Today is Red Hand Day. This relatively Red Hand Daynew day was organized for the first time in 2002 as a coalition to stop the use of child soldiers in wars and armed conflict. The red hand has been used all over the world by many protesters and organizations to say ‘no’ to child recruitment. The goal of the celebration is to draw attention to the issue of child soldiers, thus, on Red Hand Day various public protest and demonstrations take place. As an ongoing public statement the organization is collecting red hand prints. Over the past years more than 350,000 hand prints have been collected…

In the United Nations Millennium Declaration, 189 world leaders identified solidarity as one of the fundamental values essential to international relations in the 21st century.

International Human Solidarity Day promotes unity in diversity.

International Human Solidarity Day was proclaimed on December 22nd, in 2005, and first celebrated in 2006.

Today, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon highlighted the benefits of inclusive cooperation, saying that strides made in reducing poverty and advancing democratic freedoms in recent years were proving that point. In his annual statement, Mr. Ban said “We can reach our shared goals if people are able to participate in the formulation and implementation of plans, policies and programmes to shape our common future.”

Activities on the International Human Solidarity Day may include campaigning for the following issues:

  • Banning land mines.
  • Making health and medication accessible to those in need.
  • Relief efforts to help those who suffered the effects of natural or human-made disasters.
  • Achieving universal education.
  • Fighting against poverty, corruption and terrorism.

This past week the world has been witnessing Global Entrepreneurship Week. The week ends today, and is the world’s largest campaign to promote entrepreneurship, taking place in 115 countries.

Bill Drayton is said to have coined the phrase "social entrepreneur."

The aim of the week is to introduce entrepreneurship to young people, improve people’s entrepreneurial skills, and help people access practical support both locally and globally.

The week emerged in 2008 in the United States, and since its creation, more than 10 million people from 102 countries on six different continents have participated in entrepreneurial-related activities. Workshops, conferences, exhibitions, socializing and networking events are only some examples of events that have been going on in the past seven days around the world. In the UK alone some 3000 events are taking place over this 7-day period.

This year’s theme, “Pass it on,” aims to encourage young entrepreneurs to share practical information about starting up and getting into business.

Here’s a quote from a famous social entrepreneur, Bill Drayton, to celebrate Global Entrepreneurship Week:

“Social entrepreneurs are not content just to give a fish or teach how to fish. They will not rest until they have revolutionized the fishing industry.”

Today is United Nations Day, a day that marks the anniversary of the UN Charter entry into force in 1945.

United Nations Day

United Nations Day has been celebrated since 1948.

The charter came into force when France, Republic of China, Soviet Union, United Kingdom, and United States, the five permanent members of he security council, all approved the charter that had been drawn out earlier in the year. The United Nations Day has been celebrated since 1948.

United Nations works together with many specialized agencies, including: the World Health Organization (WHO); the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO); the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF); International Labour Organization (ILO); United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR); and United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). So, today is not only to celebrate the United Nations alone, but to highlight all the important international work done in fields of human rights, support in areas of famine, eradication of disease, promotion of health and settlement of refugees.

Today is the International Day for Disaster Reduction (IDDR), a day to encourage every citizen and government to take part in building more disaster resilient communities and nations.

International Day for Disaster Reduction

A natural disaster affects everybody.

This year’s theme for IDDR is ‘Women and Girls: The (In)visible Force of Resiliance.’

Margareta Wahlström, a Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, describes the theme in the following way:

“We know that when women and young girls are involved in planning and decision-making in communities they contribute their fair share to keeping the community safe.

Today is both the International Day of Nonviolence and the birthday of the Indian freedom fighter Mahatma Gandhi.

Nonviolence

Mahatma Gandhi was a supporter of nonviolence

Gandhi’s birthday was chosen to mark the International Day of Nonviolence because his role as a promoter of freedom and civil rights movements around the world has been enormous. The day was established by the United Nations in 2007.

Gandhi was one of the first to distinguish between pacifism and nonviolence. Both pacifism and nonviolence oppose war and violence, but nonviolence accepts and embraces the necessity of struggle in achieving social change. Unlike some cases of pacifism, nonviolence never ignores conflict. Nonviolence has many activist elements, whereas pacifism is usually an personal, individual viewpoint and not necessarily connected to politics.

Since Gandhi’s times, nonviolence has developed into a widely accepted political philosophy. The three main categories of nonviolent action are:

1)   Protest and persuasion, i.e. street marches

2)   Non-cooperation

3)   Nonviolent interventions such as blockades and occupations

Unfortunately, most world powers still see violence as the superior technique for resolving conflicts. Scholar Theodore Roszak once said, “People try nonviolence for a week, and when it ‘doesn’t work’ they go back to violence, which hasn’t worked for centuries.”

Today is the International Day of the Disappeared, a day to remember those who have been imprisoned without their friends and families knowing where or why.

In 2008, approximately two people were announced as ‘disappeared ‘every day.

The day originates from the efforts of the Latin American Federation of Associations for Relatives of Detained-Disappeared, a Costa-Rican NGO founded in 1981 that officially started the fight against secret imprisonment and forced disappearances. Today, larger organizations such as Amnesty International and the International Committee of the Red Cross are also doing valuable work in this field. International Day of the Disappeared is not only a day to mourn those missing, but also to highlight the work of these NGOs, raise awareness, and to raise funds for future ventures and campaigns against secret imprisonment.

Today is the International Day Against Nuclear Testing, a day that aims to end nuclear testing around the world and promote peace and security.

Against Nuclear Testing

The UN hopes for a nuclear-weapon-free world.

Since the first nuclear test in 1945, the world has seen over 2000 different nuclear weapons tests. Although history has shown us how devastating the impact of nuclear weapons is many world leaders still hold the belief that possessing nuclear weapons is a sign of a country’s scientific sophistication and military might. This type of ideology gives little appreciation for human life or our atmosphere and environment.

In December 2009, the UN General Assembly unanimously adopted a new resolution with a goal of a nuclear-weapon-free world. UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon also stated that, “A world free of nuclear weapons would be a global public good of the highest order.”

August 29th was chosen as the date for International Day Against Nuclear Testing because it marks the day in 1991 when the world’s largest nuclear test site was closed in Kazakhstan.

Today is World Environment Day (WED), one of the principle ways in which the UN stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and action.

This year’s theme is Green Economy: Does it include You? Basically, what the UN means by Green Economy are the overall efforts of nations to reduce carbon emission and pollution, to enhance energy and resource efficiency, and to prevent the loss of biodiversity. World Environment DayAccording to the UN Environment Program, Green Economy both significantly lowers environmental risks and improves human well-being and social equity. This years theme, therefore, aims to encourage people to find out more about Green Technology and about the various different ways in which they are already included, and the ways in which they can participate further. The official WED website is pledging people to “help break the record for the greatest number of activities registered in WED’s four decade history.”

Today is World Press Freedom Day. On 2011, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon,
 Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and 
Irina Bokova, UNESCO Director-General all declared in a joint-message that:

World Press Freedom Day

Freemedia

“Violations of fundamental human rights cannot go unanswered. State authorities must do everything to counter impunity and to protect the safety of journalists. We will never forget the courage of journalists who paid with their lives for our right to know. ”

World Press Freedom Day was established to highlight Article 19 in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states that, “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”