In 1941, a devastated world caught in the throes of World War II established the League of Nations with the laudable aim of avoiding war, conflicts and other such debilitating problems. But the League failed in its objective of unifying the world. Conflicts continued, but then, so did the efforts to develop a more powerful international body that would strive to keep the world safe and peaceful. The efforts culminated with the birth of the United Nations in 1945.

Saudi Arabia was among the first 50 nations to sign the UN charter in 1945 in San Francisco.  The reason for the kingdom being among the first to be part of the UN family can be attributed to the keen interest of King Abdul Aziz bin Al-Saud, founder of modern Saudi Arabia. He discovered that the UN charter was perfectly in tune with his vision for Saudi Arabia’s development. He was also equally keen to bring the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia into the fold of the international community.

Chaired by Prince Faisal bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud, the Saudi delegation attended the conference in San Francisco in April 1945, which culminated in the creation of the 111- article United Nations Charter. The Charter was unanimously adopted on 25th June 1945 and signed the next day.

The United Nations officially came into existence on 24th October, 1945, when the Charter was ratified by China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the United States and other signatories.

Since its establishment, the United Nations has provided technical assistance in the form of technical cooperation for capacity building in nations to serve development goals. This was especially invaluable for countries that had or were in the process of gaining independence from colonial powers.

In 1949, based on General Assembly Resolution Number 200, a report was issued on the technical cooperation for economic development. It laid down four cardinal principles

(a)        Development must be tailored to the countries’ needs, taking into cognizance the existing development situation of the country.

(b)   The main focus will be capacity building of nations.

(c)        Neutrality of the United Nations will be maintained at all times. In other words, the UN’s focus will be purely development and will not be guided by any other consideration.
(d)        Technical cooperation is a means to an end, the end being that countries will pursue development themselves.

Technical cooperation began in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1951. At that time, the United Nations sent a group of experts to Saudi Arabia to identify the development needs of the country. It also aimed to assist the authorities in building the capacity of the Government to engage in the task of further development. Since then, the cooperation between the Government of Saudi Arabia and the UN system continues.