This month will see more global observances than there are days in June, commemorating everything from bicycles to oceans.
Right now, the UN observes 218?international days?(and counting)!
The tradition started long before the UN, but it didn’t take long for the Organization and its growing membership to embrace designated days as a powerful advocacy tool.
Who picks the days?
One of the first designations came from the UN General Assembly’s declaration in 1947 that 24 October should be celebrated as?United Nations Day, the anniversary of the adoption of the??that founded the Organization.
Since then, UN Member States have proposed more than 200 designations, presenting draft resolutions to the General Assembly so the entire membership, representing 193 nations, can vote.?
Other UN specialised agencies have also made designations, like?, declared by World Health Organization () members and marked annually on 1 December to bring people together around the world to demonstrate international solidarity in the face of the pandemic.
What are the newest days?
The world body declared its latest global day just last month. It unanimously adopted a resolution proclaiming 25 May?World Football Day, as 2024 marks the 100th anniversary of the first international football tournament in history with the representation of all regions as part of the 1924 Summer Olympic Games, held in Paris.
Another new designation marked its first observance on 24 May 2024.?The International Day of the Markhor?celebrates the iconic and ecologically significant species found across mountain ranges from Afghanistan to Turkmenistan.
Making rare exceptions
Sometimes there are exceptions.
In 1971, then UN Secretary-General U Thant declared 22 April as?.
But it took the General Assembly 38 years to catch up. In 2009, Member States designated 5 June as?World Environment Day.
Doubling up on days
Over the decades, the calendar has gotten a little crowded.
That’s why some days share. On 5 June, while the world commemorates ecology, it will also observe the?International Day for the Fight against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing.
One of the busiest days is 21 March, which UN Member States have designated as the start of the??as well as the?International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination,?International Day of Nowruz?and?World Down Syndrome Day.
There was also room on the calendar on 21 March for?, declared so by the UN Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization ().
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