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The United
Nations was built on spiritual principles and universal values such as peace,
human rights, human dignity and worth, justice, respect, good
neighbourliness, freedom, respect for nature and shared responsibility. TOS
groups will therefore find that many UN designated International Days provide
opportunities for promoting the theosophical principles underpinning TOS work
as well as networking with similar community groups in supporting relevant UN
activities.
February 21: International Mother
Language Day
Close to half of the 6,000 languages spoken in the world are doomed or likely to disappear in the foreseeable
future.
March 6: International Women's Day
March 20: World Water Day
March 21: International Day for the
Elimination of Racial Discrimination
March 24: World TB Day
World Tuberculosis Day is designed to build public awareness about the
disease. It commemorates the day in 1882 when Dr Robert Koch announced he had
discovered the cause of tuberculosis. His discovery opened the way toward
diagnosing and curing tuberculosis. Tuberculosis
(TB) kills about two million people each year, making it one of
the world’s leading infectious causes of death among young people and adults.
One-third of the world’s population is infected with TB.
April 7: World Health Day
April 22: Earth Day
April 23: World Book Day
(World Book
Day was celebrated on 6 March in Ireland and the UK.)
April 25: World Malaria
Day
May 3: World Press Freedom Day
May 15: International Day of Families
May 17: World Telecommunication
and Information Society Day
May 25 - June 1: Week of Solidarity
with the Peoples of Non-Self-Governing Territories
May 29: International Day of United
Nations Peacekeepers
May 31: World No-Tobacco Day
Tobacco is the leading preventable cause of death in the world. It is
the only legal consumer product that kills one third to one half of those who
use it as intended by its manufacturers, with its victims dying on average 15
years prematurely. 500 million
of today's smokers will be killed by tobacco. Approximately
1.8 billion young people (aged 10-24) live in our world today with more than
85% found in developing countries. Having survived the vulnerable childhood
period, these young people are generally healthy. However, as the tobacco
industry intensifies its efforts to hook new, young and potentially life-long
tobacco users, the health of a significant percentage of the world’s youth is
seriously threatened by their deadly products.
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