Background: The Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence will devote his report to the 78th session of the General Assembly, in October 2023, to thoroughly reviewing the question of financing of reparations owed to victims of serious violations of human rights and humanitarian law. In order to obtain a broad representation of views to inform the thematic report, he is seeking written contributions from all relevant actors through responses to a questionnaire. Objectives: The report will review the existing experiences, challenges, good practices and lessons learned regarding measures adopted at national and international levels to fund and sustain reparations offered or provided to victims of serious violations of human rights and humanitarian law.
Key questions and types of inputs/comments sought: In order to obtain a broad representation of views to inform the thematic report, the Special Rapporteur is seeking written contributions from all relevant actors through responses to a questionnaire.
The day will inspire hope and encourage high-level leadership, increased investments, faster uptake of new WHO recommendations, adoption of innovations, accelerated action, and multisectoral collaboration to combat the TB epidemic. The WHO will also issue a call to action with partners urging Member States to accelerate the rollout of the new WHO-recommended shorter all-oral treatment regimens for drug-resistant TB.This year is critical, with opportunities to raise visibility and political commitment at the 2023 UN High-Level Meeting on TB. Follow the conversation with the hashtags: #WorldTBDay, #24Marh,‘#YesWecanEndTB, #Tuberculosis.
Millions of people around the world suffer and die from tuberculosis - a preventable, treatable and curable disease. We need to urgently fast-track the response against this ancient disease and reach those affected with the care they need.
The United Nations General Assembly will
hold the Second high-level meeting onthe fight against tuberculosis on
22 September 2023. The theme of the meeting is: “Advancing science,
finance and innovation, and their benefits, to
urgently end the global tuberculosis epidemic, in
particular, by ensuring equitable access to
prevention, testing, treatment and care.”
ORGANIZATION OF THE MEETING
CO-FACILITATORS:
POLANDAND
UZBEKISTAN
TheUN High-Level Meeting on TBwill be
organized under the direction of the UN
General Assembly. WHO is working closely
with the office of the President of the
General Assembly, the Co-facilitators,
Member States and partners including civil
society in making preparations for the UN high-level meeting.
The main objective of the meeting is to
implement a comprehensive review of
progress in the context of the achievement
of targets set in the 2018 political
declaration, and in the Sustainable
Development Goals.
In preparation for the high-level meeting,
Member States have requested forthe
Secretary- General, with support of the
World Health Organization, to develop a
"comprehensive and analytical report on
progress achieved and challenges
remaining in realizing tuberculosis goals
within the context of achieving the 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development,
including on the progress and
implementation of the 2018 political
declaration”
The Multi-stakeholder Hearings on
Tuberculosis / Universal Health Care (UHC) /
Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and
Response will be held on 8-9 May at the
United Nations in New York.
COORDINATION ACROSS THREE
UN HIGH-LEVEL MEETINGS: Based on a request from Member States to
WHO's Director General at the Executive
Board, WHO is working with the office of the
President of the General Assembly to
coordinate across the high-level meetings
of the United Nations General Assembly on
universal health coverage, tuberculosis and
pandemic prevention, preparedness and
response. This includes creating procedural
synergy in the intergovernmental processes
of the three meetings.
FORUM: “The future of weather, climate and water across generations.” World Meteorological Day 2023. As a result of heat-trapping greenhouse gases, the average global temperature is now more than 1° Celsius higher today compared to 150 years ago. Our weather is more extreme, our ocean is warmer and more acidic, sea levels have risen and glaciers and ice are melting. The rate of change is accelerating. We need urgent action now to slash emissions and to ensure that future generations can both survive and thrive on our planet. The good news is that rapid scientific and technological advances have greatly improved the accuracy of weather forecasts and life-saving early warnings. Big data is being exchanged more freely among a wider community than ever before, and there are new tools including machine learning and Artificial Intelligence. There has been significant progress to monitor, simulate and project the global climate to support decision-making. Our weather, climate and water cycle will be different in future than in the past. Weather, climate and hydrological services will help us tackle the associated challenges and seize the opportunities. Forecasts of what the weather will BE are no longer enough. Impact-based forecasts that inform the public of what the weather will DO are vital to save lives and livelihoods. Yet one in three people are still not adequately covered by early warning systems. Follow the conversations with the hashtags: #WorldMetDay, #23March, #Meteorology, #Climatology, #Hydrology, #weather.
On this World Meteorological Day, humanity faces a difficult truth: climate change is making our planet uninhabitable.
Every year of insufficient action to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius drives us closer to the brink, increasing systemic risks and reducing our resilience against climate catastrophe. As countries hurtle past the 1.5-degree limit, climate change is intensifying heatwaves, droughts, flooding, wildfires and famines, while threatening to submerge low-lying countries and cities and drive more species to extinction.
This year’s theme — The Future of Weather, Climate and Water Across Generations — compels us all to live up to our responsibilities and ensure that future generations inherit a better tomorrow.
That means accelerating actions to limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees, through scaled-up mitigation and adaptation measures.
It means radically transforming our energy and transportation systems, breaking our addiction to fossil fuels, and embracing a just transition to renewable energy.
It means developed countries providing a revolution of financial and technical support to developing countries as they mitigate emissions, adapt to a renewable future, build resilience against extreme weather events, and address the loss and damage resulting from climate change.
And it means living up to the promise made last World Meteorological Day to ensure that early warning systems against climate disasters cover every person in the world. Thirty countries have now been identified for accelerated implementation this year.
2023 must be a year of transformation, not tinkering.
It’s time to end the relentless — and senseless — war on nature, and deliver the sustainable future that our climate needs, and our children and grandchildren deserve.
Greetings from the World Meteorological Organization secretariat in Geneva.
Our weather and climate and water cycle know no national or political boundaries. International cooperation is essential. This philosophy has driven the work of the great meteorological family since 1873 and will guide us in the future.
The demand for our expertise and our science has never been higher.
World Meteorological Day 2023 is very special because it takes place during the 150th anniversary of WMO’s predecessor, the International Meteorological Organization.
For the past 150 years, National Meteorological and Hydrological Services have collected and standardized data which underpin the weather forecasts we now take for granted. The history of WMO data exchange is a success story of scientific cooperation to save lives and livelihoods.
We are the second oldest United Nations agency. We are proud of our achievements and will celebrate them in a landmark year when our decision-making World Meteorological Congress will agree strategic priorities to promote our vision of a world which is more resilient to extreme weather, climate, water and other environmental events.
Early Warnings for All
There is increasing momentum behind the ambitious drive to ensure that life-saving early warning systems cover everyone in the next five years. The Early Warnings for All Initiative, launched by UN Secretary-General António Guterres on World Meteorological Day 2022 was endorsed at COP27 in Sharm-el-Sheikh and has won support from developed and developing countries, from the UN family and the private sector.
Early warnings work. They must work for everyone.
Half of WMO Members still do not have adequate Multi-Hazard Early Warning Systems and we need to fill the gaps in the basic observing system, especially in Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States.
Early warnings are the low-hanging fruit of climate change adaptation – which is no long a luxury but a must. According to the World Economic Forum, in the next ten-year time frame, failure to mitigate climate change, failure of climate change adaptation and natural disasters are the highest risks for the global economy.
At least half of all disasters are water-related. At the UN Water Conference in New York (22 to 24 April), WMO will show how water-related hazards like floods and droughts are increasing. Climate change and the melting of glaciers will also lead to more water stress. Better water monitoring and management are essential and this is why WMO is working on a Global Water Information System to promote free exchange of hydrological data.
Greenhouse Gas Monitoring
Climate change is the defining challenge of our time. How we respond to that challenge will determine the future of our planet and our children and grandchildren. This will be highlighted in the Synthesis of the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
The global average temperature is more than 1.1°C higher than it was when the IMO was founded 150 years ago. Our weather is more extreme, our ocean is warmer and more acidic, sea levels have risen and glaciers and ice are melting. The rate of change is accelerating.
Atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases remain at record levels. And yet there is currently no comprehensive, timely international exchange of surface and space-based greenhouse gas observations.
To fill the void, WMO is seeking to develop a sustained and coordinated Global Greenhouse Gas Monitoring Infrastructure.
It would expand and consolidate WMO’s long-standing activities in greenhouse gas monitoring under the auspices of the Global Atmosphere Watch and the Integrated Global Greenhouse Gas Information System.
The concept is based on the highly successful World Weather Watch, which was ushered in at the start of the satellite era and celebrates its 60th anniversary this year. It remains the gold standard for international cooperation.
WMO’s Members can be proud of our achievements in our long and rich history.
We started life in an era of morse code and telegrams for shipping forecasts. Supercomputers and satellite technology are opening up new horizons for ever more reliable weather and climate prediction – with the possibility of kilometer-scale models.
But even in an era of artificial intelligence and machine learning, we still depend on the personal dedication and commitment of the staff of National Meteorological and Hydrological Services who work every day of every year to save lives.
We thank you all.
Prof. Petteri Taalas,
WMO Secretary-General.
EVENTS: The World Meteorological Day 2023 will take place on March 23rd. The ceromy of the WMO’s 150th anniversary will be observed on Thursday, 16 March 2023 from 14:30 - 16:30 GMT+1 at the World Meteorological Organization HQ in Geneva, Switzerland.The event will highlight the past achievements, present progress and future potential - from the late 19th century telegraphs and shipping forecasts to supercomputers and space technology. Throughout this time, National Meteorological and Hydrological Services have worked around the clock to collect and standardize data which underpin the weather forecasts we now take for granted. The history of WMO data exchange is a remarkable story of scientific vision, technological development and, most of all, of a unique system of cooperation to serve society. The anniversary also serves as a reminder of our changing climate. The International Meteorological Organization – the predecessor of the World Meteorological Organization – was established in 1873 in an era when pollution from industrial and human activities was at its beginning.
The World Meteorological Day 2023 ceremony took place on Thursday, 16 March 2023 at WMO Headquarters in Geneva. This was in view of the UN Water conference in New York from 22-24 March.
Early festivities allow for vital discussions ahead of the UN 2023 Water Conference. The WMO's 150th anniversary will showcase past achievements and future prospects, from telegraphs to space technology. The official World Meteorological Day on 23 March 2023 will be marked with the usual celebrations around the world, and with WMO communication activities.
World Meteorological Day 2023 Ceremony. 16 March 2023 at 14:30-16:30 (GMT+1). WMO Headquarters, Geneva, Switzerland. PROGRAMME
Opening
- Ms Esra Sümeyye (Türkyie), 14 year old winner of 2022 UPU Letter Writing Competition - Prof. Petteri Taalas, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Official Addresses
- Mr Selwin Hart, Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on Climate Action and Just Transition on Early Warnings for All Initiative called by UNSG one year ago - H.E. Juerg Lauber, Ambassador of Switzerland to the UN - H.E. Mr M. Ahmed Ihab Gamaleldin, Ambassador of Egypt to the UN – on COP27 - H.E. Mr Ahmed Aljarman, Ambassador of UAE to the United Nations – on COP28 Speakers
The World Water Day 2023 campaign is now live. This year, the focus of the UN observance is on accelerating change to solve the water and sanitation crisis.Currently, the world is seriously off track on SDG 6. The latest data show that governments must work on average four times faster to meet this Goal on time. Dysfunction throughout the water cycle is undermining progress on all major global issues, from health to hunger, gender equality to jobs, education to industry, disasters to peace. Rapid, transformative change is needed and everyone can play their part. Every action – no matter how small – will make a difference. Follow the conversation with the hashtags: #WorldWaterDay, #22March, #Acceleratingchange
The promises made by individuals on the campaign website will contribute to the Water Action Agenda - a main outcome of the UN 2023 Water Conference, which opens on World Water Day, 22 March 2023.
The global campaign, called Be the change, encourages people to take action in their own lives to change the way they use, consume and manage water.
The Water Action Agenda is a collection of voluntary commitments from governments, companies, organizations, institutions, coalitions and members of the public, designed to deliver rapid progress on internationally-agreed water and sanitation targets, most notably Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6): water and sanitation for all by 2030.
United Nations World Water Development Report 2023 -Partnerships and Cooperation for Water.
At current rates of progress, Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 – water and sanitation for all – will not be achieved by 2030. Accelerated implementation is needed, which depends on the capacity of the world’s organizations and institutions to come together in partnerships and cooperation to rapidly speed up progress.
The UN WWDR will review how the water and sanitation community can cooperate more effectively within itself and with other sectors and realms of decision-making where water is critical for progress, such as health, education, climate change and gender equality.
The UN WWDR is UN-Water’s flagship report on water and sanitation issues, focusing on a different theme each year. The report is published by UNESCO, on behalf of UN-Water and its production is coordinated by the UNESCO World Water Assessment Programme. Browse past editions of the UN WWDR and download the 2023 edition on 22 March 2023.
The message of With Us Not For Us is key to a human rights-based approach to disability. We are committed to moving on from the outdated charity model of disability, where people with disability were treated as objects of charity, deserving of pity and relying on others for support. A human rights-based approach views people with disabilities as having the right to be treated fairly and have the same opportunities as everyone else, working WITH others to improve the lives of the persons with down syndrome. Follow the conversation with the hashtags: #WithUsNotForUs and #WorldDownSyndromeDay.
CAMPAIGN: For WDSD 2023, we call for people and organisations around the world to be With Us Not For Us. Read more about the global campaign here.
In December 2022, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution, promoting and mainstreaming easy-to-understand communication for accessibility for persons with disabilities.
The 2023 theme of the International Day focuses on the urgency of combatting racism and racial discrimination, 75 years after the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).21 March is also an opportunity to focus attention on the International Decade for the People of African Descent, who constitute some of the world’s poorest and most marginalized groups. Five years after the Decade’s launch in 2015, the United Nations General Assembly have conducted a critical mid-point review, to assess what countries have accomplished and to identify actions to be taken to improve the human rights situation of Afro-descendants. Studies and findings by international and national bodies demonstrate that people of African descent still have limited access to quality education, health services, housing and social security. To observe the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, We invite people to demonstrate how 'harmony' hides structural and systemic racism. Follow the conversation with the hashtags:#AfricanDescent, #21March, #FightRacism, #IDERD.
Commemorative Event 21 March 2023, 11:00-12:30 pm EDT General Assembly Hall, New York
An event to mark the International Day, featuring remarks by Secretary-General António Guterres, Mr. Csaba Kőrösi, President of the General Assembly, Ms. Ilze Brand Kehris, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, Ms. Verene Albertha Sheperd, Chairperson of Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, and more. Watch live on UN WebTV.
Debate on the urgency of combatting racism and racial discrimination 75 years after the adoption of the UDHR
Wednesday, 29 March 2023, 4 - 6 pm CET Palais des Nations, Geneva
The panel discussion will gather speakers, who are known for their active role in the fight against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, and who are from diverse backgrounds. They will share their experience, expertise and recommendations on how to address some of the most pressing challenges and obstacles. Watch live on UN WebTV.
2023 UN Human Rights Prize
Nominations are now open for the 2023 UN Human Rights Prize. The prize, which is given out every five years, recognizes individuals or organizations for outstanding achievements in the field of human rights. Nominations can be submitted until 15 April 2023. The award ceremony will take place at UN Headquarters in New York in December 2023.
HOW TO GET INVOLVED!
- Advance equality and anti-discrimination.
Get involved in the development of more advanced racial awareness
- mobilize actions against all forms and manifestations of racial discrimination and injustice. - Support individual and organisational conversations about the importance of keeping the focus of IDERD - Engage in proactive, open discussions about racism demonstrates a commitment to tackling racism when it occurs and preventing it in the future - Provide the space to strategise for change.
CAMPAIGN: Against the alarming rise of xenophobia, racism and intolerance, the UN Human Rights Office has launched its #FightRacism campaign to foster a global culture of tolerance, equality and anti-discrimination.
Happiness is a fundamental human goal. The United Nations General Assembly recognizes this goal and calls for “a more inclusive, equitable and balanced approach to economic growth that promotes the happiness and well-being of all peoples.” Follow the conversation with the hashtags; #HappinessDay, #20March, #IntDayofHappiness
This year marks the 11th anniversary of the World Happiness Report, which uses global survey data to report how people evaluate their own lives in more than 150 countries worldwide.
Join the Editors of the World Happiness Report 2023 as we launch our 11th edition. Moderated by Sarah Jones, we will go through the themes of this year's report.
What is the consensus view about measuring national happiness, and what kinds of behaviour does it require of individuals and institutions? (Chapter 1)
How have trust and benevolence saved lives and supported happiness over the past three years of COVID-19 and other crises? (Chapter 2)
What is state effectiveness and how does it affect human happiness? (Chapter 3)
How does altruistic behaviour by individuals affect their own happiness, that of the recipient, and the overall happiness of society? (Chapter 4)
How well does social media data enable us to measure the prevailing levels of happiness and distress? (Chapter 5)
