Yearender: The United Nations at 70: how UN facilitates outlining roadmap for world peace, development

The year 2015 carry a dual meaning for the United Nations: the 70th birthday of the world body and the 70th anniversary of the victory of Anti-Fascist War.

The nearly year-long commemorations have reminded the world of its original intention to establish this organization: "to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war," which is enshrined in the United Nations Charter.

Meanwhile, what truly matters is that the commemorating events provided a chance for the international community, as strengthened "United Nations," to outline a roadmap for maintaining world peace and promoting future development and exert profound impact on road ahead.

REAFFIRMING COMMITMENT TO UN CHARTER

Oct. 24, the UN Day, marks the anniversary of the entry into force of the UN Charter in 1945. With the ratification of this founding document by the majority of its signatories, the United Nations officially came into being.

This year, when the sun set on that day, more than 300 world landmarks from the Sydney Opera House in Australia to the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt and the Empire State Building in New York City were all lit up UN blue to mark the 70th birthday of the global organization.

The global celebration kicked off in New Zealand and then moved across countries to China's Great Wall, Russia's Hermitage Museum, and the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy, and many other sites.

The light campaign, seen as a showcase of the widespread support for the international organization, has been regarded as a climax of this year's commemorating events.

Looking back, in February, China led off the commemorations by hosting a Security Council open debate to reaffirm commitment to the UN Charter, with a call to draw lessons from history and chart the course for the future.

The UN Charter remains as relevant as ever before, said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the debate. "Not only should we stay true to the spirit of the UN Charter, we also need to act along the trend of the times and in line with practical needs to add new dimensions to the Charter and bring to its new dynamism and vitality."

In June, at a ceremony commemorating the adoption of the UN Charter in San Francisco, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said: "In signing the Charter, the founders achieved what many thought impossible. It falls to us to heed the Charter's call to 'unite our strength' and to use their creation -- the United Nations -- for the common good."

"The United Nations is the hope and home of all humankind. The Charter is our compass," he said.

In September, more than 120 heads of state and government addressed the General Assembly on the theme of "the Untied Nations at 70 -- a new commitment to action."

Mogens Lykketoft, president of the 70th General Assembly, said it was reassuring that the leaders recall the spirit and principles of the Charter and confirm their faith in the central role of the UN in international cooperation.

Chinese President Xi Jinping told the Assembly that "We should renew our commitment to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, build a new type of international relations featuring win-win cooperation, and create a community of common destiny for mankind."

"We should foster a new vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, give full play to the central role of the United Nations and its security council in ending war and keeping peace," Xi said.

SAFEGUARDING WORLD PEACE AND SECURITY

Under the UN Charter, the UN Security Council bears the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.

In the face of multiple security issues such as nuclear non-proliferation, counter-terrorism, as well as addressing regional conflicts, the most powerful UN body has as well achieved some progress on the occasion of its 70th anniversary.

In July, the Security Council endorsed the nuclear agreement reached between Iran and the P5+1 -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany -- in a unanimously adopted resolution.

The resolution kicks off a process to lift UN sanctions on Iran once the country implements its commitments to redesigning its Arak heavy-water reactor, and removing centrifuges and uranium-enrichment-related infrastructure, among others.

Vitaly Churkin, the ambassador of Russia to the UN, acknowledged the importance of the deal in ensuring that the Middle East region does not enter into a new arms race, and in helping create a "zone in the Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction."

Apart from the nuclear issue, terrorism and extremism have become another growing threat to international security, which the Council has been busy dealing with.

In November, the Council adopted a resolution, calling on all countries to "take all necessary measures" to "redouble and coordinate their efforts" to prevent further terrorist attacks by the Islamic State (IS) and similar extremist groups.

Taking a further step on this matter, the Security Council has decided to cut off funds for the IS with measures such as asset freeze, travel ban and arms embargo in December.

Though tough actions have been taken, causes that form a breeding ground nurturing terrorism and extremism have yet been fully addressed. Regional conflict is one of them.

The most severe regional conflict in the world nowadays might be the crisis in Syria. The country's nearly five-year conflict has resulted in displacement of millions of Syrian people, which also triggered the recent refugee crisis.

On Friday, the Security Council approved Resolution 2254 on the Syrian conflict, endorsing a roadmap for a Syrian-led political transition to end the country's crisis.

The resolution calls for Syria peace talks and a nationwide ceasefire to be launched in January, and acknowledges that "the only sustainable solution to the current crisis in Syria is through an inclusive and Syrian-led political process that meets the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people."

So far, the implementation of the Iran nuclear deal, the effective ways to eliminate terrorism, and the launch of Syrian peace talks, among others, remain to be priorities of the Security Council.

With those challenges lingering on, maintaining international peace and security, for a very long time, will still be one of the fundamental tasks of the United Nations.

PROMOTING DEVELOPMENT WHILE COMBATING CLIMATE CHANGE

Promoting world development is another major task of the United Nations. UN diplomats have been underlining the significance of development, especially for addressing the root causes of regional conflicts and many other issues.

In September, 193 UN member states adopted a sustainable development agenda to replace the retiring Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and to guide the international development and cooperation for the next 15 years.

The agenda, outlining 17 goals with 169 specific targets, basically redefines how the world works together to end poverty, achieve gender equality, eliminate social injustice, promote prosperity, and combat climate change.

Lykketoft said with promoting the agenda, "we are in particular promoting the interest of developing countries to get better access to the resources of this world, (and) to get better access to influence over economic development."

To combat climate change is one of the focal points in the world's development blueprint. UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Wu Hongbo said the so-called sustainable development is not just about economic growth; "it involves three dimensions -- economic development, social progress and environment protection."

At the end of this year, a historic climate agreement was reached at the Paris climate talks, virtually committing every nation for the first time ever to reducing greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming.

The accord achieved one major goal: 195 nations have agreed to limit the planet's temperature increase within 2 degrees Celsius.

Ban hailed the accord as "a health insurance policy for the planet."

"It is the most significant action in years to uphold our (UN) Charter mandate to save succeeding generations," he said. Enditem