worked out by the representatives of China, Soviet Union, United Kingdom and the US at Dumbarton Oaks, United States in August-October 1944.

Representatives of the 50 countries signed the Charter on 26 June 1945, though Poland, which was not represented, signed it later and became part of the original 51 Member States.

The UN officially came into existence on 24 October 1945, when China, France, the Soviet Union, UK, US and the majority of other signatories ratified the Charter, which is why UN Day is celebrated on 24 October each year.

It is remarkable that the UN’s 75th anniversary is taking place at a time of great global economic and social disruption caused by Coronavirus (COVID-19).

The pandemic is a stark reminder of why the UN came into being. Apart from leading in the global efforts to combat COVID-19, The UN has been at the forefront of meeting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including other initiatives towards finding solutions to climate crisis, inequalities, new forms of violence, and rapid changes in technology and in our population.

And it is the embodiment of the hopes and fears of a peaceful world.

Yet, the drawbacks of the UN have to do with its structure.

The UN Security Council (UNSC), with the veto powers wielded by the Big Five – US, Britain, France, Russia and China, has been the major impediment to the world body.

Because of this, it has oftentimes been incapacitated in taking difficult decisions especially when their interests collide.