Day 351 – December 17th – Project For Awesome

Project For Awesome (P4A) is an annual event held on December 17th each year, during which the YouTube community comes together to promote various charities and worthwhile causes. It is basically a day where YouTubers post videos talking about charities in an effort to promote causes and make the world in general a better place.

YouTube is very much a community, but what P4A achieves is to focus the communal effort and passion to do something constructive and help many different people as a result. The ultimate aim of the project is to effectively ‘take over’ YouTube by gaining valuable support and further promoting the videos to make them the most-discussed an top-rated on the site.

To find out a bit more about Project For Awesome, click here. To find out how you can get involved and make your own video promoting a charity, go here. To take part in the various raffles that are going on, you can go here. To go to the P4A YouTube channel, click here. Lastly, to learn about some of the charities being supported this year, please go here.

Day 344 – December 10th – Human Rights Day

December 10th is Human Rights Day, and event that marks the United Nations General Assembly‘s adoption and proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on December 10th 1948. The day is marked by political conferences and meetings, as well as by cultural events and exhibitions concerning human rights and issues surrounding them. Civil and social-cause organisations also commemorate the day with a range of special events.

Each year Human Rights Day has a specific theme to focus on, raising awareness of a particular issue. This year, the theme is ‘Speak Up, Stop Discrimination‘, recognising the work of ‘human rights defenders worldwide who act to end discrimination.‘ A ‘Human Rights Defender’ is somebody who, either individually or with others, acts peacefully to promote or protect human rights.

You can watch a message from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, below:

To find out more about Human Rights Defenders, you can go here. To read a message on Human Rights Day from the UN Secretary-General, click here. To find out how you can help to publicise the day, go here. To leanr more about various events that have gone on/are going on today, you can go here.

Day 337 – December 3rd – International Day of Persons with Disabilities

December 4rd is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. It is an event that is promoted by the United Nations and has roots back to the International Year of Disabled Persons in 1981. An important outcome of the year was the formulation and adoption of the World Programme of Action Concerning Disabled Persons by the UN General Assembly in 1982. The International Decade of Disabled Persons then ran from 1983 to 1993. From 1998, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities has been observed annually.

The day is an opportunity to raise awareness and promote understanding of issues concerning disabilities, focussing on the rights of disabled people to try and help to integrate them into all aspects of life in their communities. It is part of the UN’s quest for ‘social justice and equity in all aspects of societal development.‘

Every year the celebration has a certain theme or observance. For 2010 it is ‘Keeping the promise: Mainstreaming disability in the Millennium Development Goals towards 2015 and beyond‘. The Millennium Development Goals are eight international goals that all UN states have agreed to achieve by 2015. They look at helping people all around the world regarding issues such as poverty and disease. However, the UN believe that these goals cannot be achieved if disabled people are not included, especially as 10% of the world’s population are disabled.

To find out a bit more about the International Day of Persons with Disabilities 2010, go here. For the general UN page on disability, you can click here.

Day 335 – December 1st – World AIDS Day

December 1st is World AIDS Day. It is an event dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic that has been caused by the widespread HIV infection. The campaign began in 1988, being spearheaded by UNAIDS (Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS), although since 2004 the World AIDS Campaign‘s Global Steering Committee has consulted with organisations and govermentagencies involved with AIDS response to help select a theme each year.

Between 1981 and 2007, more than 25 million people died from AIDS, making it one of the worst epidemics in recorded history. Even with better antiretroviral treatment and care and better access to these things, AIDS still claims million of lives every year. Although it is a worldwide problem, the worst affected areas are Africa and Asia.

Every year the event has a designated theme, which helps to focus annual efforts and highlight a particular aspect of the campaign. The 2010 theme, as has been since 2005, is ‘Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise‘, with the sub-theme this year being ‘Universal Access and Human Rights‘. World leaders have pledged to work towards achieving universal access to HIV and AIDS treatment and care, believing these to be fundamental human rights.

For general information about HIV and AIDS, you can go here. To find out how you can get involved and do something to help, click here. To find out a bit more about the World AIDS campaign, you can go here. To make a donation to the National AIDS Trust, please go here.

Day 320 – November 16th – International Day for Tolerance

November 16th is the International Day for Tolerance, an annual event declared by UNESCO in 1995, which was also the United Nations Year for Tolerance. The main aim of the observance is to spread awareness of the dangers of intolerance, as well as supporting the promotion and education of tolerance around the world.

Also in 1995, the General Conference of UNESCO adopted the Declaration of the Principles of Tolerance. As well representing the views of the UN, it also outlines the importance of tolerance, building up a general idea as to why the day is celebrated.

The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon spoke of the event:

“Tolerance is especially necessary to guard against the politics of polarization, at a time when stereotypes, ignorance and hatred threaten to tear the delicate fabric of increasingly diverse societies.  Today’s world is more closely tied than ever by trade and information technology, but rifts between and within communities and states are being broadened and deepened by poverty, ignorance and conflict.“

I believe that the International Day for Tolerance is helping to build a better, fairer world. Tolerance is an important part of that, especially if we want equality.

Day 318 – November 14th – World Diabetes Day

November 14th is World Diabetes Day, an event designed to raise awareness of diabetes, cases of which are rising at an alarming rate around the world. The event was introduced in 1991 by  the International Diabetes Federation and the World Health Organisation. The day is a global awareness campaign that features an annual theme to address issues facing the global diabetes community. These campaigns run all year, but the day itself marks the birthday of Frederick Banting, who, along with Charles Best, conceived the idea that led to the discovery of insulin in 1922.

The theme that is running from 2009-2013 is ‘Diabetes Education and Prevention‘. it calls on the people responsible for diabetes care to understand the disease and take control. The key messages of the campaign are:

• Know the diabetes risks and know the warning signs
• Know how to respond to diabetes and who to turn to
• Know how to manage diabetes and take control

The overall campaign goals for the period are:

• Encourage governments to implement and strengthen policies for the prevention and control of diabetes and its complications.
• Disseminate tools to support national and local initiatives for the prevention and management of diabetes and its complications.
• Illustrate the importance of evidence-based education in the prevention and management of diabetes and its complications.
• Raise awareness of the warning signs of diabetes and promote action to encourage early diagnosis.
• Raise awareness of and promote action to reduce the main modifiable risk factors for type 2 diabetes.
• Raise awareness and promote action to prevent or delay the complications of diabetes.

For more information about World Diabetes Day, click here. To find out more about the current campaign, you can go here. To discover more about the logo, please go here. For news on the campaigns, you can click here.

Day 315 – November 11th – Remembrance Day

November 11th is Remembrance Day (also known as Armistice Day or Veterans Day). It is an event that is observed to remember all of the members of armed forces and civilians that have died as a result of conflicts since the First World War. It marks the anniversary of the official end of World War I in 1918, when the armistice was signed. At 11AM every year, a two minute silence is observed.

The red poppy has became a well-recognised symbol of Remembrance Day. The origins lay in Flanders, Belgium, where poppies bloomed across some of the worst battlefields of World War I. Their bright red colour served as a reminder of the blood that had been spilt in the war.

Even though I am strongly against war, I still believe that it is important to commemorate Remembrance Day, as it is an opportunity to think about all of the unnecessary deaths that have resulted from various wars over the past one hundred years or so. As far as I’m concerned, nobody should have to sacrifice their life to allow others to remain safe and secure. War should never be necessary. It’s just a shame that people don’t seem to learn from the past; that people still go on fighting and, tragically, die.

Day 297 – October 24th – United Nations Day

October 24th is ‘United Nations Day‘. The event started in 1948, commemorating the anniversary of the Charter of the United Nations. It is designed to raise awareness of the work that the United Nations does, as well as making known their aims and achievements.

The focus this year is on the eight Millennium Development Goals, goals that have been set to be achieved by 2015. They are:

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
2. Achieve universal primary education
3. Promote gendre equality and empower women
4. Reduce child mortality
5. Improve maternal health
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
8. Develop a global partnership for development

Today is also ‘World Development Information Day‘, which draws the attention of world public opinion every year to development problems, as well as emphasizing the necessity of improving international co-operation to solve them. A specific aim of this event is to inform and motivate young people regarding current issues and problems.

Day 290 – October 17th – International Day for the Eradication of Poverty

October 17th is the ‘International Day for the Eradication of Poverty‘, also known as the ‘World Day to Overcome Extreme Poverty‘. It is an event designed to make the voice of the poor heard. The main message, which sums up the occasion well, is ‘Wherever men and women are condemned to live in extreme poverty, human rights are violated. To come together to ensure that these rights be respected is our solemn duty’.

The theme this year is ‘From Poverty to Decent Work: bridging the gap‘, which is especially relevant due to the ongoing economic crisis. August 12th also marked the start of the ‘International Year of Youth‘, meaning that great emphasis has gone on the dialogue that is needed between the younger generation and others on the issue of youth.

For more information about the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, you can click here. To sign the ‘Striving Together to End Poverty’ petition, please click here. To find out about other ways in which you can support the event, go here.

Day 289 – October 16th – World Food Day

October 16th is ‘World Food Day‘, an annual event established in 1979 to commemorate the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. Since 1981, World Food Day has adopted an annual theme, highlighting areas that need action and providing a common focus for the events that take place. To mark the occasion, events take place in over 150 countried every year.

The main objectives of World Food Day are to:

• encourage attention to agricultural food production and to stimulate national, bilateral, multilateral and non-governmental efforts to this end;
• encourage economic and technical cooperation among developing countries;
• encourage the participation of rural people, particularly women and the least privileged categories, in decisions and activities influencing their living conditions;
• heighten public awareness of the problem of hunger in the world;
• promote the transfer of technologies to the developing world; and
• strengthen international and national solidarity in the struggle against hunger, malnutrition and poverty and draw attention to achievements in food and agricultural development.

The theme this year is ‘United against Hunger‘, seeking to recognise the efforts made my all participants in the fight against world hunger. With an estimated 925 million people hungry worldwide, it is more important than ever to act for this important and worthwhile cause.

For a list of all the events taking place this year, you can go here. To find out about the ’1 Billion Hungry’ campaign and the petition to help end world hunger, click here.