So, what do the political upheavals in the Middle East, caused
by the Arab Spring, mean?  What about the unparalleled discrepancy in earnings between the wealthiest and the ‘normal’ tax paying citizen? What does the continued lack of opportunity for the ‘have nots’ in the world do for society as a whole?  These are just some of the questions we should take time to think about today: UNESCO World Philosophy Day. World Philosophy Day is a celebration of practical ideas for facing the challenges of today and envisioning a brighter future.

With nearly one million young people unemployed in the UK
(in the North East of England 47% of young people are unemployed) and not much hope of that changing quickly, we need to encourage young people to think differently about how they earn their money. With the slogan “Starting Tomorrow’s Business Today” the Global Entrepreneurship Week begins today.  Every business starts with a conversation, so start talking with young people today about their entrepreneurship dreams and get those conversations turned into actions!  Only 1 in 20 young people start their own business in the UK – even though more than half of them want to.  Global Entrepreneurship Week  is about turning a dream into something that is achievable.

Wordsworth once said, “The best bits of a man’s life are the simple,
random acts of kindness and love.”  Today is Kindness Day, so why not perform a random act of kindness? Mark Twain defined kindness as ‘the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.”  Driven by The World Kindness Movement, the day involves people around the world showing that we can think about more than ourselves and make the world a better place because of it.

“I expect to pass through this world but once; any good thing therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now; let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.” – Stephan Grellet

Countries across all continents are celebrating independence days
this month. Wishing all countries a wonderful celebration this November!

Algeria – November 1, Panama – November 3, Dominica – November 3, Soviet Union – November 7, Cambodia – November 9, Angola – November 11,  Saudi Arabia – November 12, Comoros – November 12, Monaco – November 19, Lebanon – November 22, Suriname – November 25, Albania – November 28, Mauritania – November 28, Southern Yemen – November 29, Barbados – November 30

The Celebration of the Birthday of Guru Nanek is a Sikh Tradition

On 11^th November this year, Sikhs will be celebrating the birth of Guru Nanak. Sikhism was founded by Guru Nanak, and present day Sikhism is still based on his teachings and those of the nine Sikh Gurus who followed him.  Gurus Nanak is never worshipped as a God, but as a human being held in great respect. Guru Nanak was born in 1469 in what is now Pakistan. At the age of 30 he mysteriously disappeared for 3 days. When he reappeared, he began to preach the Sikh faith and spent the rest of his life teaching, writing and travelling around the world to discuss religion with Muslims and Hindus.

Close on the heels of All Hallows’ Eve (Hallowe’en) comes
All Hallows’ Day or Hallowmas; now known as All Saints Day. It’s a Christian festival of remembrance of all saints and martyrs, known and unknown. It has been in the Christian tradition since the 4th century but was celebrated during May. However, it was moved to November 1st during the 8th century and fell during the time of the Celtic holiday of Samhain. This Celtic festival had a similar theme to the Roman festival of Lemuria  in which the malevolent and restless spirits of the dead were pacified.   Liturgiologists base the idea that this Lemuria festival was the origin of that of All Saints Dayon their identical dates and on the similar theme of “all the dead”.

it is thought to have originated

Can we imagine our world without the United Nations?
The 24^th October each year celebrates the birth of the UN. The date marks the anniversary of the launch of the United Nations Charter in 1945. United Nations Day is marked throughout the world  by meetings, discussions and exhibits on the achievements and goals of the UN.

The purposes of the United Nations, identified in its charter include: maintaining international peace and security, solving international economic, social, cultural and humanitarian problems and promoting respect for human rights. It also campaigns on environmental issues, develops friendly relations between countries and attempts to curb poverty, illiteracy and disease. The UN has 15 different agencies to promote and deliver its goals.

The UN was set up after World War 2 to ‘save succeeding generations from the scourge of war’. The head of the UN is the Secretary General, the current Secretary General is Ban-Ki Moon from the Republic of Korea. There is also a security council to decide issues consisting of five main powers, United Kingdom, USA, France, China and Russia. They are the permanent members of the council, with 10 more countries elected to it to stand for two year terms. Each Council Member has one vote and nine of the 15 members need to be in agreement for action to take place.

Last year, Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon commented,

‘Sixty-five years ago on this date, the founding Charter of the United Nations entered into force.  Every year on UN Day, we reaffirm our global mission.  We reassert the universal values of tolerance, mutual respect and human dignity.  And we recognize the progress we have made together: gains in literacy and life expectancy… the spread of knowledge and technology… advances in democracy and the rule of law.

But above all, UN Day is a day on which we resolve to do more.  More to protect those caught up in armed conflict, to fight climate change and avert nuclear catastrophe; more to expand opportunities for women and girls, and to combat injustice and impunity; more to meet the Millennium Development Goals.’

How do we celebrate UN day?

Tradtionally, UN day is celebrated with an international concert in the General Assembly Hall. Last year, the Korean Symphony Orchestra played with the Westminster Choir College of America and the concert was addressed by the Secretary General.

This year, One World Week has an environmental theme, ‘Living for One World’ , it helps us to value and understand our world and those living in it. One World Week is taking place this year between the 23^rd-30^th October 2011. It raises awareness of global issues and asks us to take action and make change. The Week was established in 1978, and it seeks to encourage the community to take action on issues as far ranging as poverty and environmental issues. It celebrates us being in a diverse but interconnected world.  This year’s three themes are:

Did you know, there are still an estimated 12.3 million people across
the world in slavery today, forced to work with very little or no pay? Anti-Slavery Day was set up to raise awareness of modern-day slavery and human trafficking. The trans-atlantic slave trade was abolished in 1807 and slavery is prohibited under Article 4 of the Universal Declaration of Human rights. In April 2010, the UK Anti Slavery Act was passed into law and 2010 saw the first Anti Slavery Day take place on 18^th October.

The eradication of poverty has become a development priority. At the Millennium Summit, world leaders committed to cutting by half by the year 2015, the number of people living in extreme poverty (those whose income is less than a dollar a day). Poverty is seen as a violation of human rights. The 17^th October has therefore become a day where we acknowledge the struggle of those living in poverty and is a chance for them to have their voices heard.

The UN has designated the 17^th October each year, to be the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. It aims to promote awareness of the need to eradicate poverty and destitution in all countries, particularly developing countries.  The day was founded by the General Assembly in 1993.