In 1945, the UN is established. Rochester is the first city to establish a United Nations Association. Our original name was the Rochester Association of the United Nations (RAUN).

Within a few years, UNAR had hundreds of paying members. At the time, membership was $10.00/year

The first proclamation designated October 24th as United Nations Day. UNAR still hosts a program every year to honor this.

At this point in our history, several campaigns were sponsored by UNAR such as the yearly United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) Annual Greeting Card Sale to raise money to support the long-term wellness of children in developing countries beyond emergency situations.

The first United Nations Conference in the Rochester, New York Area is held. UNAR sponsored Model UN participants to serve as representatives from the U.S. for the Hauge Summit.

The DPI (Digital Public Infrastructure) Training Programme for Broadcasters and Journalists established by the General Assembly allowing UNAR to begin hosting journalists from around the world for our Visiting Journalist Program.

UNAR administers our Joseph C. Wilson Award on Wilson Day. This tradition continued for decades.

UNAR hosted our Great Decisions Program which was a discussion series open to the public that focused on nation-wide foreign policy education.

Local Model UN Chapters were also finding success with the Pittsford Sutherland Model UN winning at conferences hosted at Harvard.

UNAR continued to host valuable programming for the community and collaborated with local businesses to share our mission and educate the public. Our organization brought diplomats, politicians and activists from around the world to engage with the local community and have important dialogues about how to advance diplomacy and world peace.

In 1998, UNAR sponsored Education for Peace (EFP) week which included a conference for 400 schools and students in Monroe County.

UNAR began to collaborate with St. John Fisher University in 2005 to host our regional Model UN Conference. This partnership continues to this day where our MUN Conference now sees over 600 students from the Upstate New York area participate every year.

UNAR now consists of three signature programs.

Model United Nations which is hosted now every March and is still hosted at St. John Fisher University.

UN Day which is hosted every year on or near October 24th and has covered topics like the refugee experience in Rochester, climate change, and various movie screenings.

Finally, we host our Internship Program that connects local college students with various community partners that support refugee communities, women, education, and climate change.