United Nations Day Service

At the weekend I had the pleasure of attending the United Nations Day Service at the Shree Ghanapathy Hindu Temple in Effra Road, Wimbledon. I am a member of the Putney branch of the United Nations Association and joined fellow members and the Mayor of Wandsworth in marking UN Day.

The Service took place in the week that saw the launch of the UK United Nations Association’s “Lobby for the UN” - a campaign to promote dialogue between voters and MPs about the UK’s contribution to the UN’s work in maintaining international peace and security, protecting human rights and promoting sustainable development. In 2007-08 the lobby will focus on the UN's role in:

• Achieving the Millennium Development Goals
• Ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
• Banning cluster munitions
• Combating climate change
• Implementing the responsibility to protect

In these changing times so many of the threats to our peace and security are global – whether it is international terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, to climate change and the continuing scar of world poverty. The UN – despite its imperfections, remains the principal route through which Governments must come together to tackle these challenges.