International Day of the Girl Child

International Day of the Girl Child is an international observance day declared by the United Nations. October 11, 2012, was the first Day of the Girl. The observation supports more opportunity for girls, and increases awareness of inequality faced by girls worldwide based upon their gender. This inequality includes areas such as access to education, nutrition, legal rights, medical care, and protection from discrimination, violence and unfree child marriage.

The International Day of the Girl Child initiative began as a project of Plan International, a non-governmental organization that operates worldwide. The idea for an international day of observance and celebration grew out of Plan International's Because I Am a Girl campaign, which raises awareness of the importance of nurturing girls globally and in developing countries in particular. Plan International representatives in Canada approached the Canadian federal government to seek support for the initiative. A coalition of supporters raised awareness of the initiative internationally.

International Day of the Girl Child was formally proposed as a resolution by Canada in the United Nations General Assembly. Rona Ambrose, Canada's Minister for the Status of Women, sponsored the resolution; a delegation of women and girls made presentations in support of the initiative at the 55th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. On December 19, 2011, the United Nations General Assembly voted to pass a resolution adopting October 11, 2012 as the inaugural International Day of the Girl Child. Each year's Day of the Girl has a theme; the first was "ending child marriage", and the second, in 2013, was "innovating for girl's education". The resolution states that the Day of the Girl recognizes.

2014 Theme: Empowering Adolescent Girls: Ending the Cycle of Violence

On December 19, 2011, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 66/170 to declare 11 October as the International Day of the Girl Child, to recognize girls’ rights and the unique challenges girls face around the world.

Governments, the UN system, civil society, and public and private institutions are called on to join forces and reaffirm their commitment to end the scourge of violence against adolescent girls and to promote their empowerment by:

• Investing in adolescent girls to equip them with skills, confidence, and life options: through family, schools, technical and vocational education and training, and health, social and economic support systems;
• Making infrastructure, services, and technology accessible to girls and effective in meeting their needs for safety, connectivity and mobility;
• Facilitating adolescent girls engagement in civic, economic and political life;
• Continuing to advocate for making violence against girls and women visible and unacceptable both in private and public domains;
• Strengthening data, measurement and the evidence base in relation to the empowerment of
  and violence against adolescent girls.

WORLD BREASTFEEDING WEEK

Breastfeeding: The 1st Hour - Save ONE million babies!

This year's theme,"Breastfeeding:the 1st hour,earlyinitiationand exclusive breastfeeding can save more than ONE million babies" offers an excellent opportunity to draw global attention to the important role that breastfeeding plays in improving the health of infants.

Recently there has been some good news on rates of breastfeeding. An examination of 37 countries (covering some 60 per cent of the developing world population) has revealed an increase from 34 per cent to 41 per cent in the rates of exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months of children's lives. However some studies suggest an additional 1.3 million children would be saved if this rate were increased to 90 per cent, and that neonatal mortality is reduced by 22% when children are breastfed within an hour of birth.

The challenge we face is to find creative and convincing ways at the community level to encourage breastfeeding and to provide national authorities with solid evidence of the advantages of promoting breastfeeding at the national level.

World Breastfeeding Week also provides us with an opportunity to inform people of the benefits that early and exclusive breastfeeding provides to both families and nations. If we are successful, we will have saved lives thereby contributing to progress towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

Millennium Development Goal 4 (MDG-4) aims at reducing under-five child mortality by two thirds by 2015. According to global data, out of all 10.9 million under-five deaths,roughly 4 million babies die during the first month of life. This means that deaths will have to be brought down considerably within the first month to make a significant dent on the child mortality rates.

A recent study has shown that if ALL women began breastfeeding within the 1st hour it would save ONE million of the 4 million newborn deaths. This study from rural Ghana, based on 10,947 breastfed singleton infants, has shown that initiation of breastfeeding within the 1st hour
of birth reduced the infants’ risk of death1. On the other hand, there was a marked increase in risk with increasing delay in initiation. Overall late initiation (after day ONE) was associated with a 2.4-fold increase in risk. Giving pre-lacteal feeds, i.e. something other than mother’s milk before beginning to breastfeed also increased the risk of neonatal mortality. The study conducted on babies who survived day ONE, clearly showed that 41% of all babies who die during 2 to 28 days of life can be saved by this simple intervention: beginning breastfeeding within ONE hour of birth. When the deaths of day ONE were included, it showed 22% of all neonatal (0-28 days) deaths could be reduced.

In India, for example, this means 250,000 neonates can be saved from death annually by just this ONE act. Initiation of breastfeeding within the first hour of birth is thus, the first and most vital step towards reducing infant and under-five mortality.

World Population Day

11 July 2007

This year the focus of World Population Day is on young people.

In her statement the UNFPA Executive Director, Thoraya Obaid, remarks "All over the world, young people want to be heard and involved. They possess the ideas, determination and energy to accelerate effective action to reduce poverty and inequality....It is clear that the Millennium Development Goals will not be met unless young people are actively involved in policymaking and programming, their voices are heard, their needs are met and their human rights are respected".

Let me give you all the Full Statement:-

World Population Day is a time to focus on commitment and action to ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, every young person is free of HIV/AIDS, and every girl and woman is treated with dignity and respect. The theme of this year’s World Population Day is Men as Partners in Maternal Health.

Today too many women die needlessly from complications of pregnancy and childbirth. Every minute, another woman loses her life. Every minute, the loss of a mother shatters a family and threatens the well-being of surviving children. And for every woman who dies, 20 or more women experience serious complications such as obstetric fistula.

World leaders have committed themselves to improving maternal health and advancing gender equality. And men can make a tremendous contribution by using their power for positive change. Men have power in wide-ranging situations from personal and family decisions to policy and programme decisions taken at all levels of Government.

UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, supports safe motherhood initiatives around the world. We work with governments and other partners to ensure that every woman has access to three reproductive health services that save women’s lives. These are voluntary family planning, skilled attendance at birth, and emergency obstetric care if complications arise during delivery.

In countries where these services are widely available, more mothers and babies are surviving.

Experience shows that men’s involvement and participation can make all the difference. By discouraging early marriage, promoting girls’ education, fostering equitable relationships, and supporting women’s reproductive health and rights, progress is made.

Today, on World Population Day, it is time for all men—as fathers, brothers, husbands, community and religious leaders, and government officials—to become partners in maternal health. Together we can make this the last day that 1,440 women died during pregnancy and childbirth. Let us go forward with the message: No woman should die giving life. And let us do all we can to promote the right of every woman to enjoy a life of health, dignity and equal opportunity.

Statement on the Occasion of World Population Day 2007
by Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, Executive Director, UNFPA

World No Tobacco Day 2007

MAY 31

Tobacco is the second major cause of death in the world. It is well known that half the people who smoke regularly today – about 650 million people – will eventually be killed by tobacco. Equally alarming is the fact that hundreds of thousands of people who have never smoked die each year from diseases caused by breathing second-hand tobacco smoke.

There is no doubt: breathing second-hand tobacco smoke (SHS) is very dangerous to your health. It causes cancer, as well as many serious respiratory and cardiovascular diseases in children and adults, often leading to death. There is no safe level of human exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke.

Rigorous research says: More information

These are the indisputable conclusions reached by international and national health authorities, backed up by extensive rigorously reviewed and published research results, over many years. Three recent major publications remind us of these facts:

- The 2004 IARC Monograph 83: Tobacco Smoke and Involuntary Smoking

- The 2005 California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) Environmental Health Hazard Assessment of Environmental Tobacco Smoke

- The 2006 U.S. Surgeon General's Report on The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke

World Schizophrenia Awareness Day

MAY 24

Schizophrenia is a disease of the human brain. It can happen to anyone. But when it comes to this disease, the life of schizophrenics and their loved ones, could become better, safer even, if the truth of this illness were given the equal attention that is assigned to every other disease.

SCHIZOPHRENIA is one of the major disorders of the mind, affecting as it does 0.5-1 per cent of the population. It has been described as the “greatest disabler of youth”. Ubiquitous in its distribution throughout the world, it affects ali ke men and women, rich and poor, literate and illiterate. Although the ages 15-35 years are the high-risk age for schizophrenia, children and elderly also suffer from it. Migrants, those living in very deprived environments, some ethnic minorities, children with one or both parents afflicted by schizophrenia seem to be at a higher risk of developing schizophrenia.

A leading public health problem, the personal and economic costs of schizophrenia can be staggering. The disability produced by schizophrenia is all encompassing, affecting as it does personal care and hygiene, interpersonal relationships, social interactions, the ability to work, difficulty in attention, concentration and memory. In developing countries, where most persons with schizophrenia live with families, the human and economic burdens are huge.

There are still unfilled gaps in our understanding of schizophrenia. Though recent research is largely focused on establishing the genetic causes, all details of such genetic transmission are still not clear. Similarly, biological changes in the brain have been well documented to the extent that schizophrenia is now termed a “disorder of the brain”.

Symptoms

Hallucinations, delusions, disorders of thinking, neglect of self-care and personal hygiene, difficulties in socialisation are all hallmarks of schizophrenia. Their content and nature could vary among different cultures and societies. Aggression is reported to be more in western patients than those in developing countries.

Being male and single, unemployed, delayed and irregular treatment, family history of psychoses, poor social and work functioning before the illness, use of alcohol or other addictive drugs, unhealthy family environment all seem to work towards a poor outcome.

Availability of effective medicines, better community care, increasing awareness about the illness seem to have improved the outcome in a substantial number of persons with schizophrenia. Persons with schizophrenia die young compared to the general population. Infectious disease, heart ailments and death by suicides are common.

One in ten patients with schizophrenia has an affected family member. Increased number of birth complications, infections during pregnancy and use of addictive substances such as cannabis during adolescence have all been associated with schizophrenia.Disability and burden
Schizophrenia causes considerable disability in several areas of a person’s functioning. Self-care, care of personal space and environment, interpersonal relationships, ability to show emotions and carry on meaningful conversations, ability to find and keep jobs, faculties such as attention, concentration, memory and other cognitive functions may all be impaired.

The fact that mental disability is not visually apparent as in the case of other disabilities has resulted in its being marginalised among the disabilities themselves. Added to this is the fact that the mentally ill are not as articulate as the other disabled groups.

Schizophrenia still continues to be painfully stigmatised for several reasons. A host of stereotypes such as aggression, contagion, unpredictability and inevitable heritability exist. Compounding this is the reality that a small percentage of persons with schizophrenia do not improve and remain considerably disabled all through their lives, despite treatment.

For such disabling conditions, a network of services in the government, NGO and private sectors need to be in place and adequately linked. Only then can medical treatment, psychosocial rehabilitation and support, family support, housing, employment, stigma and human rights and discrimination be effectively dealt with. However utopian this may sound, it is mandatory for all developing countries to work towards this. Only then will comprehensive care for person with schizophrenia and their families become a reality.

UN PEACEKEEPERS DAY

The date, 29 May, was chosen because on that day in 1948, the first UN peacekeeping mission, the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), began operations, with a group of unarmed military observers in Palestine.

In a videotaped message to be broadcast to peacekeepers around the world on the Day, Secretary-General Kofi Annan emphasized that the mission of UN peacekeeping remains vital. While “peacekeeping by itself cannot end a war … it can prevent a recurrence of fighting. Above all, it gives time and space for conflict resolution. It gives peace a chance”.

As this Day is being observed around the world, peacekeepers are fulfilling roles as military observers, trainers and disarmament experts, civilian police, civil administrators, judges and prosecutors, economists, human rights and humanitarian workers. Others perform the more traditional peacekeeping functions of monitoring ceasefires and buffer zones, in 14 missions on three continents.

for more details check out the link below

http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/dpko/index.asp

World Telecommunication and Information Society Day

17 May 2007

17 May marks the anniversary of the signature of the first International Telegraph Convention and the creation of the International Telecommunication Union. World Telecommunication Day has been celebrated since 1969.

Following the World Summit on the Information Society, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution A/RES/60/252 which identifies 17 May as World Information Society Day.

MOTHERS DAY

MAY13

Mother's Day is a time of commemoration and celebration for Mom. It is a time of breakfast in bed, family gatherings, and crayon scribbled "I Love You's."

The Story of Mother's Day

The earliest Mother's Day celebrations can be traced back to the spring celebrations of ancient Greece in honor of Rhea, the Mother of the Gods. During the 1600's, England celebrated a day called "Mothering Sunday". Celebrated on the 4th Sunday of Lent (the 40 day period leading up to Easter*), "Mothering Sunday" honored the mothers of England. *(For more information on Lent/Easter check out - Easter on the Net)

During this time many of the England's poor worked as servants for the wealthy. As most jobs were located far from their homes, the servants would live at the houses of their employers. On Mothering Sunday the servants would have the day off and were encouraged to return home and spend the day with their mothers. A special cake, called the mothering cake, was often brought along to provide a festive touch.

World Family Day

MAY 15

The international day of family was founded by the United Nations General Assembly in 1993. The establishment of this Day draws attention of the public of various countries to numerous problems of family.

The family as a basic element of a society has been and remains a preserver of human values, culture and historical continuity of generations, the factor of stability and development, Jahon writes. Thanks to the healthy family the state gets stronger and develops and the well being of people grows.

At all times the level and character of development of the country has been judged o­n the attitude of the state to family, as well as its stand in a society. This is due to the fact that the happy union of family and the state is a necessary pledge of prosperity and well being of its citizens.

Human life commences with family. Here its formation as citizen takes place. Supporting the institute of family, strengthening its authority and educational function, the development of base family values is among the main priorities of policies.

ANTI-TERRORISM DAY

MAY 20

The 21st of May is being observed every year as "Anti-Terrorism Day". The purpose is to wean the people, especially the youth, away from the cult of terrorism and violence. The Union Home Ministry has requested State Governments and the Union Territory administration to organize appropriate programmes to observe the Anti-Terrorism Day in a befitting manner.

An important feature of the observance of this day is the Anti-Terrorism Pledge administered to employees and the people. The Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri I.D. Swami administered the Pledge to the employees of the Home Ministry at a function in the North Block premises today. The pledge reads as follows:

"We, the people of India, having abiding faith in our country’s tradition of non-violence and tolerance, hereby solemnly affirm to oppose with our strength, all forms of terrorism and violence. We pledge to uphold and promote peace, social harmony, and understand among all fellow human beings and fight the forces of disruption threatening human lives and values".

World Press Freedom Day 2007

“The rights to life and to liberty and integrity and security of person and also to freedom of expression are fundamental human rights that are recognized and guaranteed by international conventions and instruments.” (UNESCO Resolution, General Conference 1997)

The murder of Guillermo Cano, director of the Colombian daily newspaper “El Espectador,” is significant as regards unpunished crimes against journalists. Guillermo Cano Isaza was assassinated on December 17, 1986 in front of the newspaper’s exit in Bogota by two hired killers. Cano was a victim of drug trafficking mafias, which he fearlessly denounced and about whose harmful effects on Colombian society he cautioned. The magistrates in charge of the investigation became the objects of threats and bribes, with some being murdered for rejecting such bribes. The life of Guillermo Cano, his courage, his commitment to independent journalism and the tenacity with which he fought for his country are an example for the rest of the world to follow.

Today, 21 years after the death of Guillermo Cano, violence against media professionals and their institutions remains one of the greatest threats to freedom of expression and press freedom. According to Reporters Without Borders, 75 journalists and 32 media staff have been killed last year making 2006 the deadliest year on record. “Journalism today is more dangerous than ever. More than 500 journalists have been killed in the past decade, often for simply doing their jobs. These murders are a direct attack not only on individuals, but also on society as a whole. Yet few of the killers are ever brought to justice” Timothy Balding, CEO of the World Association of Newspapers stated in October 2006.

At this year’s World Press Freedom Day celebration, UNESCO invites all participants to discuss the rising challenges to the safety of media professionals, identify the specific dangers journalists face when working in conflict areas, consider the problem of impunity with regard to attacks on journalists, and explore measures that can be taken to improve the safety of journalists.

World Press Freedom Prize 2007

UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize 2007 has been awarded posthumously to a Russian reporter Anna Politkovskaya.

Accepting the recommendation of an independent international jury of media professionals, the Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, today designated Anna Politkovskaya, the late Russian journalist, as the laureate of the 2007 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World PressFreedom Prize.

Kavi Chongkittavorn, President of the UNESCO/Guillermo World Cano Press Freedom Prize jury of fourteen professional journalists and editors from all over the world, explained the jury's choice:

"Anna Politkovskaya showed incredible courage and stubbornness in chronicling events in Chechnya after the whole world had given up on that conflict. Her dedication and fearless pursuits of the truth set the highest benchmark of journalism, not only for Russia but for the rest of the world. Indeed, Anna's courage and commitment were so remarkable, that we decided, for the first time, to award the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize posthumously."

May Day - the Real Labor Day

May 1st, International Workers' Day, commemorates the historic struggle of working people throughout the world, and is recognized in every country except the United States, Canada, and South Africa. This despite the fact that the holiday began in the 1880s in the United States, with the fight for an eight-hour work day.

In 1884, the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions passed a resolution stating that eight hours would constitute a legal day's work from and after May 1, 1886. The resolution called for a general strike to achieve the goal, since legislative methods had already failed. With workers being forced to work ten, twelve, and fourteen hours a day, rank-and-file support for the eight-hour movement grew rapidly, despite the indifference and hostility of many union leaders. By April 1886, 250,000 workers were involved in the May Day movement.

The heart of the movement was in Chicago, organized primarily by the anarchist International Working People's Association. Businesses and the state were terrified by the increasingly revolutionary character of the movement and prepared accordingly. The police and militia were increased in size and received new and powerful weapons financed by local business leaders. Chicago's Commercial Club purchased a $2000 machine gun for the Illinois National Guard to be used against strikers. Nevertheless, by May 1st, the movement had already won gains for many Chicago clothing cutters, shoemakers, and packing-house workers. But on May 3, 1886, police fired into a crowd of strikers at the McCormick Reaper Works Factory, killing four and wounding many. Anarchists called for a mass meeting the next day in Haymarket Square to protest the brutality.

The meeting proceeded without incident, and by the time the last speaker was on the platform, the rainy gathering was already breaking up, with only a few hundred people remaining. It was then that 180 cops marched into the square and ordered the meeting to disperse. As the speakers climbed down from the platform, a bomb was thrown at the police, killing one and injuring seventy. Police responded by firing into the crowd, killing one worker and injuring many others.

Although it was never determined who threw the bomb, the incident was used as an excuse to attack the entire Left and labor movement. Police ransacked the homes and offices of suspected radicals, and hundreds were arrested without charge. Anarchists in particular were harassed, and eight of Chicago's most active were charged with conspiracy to murder in connection with the Haymarket bombing. A kangaroo court found all eight guilty, despite a lack of evidence connecting any of them to the bomb-thrower (only one was even present at the meeting, and he was on the speakers' platform), and they were sentenced to die. Albert Parsons, August Spies, Adolf Fischer, and George Engel were hanged on November 11, 1887. Louis Lingg committed suicide in prison, The remaining three were finally pardoned in 1893.

It is not surprising that the state, business leaders, mainstream union officials, and the media would want to hide the true history of May Day, portraying it as a holiday celebrated only in Moscow's Red Square. In its attempt to erase the history and significance of May Day, the United States government declared May 1st to be "Law Day", and gave us instead Labor Day - a holiday devoid of any historical significance other than its importance as a day to swill beer and sit in traffic jams.

Nevertheless, rather than suppressing labor and radical movements, the events of 1886 and the execution of the Chicago anarchists actually mobilized many generations of radicals. Emma Goldman, a young immigrant at the time, later pointed to the Haymarket affair as her political birth. Lucy Parsons, widow of Albert Parsons, called upon the poor to direct their anger toward those responsible - the rich. Instead of disappearing, the anarchist movement only grew in the wake of Haymarket, spawning other radical movements and organizations, including the Industrial Workers of the World.

By covering up the history of May Day, the state, business, mainstream unions and the media have covered up an entire legacy of dissent in this country. They are terrified of what a similarly militant and organized movement could accomplish today, and they suppress the seeds of such organization whenever and wherever they can. As workers, we must recognize and commemorate May Day not only for it's historical significance, but also as a time to organize around issues of vital importance to working-class people today.

As IWW songwriter Joe Hill wrote in one of his most powerful songs:

Workers of the world, awaken!

Rise in all your splendid might

Take the wealth that you are making,

It belongs to you by right.

No one will for bread be crying

We'll have freedom, love and health,

When the grand red flag is flying

In the Workers' Commonwealth.

WORLD ASTHMA DAY also falls on this day <---click here to know more

World Asthma Day

World Asthma Day is an annual event organized by the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) to improve asthma awareness and care around the world. World Asthma Day 2007, organized around the theme "You Can Control Your Asthma," will be held on Tuesday, May 1.

What is World Asthma Day?

World Asthma Day is organized by the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) in collaboration with health care groups and asthma educators to raise awareness about asthma and improve asthma care throughout the world.

Each year GINA chooses a theme and organizes preparation and distribution of World Asthma Day materials and resources. World Asthma Day activities are organized in each country by health care professionals, educators, and members of the public who want to help reduce the burden of asthma.

The first World Asthma Day, in 1998, was celebrated in more than 35 countries in conjunction with the first World Asthma Meeting held in Barcelona, Spain. Participation has increased with each World Asthma Day held since then, and the day has become one of the world's most important asthma awareness and education events.

view MAY DAY on this DAY

World Intellectual Property Day - April 26

Intellectual property refers to creations of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce.

Intellectual property is divided into two categories: Industrial property, which includes inventions (patents), trademarks, industrial designs, and geographic indications of source; and Copyright, which includes literary and artistic works such as novels, poems and plays, films, musical works, artistic works such as drawings, paintings, photographs and sculptures, and architectural designs. Rights related to copyright include those of performing artists in their performances, producers of phonograms in their recordings, and those of broadcasters in their radio and television programs. For an introduction to IP for non-specialists see:

Understanding Copyright and Related Rights
Understanding Industrial Property

On World Intellectual Property Day this year, WIPO celebrates the link between intellectual property (IP) and creativity under the theme - Encouraging Creativity.

Promotional materials on this theme, including an IP Day message from WIPO Director General, Kamil Idris, have been despatched to IP offices in Member States, and are available here for downloading:

Message from the Director General
Poster [ Print-ready PDF, 3.5 Mb]
IP Day postcard [ Print-ready PDF, 270 Kb]

Transgender Day Of Empowerment (TDOE)

APRIL 6

TDOR is an important day set aside to annually memorialize those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. TDOE, on the other end of the spectrum, is a day set aside for transpeople and significant others, friends, families, and allies to celebrate transgender history and future, as well as celebrate our transseniors and our transyouth.

The transgender community is filled with a rich diversity of individuals; of every age, race, faith, identifiable gender, and socioeconomic background. The next generation of transpeople can look forward to less discrimination than the generations of transgender people past.

One day the idea of a day of celebration of transgender diversity will catch on as an idea for the broader transgender community -- for all of transpeople, significant others, friends, families, and of course wonderful allies.

World Book and Copyright Day

23 April is a symbolic date for world literature for on this date in 1616, Cervantes, Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega all died. It is also the date of birth or death of other prominent authors such as Maurice Druon, Haldor K.Laxness, Vladimir Nabokov, Josep Pla and Manuel Mejía Vallejo.

It was a natural choice for UNESCO's General Conference, held in Paris in 1995, to pay a world-wide tribute to books and authors on this date, encouraging everyone, and in particular young people, to discover the pleasure of reading and gain a renewed respect for the irreplaceable contributions of those who have furthered the social and cultural progress of humanity.

By celebrating this Day throughout the world, UNESCO seeks to promote reading, publishing and the protection of intellectual property through copyright.

23 April: a symbolic date for world literature for on this date and in the same year of 1616, Cervantes, Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega all died. It is also the date of birth or death of other prominent authors such as Maurice Druon, K.Laxness, Vladimir Nabokov, Josep Pla and Manuel Mejía Vallejo. It was a natural choice for UNESCO's General Conference to pay a world-wide tribute to books and authors on this date, encouraging everyone, and in particular young people, to discover the pleasure of reading and gain a renewed respect for the irreplaceable contributions of those who have furthered the social and cultural progress of humanity.

The idea for this celebration originated in Catalonia where on 23 April, Saint George's Day, a rose is traditionally given as a gift for each book sold. The success of the World Book and Copyright Day will depend primarily on the support received from all parties concerned (authors, publishers, teachers, librarians, public and private institutions, humanitarian NGOs and the mass media), who have been mobilized in each country by UNESCO National Commissions, UNESCO Clubs, Centres and Associations, Associated Schools and Libraries, and by all those who feel motivated to work together in this world celebration of books and authors.

Download the poster of the Day in high-resolution PDF for your printing and reproduction needs:
Poster with text in English and French
Poster without text (for you to add text in your language)

World Earth Day

Earth Day - April 22 each year marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970.

Among other things, 1970 in the United States brought with it the Kent State shootings, the advent of fiber optics, "Bridge Over Troubled Water," Apollo 13, the Beatles' last album, the death of Jimi Hendrix, the birth of Mariah Carey, and the meltdown of fuel rods in the Savannah River nuclear plant near Aiken, South Carolina -- an incident not acknowledged for 18 years.

It was into such a world that the very first Earth Day was born.

Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, proposed the first nationwide environmental protest "to shake up the political establishment and force this issue onto the national agenda. " "It was a gamble," he recalls, "but it worked."

At the time, Americans were slurping leaded gas through massive V8 sedans. Industry belched out smoke and sludge with little fear of legal consequences or bad press. Air pollution was commonly accepted as the smell of prosperity. Environment was a word that appeared more often in spelling bees than on the evening news.

Earth Day 1970 turned that all around.

On April 22, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment. Denis Hayes, the national coordinator, and his youthful staff organized massive coast-to-coast rallies. Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment. Groups that had been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife suddenly realized they shared common values.

Earth Day 1970 achieved a rare political alignment, enlisting support from Republicans and Democrats, rich and poor, city slickers and farmers, tycoons and labor leaders. The first Earth Day led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species acts.

Sen. Nelson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom -- the highest honor given to civilians in the United States -- for his role as Earth Day founder.

As 1990 approached, a group of environmental leaders asked Denis Hayes to organize another big campaign. This time, Earth Day went global, mobilizing 200 million people in 141 countries and lifting the status of environmental issues on to the world stage. Earth Day 1990 gave a huge boost to recycling efforts worldwide and helped pave the way for the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.

As the millennium approached, Hayes agreed to spearhead another campaign, this time focused on global warming and a push for clean energy. Earth Day 2000 combined the big-picture feistiness of the first Earth Day with the international grassroots activism of Earth Day 1990. For 2000, Earth Day had the Internet to help link activists around the world. By the time April 22 rolled around, 5,000 environmental groups around the world were on board, reaching out to hundreds of millions of people in a record 184 countries. Events varied: A talking drum chain traveled from village to village in Gabon, Africa, for example, while hundreds of thousands of people gathered on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., USA.

Earth Day 2000 sent the message loud and clear that citizens the world 'round wanted quick and decisive action on clean energy.

Now, the fight for a clean environment continues. We invite you to be a part of this history and a part of Earth Day. Discover energy you didn't even know you had. Feel it rumble through the grass roots under your feet and the technology at your fingertips. Channel it into building a clean, healthy, diverse world for generations to come.

World Heritage Day

18 April

World Heritage is the shared wealth of humankind. Protecting and preserving this valuable asset demands the collective efforts of the international community. This special day offers an opportunity to raise the public's awareness about the diversity of cultural heritage and the efforts that are required to protect and conserve it, as well as draw attention to its vulnerability.

On 18 April 1982 on the occasion of a symposium organised by ICOMOS in Tunisia, the holding of the "International Day for Monuments and Sites" to be celebrated simultaneously throughout the world was suggested. This project was approved by the Executive Committee who provided practical suggestions to the National Committees on how to organise this day.

The idea was also approved by the UNESCO General Conference who passed a resolution at its 22nd session in November 1983 recommending that Member States examine the possibility of declaring 18 April each year ?International Monuments and Sites Day?. This has been traditionally called the World Heritage Day.

ICOMOS, the International Council for Monuments and Sites makes a number of suggestions on how to celebrate the World Heritage Day:

Visits to monuments and sites, and restoration works, possibly with free admission

Articles in newspapers and magazines, as well as television and radio broadcasts

Hanging banners in town squares or principal traffic arteries calling attention to the day and the preservation of cultural heritage

Inviting local and foreign experts and personalities for conferences and interviews

Organising discussions in cultural-centres, city halls, and other public spaces

Exhibitions (photos, paintings, etc)

Publication of books, post-cards, stamps, posters

Awarding prizes to organisations or persons who have made an outstanding contribution to the conservation and promotion of cultural heritage or produced an excellent publication on the subject.

Inaugurate a recently restored monument

Special awareness raising activities amongst school children and youth

Promotion of ?twinning? opportunities between organizations, defining areas for co-operation; exchange of speakers; organisation of meetings and seminars, or the editing of joint publications.

World Health Day 2007- international health security

World Health Day on 7 April marks the founding of the World Health Organization (WHO). It is an occasion to raise awareness of key global health issues. This year's theme is international health security. The aim of the Day is to urge governments, organizations and businesses to "Invest in health, build a safer future".

The theme of World Health Day and of the World Health Report 2007 is “international health security” – the need to reduce the vulnerability of people around the world to new, acute or rapidly spreading risks to health, particularly those that threaten to cross international borders.

In a globalized world, health issues present new challenges that go far beyond national borders and have an impact on the collective security of people around the world.

Increased collaboration among developed and developing countries will enable the international community to be better prepared to strengthen national capacities to detect and respond to disease outbreaks. This will provide a global safety net to deal with key cross-border public health issues and in turn help to make the world more secure.

Key discussion points:

• The lessons learned from SARS and other disease outbreaks should be used to strengthen national and global preparedness for the next emergency caused by an infectious disease.
• Capacity-building in developing countries must be practical, based on the needs of the country, and collaborative.
• The strength of multiple stakeholders – governments, international organizations, the corporate sector, civil society – must be leveraged to improve global response capacity.

Resources for more information:
http://www.who.int/topics/emerging_diseases/en/
http://www.who.int/csr/disease/influenza/en/

WORLD FOOLS DAY

April Fool's Day or All Fool's Day,holiday of uncertain origin, known for practical joking and celebrated on the first of April. Prior to the adoption of the Gregorian calendar in 1564, the date was observed as New Year's Day by cultures as varied as the Roman and the Hindu. The holiday is considered to be related to the festival of the vernal equinox, which occurs on Mar. 21. The English gave April Fool's Day its first widespread celebration during the 18th cent.

Unlike most of the other nonfoolish holidays, the history of April Fool's Day, sometimes called All Fool's Day, is not totally clear. There really wasn't a "first April Fool's Day" that can be pinpointed on the calendar. Some believe it sort of evolved simultaneously in several cultures at the same time, from celebrations involving the first day of spring.

The closest point in time that can be identified as the beginning of this tradition was in 1582, in France. Prior to that year, the new year was celebrated for eight days, beginning on March 25. The celebration culminated on April 1. With the reform of the calendar under Charles IX, the Gregorian Calendar was introduced, and New Year's Day was moved to January 1.

However, communications being what they were in the days when news traveled by foot, many people did not receive the news for several years. Others, the more obstinate crowd, refused to accept the new calendar and continued to celebrate the new year on April 1. These backward folk were labeled as "fools" by the general populace. They were subject to some ridicule, and were often sent on "fools errands" or were made the butt of other practical jokes.

This harassment evolved, over time, into a tradition of prank-playing on the first day of April. The tradition eventually spread to England and Scotland in the eighteenth century. It was later introduced to the American colonies of both the English and French. April Fool's Day thus developed into an international fun fest, so to speak, with different nationalities specializing in their own brand of humor at the expense of their friends and families.

In Scotland, for example, April Fool's Day is actually celebrated for two days. The second day is devoted to pranks involving the posterior region of the body. It is called Taily Day. The origin of the "kick me" sign can be traced to this observance.

Mexico's counterpart of April Fool's Day is actually observed on December 28. Originally, the day was a sad remembrance of the slaughter of the innocent children by King Herod. It eventually evolved into a lighter commemoration involving pranks and trickery.

Pranks performed on April Fool's Day range from the simple, (such as saying, "Your shoe's untied!), to the elaborate. Setting a roommate's alarm clock back an hour is a common gag. Whatever the prank, the trickster usually ends it by yelling to his victim, "April Fool!"

Practical jokes are a common practice on April Fool's Day. Sometimes, elaborate practical jokes are played on friends or relatives that last the entire day. The news media even gets involved. For instance, a British short film once shown on April Fool's Day was a fairly detailed documentary about "spaghetti farmers" and how they harvest their crop from the spaghetti trees.

April Fool's Day is a "for-fun-only" observance. Nobody is expected to buy gifts or to take their "significant other" out to eat in a fancy restaurant. Nobody gets off work or school. It's simply a fun little holiday, but a holiday on which one must remain forever vigilant, for he may be the next April Fool!