UNIS/INF/260
18 February 2008
2008 United Nations International Years, Days and Weeks
VIENNA, 18 February (UN Information Service) -- In 2008, the United Nations will observe of the below international years, days and weeks.
International Year of Languages
On 16 May 2007, the General Assembly proclaimed 2008 as the International Year of Languages and called upon Member States and the United Nations Secretariat to promote the preservation and protection of all languages used by peoples of the world (resolution 61/266). It invited the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to serve as lead agency for the Year.
In addition, the Assembly has recognized the period from 12 September 2007 to 11 September 2008 as the year commemorating the Ethiopian Millennium, and it has welcomed the decision by the World Health Assembly to commemorate Malaria Day annually on 25 April, or any day or days as individual Member States may decide.
International Year of Sanitation
Deeply concerned by insufficient progress in providing access to basic sanitation services in developing countries, and conscious of the impact of the lack of sanitation on people's health, poverty reduction and economic and social development, and the environment, the General Assembly, on 20 December 2006, decided to proclaim 2008 as the International Year of Sanitation (resolution 61/192). The Assembly requested that the Department of Economic and Social Affairs serve as focal point for the Year.
The Assembly encouraged all States, as well as the United Nations system and all other relevant stakeholders, to take advantage of the Year to increase awareness of the importance of sanitation and to promote action at all levels. It called upon States, as well as subregional, regional and international organizations and other relevant stakeholders, including the private sector and civil society, to make voluntary contributions in support of the Year.
Year of the Potato
The General Assembly has declared 2008 as the International Year of the Potato, by its resolution 60/191 of 22 December 2005. In taking this action, the Assembly affirmed the need to focus world attention on the role that the potato can play in providing food security and eradicating poverty, and in achieving internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals. It invited the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to facilitate the implementation of the Year, in collaboration with Governments, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, and other relevant United Nations system and non-governmental organizations.
Previously, the Assembly had declared 2004 as the International Year of Rice, noting that rice is the staple food of more than half of the world's population (resolution 57/162 of 16 December 2002). Then, too, it affirmed the need to heighten awareness of the role of rice in alleviating poverty and malnutrition and reaffirmed the need to focus world attention on the role it can play in attaining internationally agreed development goals, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration.
International Year of Planet Earth
On 22 December 2005, the General Assembly declared 2008 as the International Year of Planet Earth (resolution 60/192). In so doing, it took account of the crucial role the Year could play in raising public awareness of the importance for sustainable development of the Earth's processes and resources; disaster prevention, reduction and mitigation; and capacity-building for the sustainable management of resources; as well as its important contribution to the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014).
The Assembly designated the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as the lead agency and focal point for the Year, to organize related activities in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and other relevant UN bodies, as well as the International Union of Geological Sciences and other Earth science societies and groups worldwide.
2008-2009 International Year of Human Rights Learning
(for one year, beginning on 10 December 2008)
The General Assembly has proclaimed the year commencing on 10 December 2008 as the International Year of Human Rights Learning, to be devoted to activities to broaden and deepen human rights learning based on the principles of universality, indivisibility, interdependency, impartiality, objectivity and non-selectivity, constructive dialogue and cooperation (resolution 62/171 of 18 December 2007). It aims to enhance the promotion and protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the right to development.
27 January International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust
20 February (beginning in 2009) World Day of Social Justice
21 February International Mother Language Day
8 March United Nations Day for Women's Rights and International Peace (International Women's Day)
21 March International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
Beginning 21 March Week of Solidarity with the Peoples Struggling against Racism and Racial Discrimination
22 March World Day for Water
23 March World Meteorological Day
25 March International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade
2 April World Autism Awareness Day
4 April International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action
7 April World Health Day
23 April World Book and Copyright Day
3 May World Press Freedom Day
8 and 9 May Time of Remembrance and Reconciliation for Those Who Lost Their Lives during the Second World War
15 May International Day of Families
17 May World Telecommunication Day
17 May World Information Society Day
21 May World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development
22 May International Day for Biological Diversity
Beginning 25 May Week of Solidarity with the Peoples of Non-Self-Governing Territories
29 May International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers
31 May World No-Tobacco Day
4 June International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression
5 June World Environment Day
17 June World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought
20 June World Refugee Day
23 June United Nations Public Service Day
26 June International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking
26 June International Day in Support of Victims of Torture
5 July (first Saturday of July) International Day of Cooperatives
11 July World Population Day
9 August (through 9 August 2014) International Day of the World's Indigenous People
12 August International Youth Day
23 August International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and Its Abolition
8 September International Literacy Day
15 September International Day of Democracy
16 September International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer
21 September International Day of Peace
September (during last week of September) World Maritime Day
1 October International Day of Older Persons
2 October International Day of Non-Violence
4-10 October World Space Week
5 October World Teachers' Day
6 October (first Monday of October) World Habitat Day
8 October (second Wednesday of October) International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction
9 October World Post Day
10 October World Mental Health Day
15 October International Day of Rural Women
16 October World Food Day
17 October International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
24 October United Nations Day
24 October World Development Information Day
24-30 October Disarmament Week
6 November International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict
14 November World Diabetes Day
16 November International Day for Tolerance
16 November (third Sunday of November) World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims
20 November Africa Industrialization Day
20 November Universal Children's Day
21 November World Television Day
25 November International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women
29 November International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People
1 December World AIDS Day
2 December International Day for the Abolition of Slavery
3 December International Day of Persons with Disabilities
5 December International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development
7 December International Civil Aviation Day
9 December International Anti-Corruption Day
10 December Human Rights Day
11 December International Mountain Day
18 December International Migrants Day
19 December United Nations Day for South-South Cooperation
20 December International Human Solidarity Day
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