• World Water Day

    Key messages for World Water Day 2024 Water can create peace or spark conflict. When water is scarce or polluted, or when people struggle for access, tensions can rise. By cooperating on water, we can balance everyone’s water needs and help stabilize the world. Prosperity and peace rely on water. As nations manage climate change,...

  • The International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade

    2024 Remembrance Programme    “Creating Global Freedom: Countering Racism with Justice in Societies and Among Nations"   The transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans represents one of the most horrific and traumatizing eras in human history. This racialized system of enslavement abducted, trafficked, and brutally dehumanized Africans and their descendants over centuries leaving a pernicious legacy of...

  • International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff Members

    Protecting UN staff Since the founding of the United Nations in 1945, hundreds of brave men and women have lost their lives in its service. During the 1990s, the growing number and scale of UN peacekeeping missions put many more at risk. More lives were lost during the 1990s than in the previous four decades...

  • International Day of Zero Waste

    International Day of Zero Waste The International Day of Zero Waste aims to promote sustainable consumption and production patterns, support the societal shift towards circularity and raise awareness about how zero-waste initiatives contribute to the advancement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The waste sector contributes significantly to the triple planetary crisis of climate change,...

  • World Autism Awareness Day

    Background Throughout its history, the United Nations family has celebrated diversity and promoted the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities, including learning differences and developmental disabilities. In 2008, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities entered into force, reaffirming the fundamental principle of universal human rights for all. Its purpose is to...

  • International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action

    Background On 8 December 2005, the General Assembly declared that 4 April of each year shall be observed as the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action. It called for continued efforts by States, with the assistance of the United Nations and relevant organizations, to foster the establishment and development of national mine-action capacities...

  • International Day of Conscience

    Promoting a Culture of Peace with Love and Conscience The preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that "disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of humankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from...

  • International Day of Sport for Development and Peace

    IDSDP 2024: Sport for the Promotion of Peaceful and Inclusive Societies The International Day of Sport for Development and Peace (IDSDP), which takes place annually on 6 April, presents an opportunity to recognize the positive role sport and physical activity play in communities and in people’s lives across the globe. The global theme for 2024 is...

  • International Day of Human Space Flight

    The beginning of the space era for mankind The General Assembly, in its resolution A/RES/65/271 of 7 April 2011, declared 12 April as the International Day of Human Space Flight “to celebrate each year at the international level the beginning of the space era for mankind, reaffirming the important contribution of space science and technology in achieving...

  • Chinese Language Day

    Celebrating United Nations Chinese Language Day   There are six official languages ​​of the United Nations, namely Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. In order to emphasize the importance of linguistic and cultural diversity and promote the equal use of the six official languages ​​of the United Nations, in 2010, the United Nations Department of Public...

  • World Creativity and Innovation Day

    Creativity and innovation in problem-solving There may be no universal understanding of creativity. The concept is open to interpretation from artistic expression to problem-solving in the context of economic, social and sustainable development. Therefore, the United Nations designated 21 April as World Creativity and Innovation Day to raise the awareness of the role of creativity...