UNA-USA San Diego (UNASD) was established in 1946 ( then the American Association for the United Nations) to build support for the then-new United Nations and to promote U.S. and local engagement with the organization. UNASD is one the oldest and most active of over 200 chapters of the United Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA). UNA-USA San Diego has been headquartered in Balboa Park since 1953. First located in the House of Hospitality with the help of former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, UNASD then was granted a lease to the current UN Building by the San Diego City Council in 1960.
The San Diego chapter focuses on the achievement of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which include gender equality, quality education for girls and boys, ending poverty and hunger, building peace and preserving our planet and its oceans.
UNASD members are united in their commitment to global engagement and their belief that each of us can play a part in advancing the UN’s mission. Our consultative status with the UN’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) allows UNASD members to attend UN sessions and conferences. For many years, UNASD has sent a local delegation to participate in the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York City. The chapter has also participated in several conferences worldwide.
UNASD works with the Better World Campaign, the UN Foundation and the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC) to connect San Diegans and to promote and support the UN’s work to resolve the great challenges of the 21st century.
The United Nations was created at the end of World War II, although Allied diplomatic efforts had begun even as the war continued. The UN was designed as a global international organization in which nations work cooperatively to maintain international peace and security, protect universal human rights, and promote the economic and social advancement of all people. The Charter of the United Nations is an international treaty, and its obligations are binding on all members. On October 24, 1945, the Charter entered into force. In 1945, there were 51 sovereign member states; today there are 193.
The UN today still works to tackle these fundamental challenges as well as to save our precious environment. Governments cannot do it alone. A worldwide partnership is needed that includes the United Nations, nation states, individuals, the public and private sectors, non-governmental organizations, corporations and foundations. This partnership is the basis of the Sustainable Development Goals.
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