International Day of Older Persons : Commemorations 2012

International Day of Older Persons
Commemorations 2012

Events Organized on 1-3 October 2012 in Geneva


- Events organized on 10 October 2012 in New York

Events Organized on 10 October 2012 in New York

International Day of Older Persons 1 October - UN Secretary-General Message for 2012

Secretary-General's Message for 2012

Rapid population ageing and a steady increase in human longevity worldwide represent one of the greatest social, economic and political transformations of our time.  These demographic changes will affect every community, family and person.  They demand that we rethink how individuals live, work, plan and learn throughout their lifetimes, and that we re-invent how societies manage themselves.

As we embark on shaping the post-2015 United Nations development agenda, we must envision a new paradigm that aligns demographic ageing with economic and social growth and protects the human rights of older persons.  We are all — individually and collectively — responsible for the inclusion of older persons in society, whether through developing accessible transportation and communities, ensuring the availability of age-appropriate health care and social services, or providing an adequate social protection floor.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the adoption of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing.  As the proportion of older persons in society grows, the bold vision it put forward — of building a society for all ages — is more relevant than ever.

Longevity is a public health achievement, not a social or economic liability.  On this International Day of Older Persons, let us pledge to ensure the well-being of older persons and to enlist their meaningful participation in society so we can all benefit from their knowledge and ability.

Ban Ki-moon

Video Message from Ms Irina Bokova on the occasion of World Teachers' Day

UNESCO's Director General's message on the occasion of WTD 2012 - Irina Bokova

World Teachers' Day 2012: Take a stand for teachers!

“Take a stand for teachers!” is the slogan of World Teachers’ Day 2012 (5 October) which UNESCO is celebrating along with its partners, the International Labour Organization, UNDP, UNICEF and Education International (EI).  

Taking a stand for the teaching profession means providing adequate training, ongoing professional development, and protection for teachers’ rights.

All over the world, a quality education offers hope and the promise of a better standard of living. However, there can be no quality education without competent and motivated teachers.

On this day, we call for teachers to receive supportive environments, adequate quality training as well as ‘safeguards’ for teachers’ rights and responsibilities...We expect a lot from teachers – they, in turn, are right to expect as much from us. This World Teachers’ Day is an opportunity for all to take 
stand. 
   

       Irina Bokova, UNESCO Director-General

Teachers are among the many factors that keep children in school and influ
ence learning. They help students think critically, process information from several sources, work cooperatively, tackle problems and make informed choices.

Why take a stand for teachers? Because the profession is losing status in many parts of the world.. World Teachers’ Day calls attention the need to raise the status of the profession - not only for the benefit of teachers and students, but for society as a whole, to acknowledge the crucial role teachers play in building the future.

At UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, the focus of the 2012 World Teachers’ Day celebration will be on how to attract top graduates to teaching and how to raise the status of teachers.

Partners are also urged to organize events around the world in order to make the day a truly international celebration.

Challenges

An estimated 5.4 million more teachers are required to reach Universal Primary Education by 2015. While recruiting new teachers, the quality of teaching and learning must also be improved and schools should be supported in their efforts to attract qualified teachers. The challenge of quantity must be met head-on, while ensuring quality and equity.

World Teachers’ Day is an opportunity to examine issues facing teachers on the national and regional levels from an international perspective and to measure the progress made by national teachers in a global context. A truly international perspective necessitates that all countries accept and celebrate World Teachers’ Day on 5 October.

United Nations (UN) member states

There are United Nations (UN) member states, and each of them is a member of the United Nations General Assembly.
The criteria for admission of new members are set out in the United Nations Charter, Chapter II, Article 4, as follows:

1. Membership in the United Nations is open to all other peace-loving states which accept the obligations contained in the present Charter and, in the judgment of the Organization, are able and willing to carry out these obligations.
2. The admission of any such state to membership in the United Nations will be effected by a decision of the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council.

A recommendation for admission from the Security Council requires affirmative votes from at least nine of the council's fifteen members, with none of the five permanent members voting against. The Security Council's recommendation must then be subsequently approved in the General Assembly by a two-thirds majority vote.In principle, only sovereign states can become UN members, and currently all UN members are sovereign states (although a few members were not sovereign when they joined the UN). Vatican City is the only sovereign state with general international recognition that is not a UN member (the Holy See, which holds sovereignty over the state of Vatican City and maintains diplomatic relations with other states, is a UN permanent observer). Because a state can only be admitted to the UN by the approval of the Security Council and the General Assembly, a number of states that may be considered sovereign states according to the Montevideo Convention criteria are not members because the UN does not consider them to possess sovereignty, mainly due to the lack of international recognition or opposition from certain members.

World Habitat Day 2012 - Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon

Ban Ki-moon United Nations Secretary General on World Habitat Day 2012

Theme for 2012: Changing Cities, Building Opportunities

In Resolution 40/202 of 17 December 1985, the UN General Assembly designated the first Monday of October of every year as World Habitat Day. In 2012, World Habitat Day is commemorated on 1 October. World Habitat Day 2012 - Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon

" Building Cities, Building Opportunities " World Habitat Day 2012

World Habitat Day celebrations 

  CHANGING CITIES...

 WHD Messages

The Secretary-General message on World Habitat Day, 1 October 2012 Half the world's people now live in towns and cities. In little more than a generation, two-thirds of the global population will be urban. As the proportion of humanity living in the urban environment grows, so too does the need to strengthen the urban focus of our efforts to reduce global poverty and promote sustainable development. Read more English|Arabic|Chinese|French|Russian|Spanish  


Statement by Dr. Joan Clos, Executive Director of UN-Habitat on the occasion of World Habitat Day, 1 October 2012 We selected the theme, Changing cities, building opportunities, for World Habitat Day this year because our quest to improve cities and provide better services and opportunities for the world's growing urban populations is more urgent than ever. Read more

World Rabies Day - September 28

Stamp : U.S. Postage Rabies Surveillance Guidelines for Oral Vaccination of Dogs Against Rabies