U Thant in the context of "1961 United Nations Secretary-General selection"

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⭐ Core Definition: U Thant

Thant (Burmese: သန့်, MLCTS: san., pronounced [θa̰ɰ̃]; 22 January 1909 – 25 November 1974), known honorifically as U Thant (/ θɑːnt/), was a Burmese diplomat and the third secretary-general of the United Nations from 1961 to 1971, the first non-Scandinavian as well as Asian to hold the position. He held the office for a record 10 years and one month.

A native of Pantanaw, Thant was educated at the National High School and at Rangoon University. In the days of tense political climate in Burma, he held moderate views positioning himself between fervent nationalists and British loyalists. He was a close friend of Burma's first Prime Minister U Nu and served in various positions in Nu's cabinet from 1948 to 1961. Thant had a calm and unassuming demeanour that won his colleagues' respect.

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👉 U Thant in the context of 1961 United Nations Secretary-General selection

A United Nations Secretary-General selection was held in 1961 to replace Dag Hammarskjöld after he was killed in a plane crash. After initial Soviet attempts to replace the secretary-general with a troika, it was agreed that an acting secretary-general would be appointed for the remainder of Hammarskjöld's term. Within two weeks, U Thant of Burma emerged as the only candidate who was acceptable to both the Soviet Union and the United States. However, the superpowers spent another four weeks arguing over the number of assistant secretaries-general, before finally resolving their dispute by allowing Thant to decide for himself. Thant was then voted in unanimously for a term ending on 10 April 1963.

Thant's term was extended in 1962 to a full five years, and he was drafted for a second term in 1966 ending on 31 December 1971. Thant served a total of 10 years and 2 months in office, making him the longest-serving secretary-general in history. Future candidates would be subject to a two-term limit, with each term running for exactly 5 years.

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U Thant in the context of Stockholm Conference

The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment was held in Stockholm, Sweden, during June 5–16, 1972.

When the United Nations General Assembly decided to convene the 1972 Stockholm Conference, taking up the offer of the Government of Sweden to host it, UN Secretary-General U Thant invited Maurice Strong to lead it as Secretary-General of the Conference, as the Canadian diplomat (under Pierre Trudeau) had initiated and already worked for over two years on the project.

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U Thant in the context of List of pastoral visits of Pope Paul VI

The list of pastoral visits of Pope Paul VI details the travels of the first pope to leave Italy since 1809, representing the first ever papal pilgrimage to the Holy Land and the first papal visit to Africa, Asia, North America, Oceania, and South America. Pope Paul VI visited six continents, and was the most-travelled pope in history to that time, earning the nickname "the Pilgrim Pope". With his travels he opened new avenues for the papacy, which were continued by his successors Popes John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis. He traveled to Jordan and Israel in 1964 where he met with Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras I in Jerusalem which led to rescinding the excommunications of the Great Schism, which took place in 1054. The Pope also traveled to the Eucharistic Congresses in Bombay, India and Bogotá, Colombia. The first papal visit to the United States occurred on 4 October 1965, when Paul VI visited New York City to address the United Nations at the invitation of Secretary-General U Thant. During that visit, the Pope first stopped at St. Patrick's Cathedral where some 55,000 people lined the streets to greet him, met with President Lyndon B. Johnson at the Waldorf Astoria, addressed the United Nations General Assembly, celebrated Mass at Yankee Stadium, and viewed Michelangelo's Pieta at the New York World's Fair in Queens. Fifty years after the first apparition of Our Lady of Fátima, he visited the shrine in Fátima, Portugal in 1967. He undertook a pastoral visit to Africa in 1969. After a 1970 trip to several Asian and Pacific nations, he made no additional international trips. He died on August 6, 1978.

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U Thant in the context of United Nations University

The United Nations University (UNU) (国際連合大学, Kokusai Rengō Daigaku) is the think tank and academic arm of the United Nations. Headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, with diplomatic status as a UN institution, its mission is to help resolve global issues related to human development and welfare through collaborative research and education.

In 1969, UN Secretary-General U Thant proposed "the establishment of a United Nations university, truly international and devoted to the Charter objectives of peace and progress". Following three annual sessions discussing the matter, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) approved the founding of the United Nations University in December 1972. Tokyo was chosen as the main location due to the Japanese government's commitment to provide facilities and $100 million to the UNU endowment fund. The United Nations University was formally inaugurated in January 1975 as the world's first international university.

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