The UN has voted a number of symbolic dates as World Days.
Here are just a few of the 60 or so UN International Days that count for peace, non-violence and a more humane world.
March 8 – International Women’s Day
World Women’s Day predates the creation of the UN, since it was first celebrated in 1911 in various European countries, to demand :
- the right to vote and hold public office
- the right to work and vocational training
- ending discrimination in the workplace.
March 21 – International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
The UN General Assembly proclaimed the International Day in 1966, following the 1960 massacre of black people during Apartheid in South Africa, to commit the international community to eliminating all forms of racial discrimination.
August 19 – World Humanitarian Day
World Humanitarian Day was established in December 2008 to raise public awareness:
- to humanitarian activities around the world
- the efforts of humanitarian personnel to promote the humanitarian cause
- the importance of international cooperation in this field.
September 21 – International Day of Peace
In 1981, the General Assembly declared that the opening day of its regular session in September “shall be officially proclaimed and observed as the International Day of Peace, and shall be devoted to the celebration and strengthening of the ideals of peace both within and between nations and peoples”.
Since 2007, Grains of Peace has been marking World Peace Day with events in Geneva, and since 2009, in collaboration with the NGOs of the Collectif Paix et Non-violence.
October 2 – International Day of Non-Violence
The UN created the International Day of Non-Violence to reaffirm “the universal relevance of the principle of non-violence” and “foster a culture of peace, tolerance, understanding and non-violence”. The first International Day of Non-Violence was celebrated at the UN on October 2, 2007.
November 20 – Universal Children’s Day
November 20 marks the day the Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child in 1959, and the day the Convention on the Rights of the Child was signed in 1989.
December 10 – Human Rights Day
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, written in 1948, is the first international recognition that all human beings have fundamental rights and freedoms.