Tag Archives: UN Days

International Civil Aviation Day

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Like most toddlers, BB was fascinated by planes, but unlike most boys, this fascination has carried on as he grew up and has propelled him to his area of study and where he is today. But today, with the airline industry in shambles due to the ongoing pandemic, I wonder if he will continue in this field or will make a pivot, but that’s a topic for another day. So, when I heard about this day devoted to civil aviation, I knew I had to find out more.

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Tomorrow is the International Civil Aviation Day which has been celebrated on 07 December each year since 1994 by the International Civil Aviation Organisation or ICAO. The ICAO is an autonomous UN Body accountable for keeping up with the safety standards of international aviation. The date was chosen because December 07 1994 was the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Convention on International Civil Aviation. The Convention on International Civil Aviation, also known more popularly as the Chicago Convention, was signed by delegates from 54 countries. This defining international agreement has since permitted the global civil aviation system to develop peacefully and in a manner benefitting all peoples and nations of the world. The purpose of the day is to recognise the importance of aviation, especially international air travel, to the social and economic development of the world and the day is intended is to help generate and reinforce worldwide awareness of the importance of international civil aviation to the social and economic development of countries, and of the unique role of ICAO in helping countries to cooperate and realise a global rapid transit network at the service of all mankind. The importance of aviation as an engine of global connectivity has never been more relevant to look to international flight as a fundamental enabler of global peace and prosperity.

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Seventy-five years after ICAO’s foundation, the International Civil Aviation network carries over four billion passengers annually. The global Air Transport sector supports 65.5 million jobs and USD 2.7 trillion in global economic activity, with over 10 million women and men working within the industry to ensure 120,000 flights and 12 million passengers a day are carried safely to their destinations. The wider supply chain, flow-on impacts and jobs in tourism made possible by air transport show that at least 65.5 million jobs and 3.6 per cent of global economic activity are supported by the aviation industry according to research by the Air Transport Action Group (ATAG).

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Civil aviation, which includes all non-military aviation, both private and commercial plays a key role in human affairs. It lets us discover our world’s wondrous geographic and cultural diversity, enables us to learn about and benefit from each other and connects societies through global travel and trade, advancing access to food, education and healthcare. Today COVID-19 has severed international connections by air, cut off businesses from clients, kept tourists from destinations and disproportionately affected the vulnerable, it has also disrupted the operations and finances of airlines and airports worldwide, threatening their capacity to assure the global supply of medicines, vaccines, humanitarian aid and other vital goods. Aviation is also an energy-guzzling industry with emissions from the industry accounting for more than 2% of the global total, ranking it in the top ten emitters, so this time can be spent in thinking of ways to make the industry greener.

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Every five years, coinciding with ICAO anniversaries, the ICAO council establishes a special anniversary theme for International Civil Aviation Day. Between these anniversary years, Council representatives select a single theme for the full four-year intervening period. The theme until 2023 is Advancing Innovation for Global Aviation Development. Aviation is an important engine of our world and will be playing a critical role in lifting the world to recovery from COVID-19. It connects us and allows us to meet family and friends and also broaden our horizons and our minds. To everyone in this industry, especially in these trying times, here’s hoping that times change for the better and the skies are once again filled with planes transporting people and goods across the seas and land.

Universal Children’s Day

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Celebrated in honour of children, Children’s Day is celebrated and observed on different dates across the world. In 1925, International Children’s Day was first proclaimed in Geneva during the World Conference on Child Welfare. The World Children’s Day is celebrated on 20th November to commemorate the Declaration of the Rights of the Child by the UN General Assembly on 20 November 1959.

The first Children’s Day began on the second Sunday of June in 1857 by Reverend Dr. Charles Leonard, pastor of the Universalist Church of the Redeemer in Chelsea, Massachusetts who held a special service dedicated to, and for the children on a day he named Rose Day, though it was later named Flower Sunday, and then named Children’s Day. Children’s Day was first officially declared a national holiday by the Republic of Turkey in 1920 on 23 April and the day has since then been celebrated nationally since 1920 and the official declaration was made in 1929.

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In Singapore, traditionally, 1 October is when the country officially celebrates Children’s Day. Another similar event celebrated annually is Youth Day, which is celebrated on the first Sunday of July every year, and is a school holiday for primary, secondary and junior college students. From 2011, Children’s Day has been celebrated on the first Friday of October.On Children’s Day, Kindergarten and Primary school students get a holiday, while secondary school and junior college students still need to go to school, with teachers often organising special events and activities so the older children could still celebrate.

In India, Children’s Day is celebrated on 14 November as a tribute to the birthday of India’s First Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. Known as Chacha Nehru among children, Nehru advocated for children to have all-rounded education that would build a better society in the future and considered children as real strength of a nation and foundation of society.. The day is celebrated across the country to increase awareness of the rights, care and education of children. The day has been celebrated since 1956 and before Nehru’s death was celebrated on 20 November, the Universal Children’s Day.

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World Children’s Day was first established in 1954 as Universal Children’s Day and is celebrated on 20 November each year to promote international togetherness, awareness among children worldwide, and improving children’s welfare. It was on this day when the in 1959 when the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child as well as the date in 1989 when the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The theme for this year’s celebration is Unite to reverse the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on children. The theme highlights the principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child that all children irrespective of their status and situation should enjoy their rights to Survival and Development as enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Child Rights Act (CRA) 2003.

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Mothers and fathers, teachers, nurses and doctors, government leaders and civil society activists, religious and community elders, corporate moguls and media professionals, as well as young people and children themselves, can play an important part in making World Children’s Day relevant for their societies, communities and nations. The World Children’s Day offers each of us an inspirational entry-point to advocate, promote and celebrate children’s rights, translating into dialogues and actions that will build a better world for children. UNICEF and partners are calling on governments to adopt a Six Point Plan to Protect our Children which include ensuring all children learn, including by closing the digital divide, guaranteeing access to health and nutrition services, and making vaccines affordable and available to every child, supporting and protecting the mental health of children and young people and bring an end to abuse, gender-based violence, and neglect in childhood, increase access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene and address environmental degradation and climate change, reversing the rise in child poverty and ensure an inclusive recovery for all and redoubling efforts to protect and support children and their families living through conflict, disaster and displacement.

So tomorrow, take some time out for the children around you and really talk to them and understand their concerns and issues. You could also sponsor a child under the ageis of many reputable organisations and put a child through school and make their life.

International Day of the Girl Child

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Girls play multiple roles in the household, society and the economy. They go to school, help with housework, work in factories, make friends, care for elder and younger family members and prepare themselves to take on the responsibilities of adulthood. While today, in many countries, the right to basic education is ingrained in their constitutions, there are many countries where girls are denied this right and even when girls are encouraged to continue their education, they face major challenges that make it difficult for them to attend regularly, sometimes receiving an unequal share of the household tasks due to customary practices in many regions of the world. Though life for the girl child is steadily improving, many are still subjected to horrific practices, such as female genital mutilation, son preference – often resulting in female infanticide – as well as child marriage, sexual exploitation and abuse. Girls are also more likely to experience discrimination in food allocation and healthcare, and are often outpaced and outranked by boys in all spheres of life. It is under this backdrop that upholding the rights of a girl child is not just important, it is absolutely essential.

Today is the International Day of the Girl Child which is also known as the Day of Girls and the International Day of the Girl and was first observed in 2012. The day supports more opportunity for girls and increases awareness of gender inequality faced by girls worldwide based upon their gender including areas such as access to education, nutrition, legal rights, medical care, and protection from discrimination, violence against women and forced child marriage. The day increases awareness of issues faced by girls around the world which do not include or consider girls and and their issues become invisible. The Day of Girls helps raise awareness not only of the issues that girls face, but also of what is likely to happen when those problems are solved.

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Around 33,000 girls are married off every day around the world, focing their bodies and mind to changes in ways they are just not ready for. An estimated 340,000 girls and young women are infected with the HIV virus every year and currently more than 3 million girls and young women are living with the virus all over the world. Around 44% of the girls between 15 to 19 years of age think it’s okay for a husband to beat his wife. Girls between five to 14 spend more than 28 hours doing labor, which is twice the time spent by boys and do more unpaid child labour and not astonishingly 96% of human trafficked individuals for sexual exploitation are girls and women.

The theme for the 2021 edition of the International Day of the Girl Child is Digital generation. Our generation. In 2021, the Generation Equality Forum launched five-year commitments for bolder solutions to gender inequality – just as the world entered the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the pandemic has accelerated digital platforms for learning, earning and connecting, some 2.2 billion people below the age of 25 still do not have internet access at home. Girls are more likely to be cut off. The gender gap for global internet users grew from 11 per cent in 2013 to 17 per cent in 2019. In the world’s least developed countries, it hovers around 43 per cent. But the gender digital divide is about more than connectivity. Girls are also less likely than boys to use and own devices, and gain access to tech-related skills and jobs. Only by addressing the inequity and exclusion that span geographies and generations can we usher in a digital revolution for all, with all.

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So why is this day important? It is important because it empowers girls and works to eliminate deep-rooted gender-based issues that have have been passed on for generations and have made gender-based discrimination and oppression threateningly common in every household, particularly in developing countries. An empowered girl grows up to be an empowered woman. The adolescence is a critical point in every person’s life and determines the trajectory of girls’ lives, which is why caring for girls in their youth benefits all. If they are empowered at a vulnerable age, they can mature into liberated, wise women of the future and when this happens, as a society, we all win. Investing in girls is the smart thing to do because when women and girls earn an income, they are likely to reinvest 90% of their income into their families. So empower girls around you, so they can grow up to be empowered women who will be an asset to society.

World Mental Health Day

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Sunday is World Mental Health Day. In the last two years or so, we all have finally woken up to the importance of mental health and its importance in our lives. Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act and also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make healthy choices. Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood.

Mental and physical health are equally important components of overall health.  For example, depression increases the risk for many types of physical health problems, particularly long-lasting conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. Similarly, the presence of chronic conditions can increase the risk for mental illness. It’s important to remember that a person’s mental health can change over time, depending on many factors.  When the demands placed on a person exceed their resources and coping abilities, their mental health could be impacted.

There is no single cause for mental illness with many factors contributing to the risk for mental illness, including early adverse life experiences, like trauma or a history of abuse, experiences related to other ongoing or chronic medical conditions, biological factors or chemical imbalances in the brain, use of alcohol or drugs or having feelings of loneliness or isolation.

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The World Mental Health Day celebrated on 10 October is an international day for global mental health education, awareness and advocacy against this social stigma. It was first celebrated in 1992 at the initiative of the World Federation for Mental Health, a global mental health organisation with members and contacts in more than 150 countries. On this day, each October, many awareness programmes bring attention to mental illness and its major effects on peoples’ lives worldwide with some countries having an awareness week as part of the awareness programme.

Up until 1994, the day had no specific theme other than general promoting mental health advocacy and educating the public. In 1994 World Mental Health Day was celebrated with a theme for the first time: “Improving the Quality of Mental Health Services throughout the World”. On World Mental Health Day 2018, the then UK Prime Minister Theresa May appointed UK’s first suicide prevention minister as the government hosted the first-ever global mental health summit.

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The theme for the 2021 edition of the World Mental Health Day is “Mental Health in an Unequal World”. This theme was chosen because the world is increasingly polarised, with the very wealthy becoming wealthier, and the number of people living in poverty still far too high. 2020 highlighted inequalities due to race and ethnicity, sexual orientation and gender identity, and the lack of respect for human rights in many countries, including for people living with mental health conditions. Such inequalities have an impact on people’s mental health.

The theme will highlight that access to mental health services remains unequal, with between 75% to 95% of people with mental disorders in low and middle-income countries unable to access mental health services at all, and access in high-income countries is not much better. Lack of investment in mental health disproportionate to the overall health budget contributes to the mental health treatment gap.  Many people with a mental illness do not receive the treatment that they are entitled to and deserve and together with their families and carers continue to experience stigma and discrimination. The gap between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ grows ever wider and there is continuing unmet need in the care of people with a mental health problem.

Research evidence shows that there is a deficiency in the quality of care provided to people with mental health problems. It can take up to 15 years before medical, social and psychological treatments for mental illness that have been shown to work in good quality research studies are delivered to the patients that need them in everyday practice. The stigma and discrimination experienced by people who experience mental ill-health not only affects that persons physical and mental health, it also affects their educational opportunities, current and future earning and job prospects, and also affects their families and loved ones.  This inequality needs to be addressed so that people with mental health issues are fully integrated into all aspects of life. Research has shown that those with physical illness also often experience psychological distress and mental health difficulties. As an example, one can take visual impairment. Over 2.2 billion people have visual impairment worldwide, and the majority also experience anxiety and/ or depression and this is worsened for visually impaired people who experience adverse social and economic circumstances.

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The COVID 19 pandemic has further highlighted the effects of inequality on health outcomes and no nation, however rich, has been fully prepared for this.  The pandemic has and will continue to affect people, of all ages, in many ways: through infection and illness, sometimes resulting in death bringing bereavement to surviving family members; through the economic impact, with job losses and continued job insecurity; and with the physical distancing that can lead to social isolation.

So if you or someone you know have issues relating to mental health, please reach out to an expert. If that is not possible, at least talk to someone sympathetic to you and your condition. If there are hotlines or numbers where you can speak with someone, anonymously, please do so and if possible, reach out to a medical expert, even if it is your general physician or family doctor who can point you in the right direction in terms of treatment and counselling. I have always advocated meditation, so try and incorporate some meditation into your daily routine, even if it is as little as five to ten minutes a day, it helps!

World Tourism Day

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Today, more than ever, tourism across world has been devastated. Today is World Tourism Day, a day dedicated global tourism. The day has been celebrated since 1980 on September 27 because it was on this date in 1970 that the Statutes of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation or the UNWTO were adopted. Considered a milestone for global tourism, the purpose of the day is to raise awareness on the role of tourism within the international community and to demonstrate how it affects social, cultural, political and economic values worldwide.

In 1997 at its 12th session in Istanbul, the UNWTO General Assembly decided to designate a host country each year to act as the Organization’s partner to celebrate World Tourism Day. In 2003, in Beijing, it was decided to follow a geographical order starting from 2006 and it would be rotated between Europe, South Asia, Americas, Africa and the Middle East. The idea of the World Tourism Day was mooted by the late Ignatius Amaduwa Atigbi, a Nigerian who was finally recognised for his contribution in 2009. The timing of World Tourism Day is particularly appropriate in that it comes at the end of the high season in the northern hemisphere and the beginning of the season in the southern hemisphere. The colour of World Tourism Day is Blue.

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Over the decades, tourism has experienced continued growth and deepening ‎diversification to become one of the fastest growing economic sectors in the world. ‎Modern tourism is closely linked to development and encompasses a growing number ‎of new destinations. These dynamics have turned tourism into a key driver for socio-‎economic progress.‎ Today, the business volume of tourism equals or even surpasses that of oil exports, ‎food products or automobiles. Tourism has become one of the major players in ‎international commerce, and represents at the same time one of the main income ‎sources for many developing countries. This growth goes hand in hand with an ‎increasing diversification and competition among destinations.‎ This global spread of tourism in industrialised and developed states has produced ‎economic and employment benefits in many related sectors – from construction to ‎agriculture or telecommunications.‎

The contribution of tourism to economic well-being depends on the quality and the ‎revenues of the tourism offer. Tourism has the potential to contribute, directly or indirectly, to all of the Sustainable Development Goals. In particular, it has been included as targets in Goals 8, 12 and 14 on inclusive and sustainable economic growth, sustainable consumption and production and the sustainable use of oceans and marine resources, respectively. Sustainable tourism is firmly positioned in the 2030 Agenda. Achieving this agenda, however, requires a clear implementation framework, adequate financing and investment in technology, infrastructure and human resources.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has had a massive social and economic impact. Both developed and developing economies have been hit. And marginalized groups and the most vulnerable have been hit hardest of all. The restart of tourism will help kickstart recovery and growth. It is essential that the benefits this will bring are enjoyed widely and fairly. International tourist arrivals have dropped drastically in 2021, down 85% from data sourced between January and May this year.

Therefore, the theme of the 2021 World Tourism Day has been to focus on Tourism for Inclusive Growth. This is an opportunity to look beyond tourism statistics and acknowledge that, behind every number, there is a person. The host country for 2021 is Cote d’Ivoire who will be celebrating tourism’s ability to drive inclusive development and the role it plays in promoting respect while generating opportunities for many millions across the globe.

I for one, am waiting for the end in sight and can’t wait to start travelling again, as I am sure almost everyone reading this is. So, let’s all do our part so we can start getting our fix again!