Messages for International Day of Peace 2013, September 21.

  "EDUCATION FOR PEACE " is the theme of the International Day of Peace 2013

Join the Forum : International Day of Peace - September 21.
Watch the videos :  International Day of Peace 2013

  Marking observance of the International Day of Peace, the United Nations on Wednesday urged nations to invest in education that encourages children to embrace global citizenship based on values of tolerance and diversity. The theme of this year's observance is: 'Education for Peace.' Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon rang the Peace Bell in New York, ahead of the official observance of the Day, which falls on Saturday, Sept 21.

 

 United Nations Secretary-General's Message for the International Day of Peace 2013.

 The International Day of Peace is a time for reflection – a day when we reiterate our belief in non-violence and call for a global ceasefire.  We ask people everywhere to observe a minute of silence, at noon local time, to honour those killed in conflict and the survivors who live with daily trauma and pain.
This year we are highlighting Education for Peace.  Education is vital for fostering global citizenship and building peaceful societies.
In June, Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl targeted for assassination by the Taliban for campaigning for the right to education, came to the United Nations.  Malala said: “One teacher, one book, one pen, can change the world.”  These are our most powerful weapons. 
That is why, last year, I launched the Global Education First Initiative.  Every girl and every boy deserves to receive a quality education and learn the values that will help them to see themselves as part of a global community.
Governments and development partners are working to get every child in school and learning well to equip them for life in the 21st century.  There is new momentum in countries with the greatest needs, such as those affected by conflict, which are home to half of all children lacking education.  But we must do more – much more.  Fifty-seven million children are still denied an education.  Millions more need better schooling.
Educating the poorest and most marginalized children will require bold political leadership and increased financial commitment.  Yet aid for education has dropped for the first time in a decade.  We must reverse this decline, forge new partnerships, and bring much greater attention to the quality of education.
On this International Day of Peace, let us pledge to teach our children the value of tolerance and mutual respect.  Let us invest in the schools and teachers that will build a fair and inclusive world that embraces diversity.  Let us fight for peace and defend it with all our might.

Ban Ki-moon

Statement by the President of the 68th Session of the General Assembly at the Peace Bell Ceremony in New York

18 September 2013

Excellencies,
Secretary General,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen.
We begin this year’s General Assembly- our 68th session- as we have every year since 1981, with a tribute to peace which happens to be the very foundation upon which this organization representing our family of nations is built.  The annual Peace Bell Ceremony is a poignant reminder of the overarching purpose of our work to ensure a more peaceful world. The ringing of the peace bell is also an evocative statement of purpose guiding our collaborative efforts towards meeting the agenda of the 68th session of the General Assembly.

This bell rings for peace at a time when so many across the globe are struggling to eke out a living, and begin their day in the dark and end their day in dark, hungry and terrified to face the horror of another tomorrow. This bell rings for peace at time when there is still conflict and bloodshed in many parts of the world., where there are tensions and violence born of traditional and long held divisions, or stemming from ethnic and/or religious differences.
As we hear this bell ring, let us remember that it was the United Nations General Assembly, that established this International Day of Peace in an effort that all member states will recognize and reflect upon the value of peace in world filled with everyday examples of bloodshed, violence and war. It is a day where any countries involved in conflict will have a day of ceasefire; where we will have a minute of silence in which we recognize and honour the victims of war and conflict wherever they are, and where we dedicate ourselves to work together to promote peace.

What makes this 2013 International Day of Peace unique is that for the first time, the Day has been dedicated by the Secretary-General of the United Nations to peace education. Let us remember that education is a path to growth and development for citizens and societies, and that education that teaches the value of peace is a key preventive means of reducing war and conflict.
One of the world’s great  leaders, Nelson Mandela once said, "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."  It is therefore fitting that today we reflect on the role of education as one of the important building blocks upon which peace can be built.  Education provides an opportunity to raise the veil of ignorance that blinds us to the path of decency, respect, tolerance and the interdependence of the human family, irrespective of country of origin, religion or ethnicity. No serious business leader would fail to optimise all the resources available to them. Yet, we do exactly that when we fail to give girls and women equal access to education, healthcare and opportunity. Let us remember that when we educate our girl children, and when we empower women and young people we create a more sustainable future - one which holds the real promise of reducing poverty and ill-health and of eliminating the scourge of gender violence.
The ringing of this peace bell today summons us all to work for the broader cause of human development to which people everywhere are entitled, and to build the peace in which all people and societies can prosper. Let us not forget that peace does not occur by happenstance, it is the product of the conscious and consistent effort of people of good will acting together for the common good. And let us remember that peace that is secured by hard work, dedication and commitment is a peace that is lasting and sustainable and very much needed in this world of ours.
Thank you.

H.E. Mr. John W. Ashe

 Día Internacional de la Paz, 21 de septiembre de 2013

 Journée internationale de la paix 2013, 21 septembre 2013

国际和平日 教育促进和平, 2013年9月21日

 رسالة الأمين العام بمناسبة حلول اليوم الدولي للسلام لعام 2013

International Democracy Day 2013, September 16.

The 2013 Ozone Day - A healthy atmosphere, the future we want

• The message of the United Nations Secretary-General on the 2013 International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer - 16 September 2013 (A C E F R S)

 United Nations Secretary-General's Message for the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer 2013.

Extraordinary challenges require extraordinary responses.  A generation ago, the world’s nations agreed to act definitively to protect the ozone layer, initiating an inter-governmental process that blazed new trails.

As we implement the outcomes of the 2012 Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development, the remarkable success story of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer provides a beacon of hope.  It provides protection for the ozone layer, significantly contributes to climate mitigation and reminds us that, faced with existential threats, the nations of the world are capable of cooperation for the common good. 

My hope is that this success will inform and inspire the international community in charting a new vision and responsive framework for the period beyond 2015, the deadline for achieving the Millennium Development Goals.  Sustainable development -- enabled by the integration of economic growth, social justice and environmental stewardship -- must become our global guiding principle and operational standard.

On this International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer, I commend all who have made the Montreal Protocol such an outstanding example of international cooperation.  I urge Governments, industry, civil society and all other partners to apply the same spirit to the other great environment and development challenges of our times.

Mr Ban Ki-moon.

 Learn more about the theme 2013 :

Día Internacional de la Preservación de la Capa de Ozono, 16 de septiembre, Tema de 2013: «Una atmósfera saludable es el futuro que queremos».

Journée internationale de la protection de la couche d'ozone, 16 septembre.Thème 2013 : Une atmosphère saine, tel est l'avenir que nous voulons.

موضوع عام 2013: غلاف جوي سليم هو المستقبل الذي نريد

保护臭氧层国际日, 9月16. 2013年主题：“一个健康的大气层是我们期望的未来"


 Международный день охраны озонового слоя, 16 сентября. Тема 2013 года:  "Будущее, которого мы хотим, — здоровая атмосфера планеты."

 Documents

• Invitation letter to governments to commemorate the 2013 International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer [English] [French] [Spanish]
• Montreal Protocol Information Kit (C) (E) (F) (R) (S)
• Public Service Announcements (PSAs)

  PSA - 1 (30 seconds)	PSA - 1 script
  PSA - 2 (30 seconds)	PSA - 2 script
  PSA-3 (Combined PSA 1 & PSA 2) ( 60 seconds)	PSA - 3 script

• Vital Ozone Graphics 1 - Initial version: http://www.grida.no/publications/vg/ozone/
• Vital Ozone Graphics 2 - climate link: http://www.grida.no/publications/vg/ozone2/
• Vital Ozone Graphics 3 - 2012 Update

Messages for United Nations Day for South-South Cooperation - 12 September

United Nations Secretary-General's Message for the UN Day for South-South Cooperation 2013

This year’s observance of the United Nations Day for South-South Cooperation comes amid intensifying international efforts to accelerate progress on the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals by the end of 2015, the internationally agreed deadline. Concurrently, the South has assumed a greater role in the global development landscape.

In many developing countries incomes are up, poverty is declining and hope is rising.  The goal of reducing extreme poverty by half has been achieved. Equity in primary education -- attendance by girls and boys -- has been reached. Infant mortality has seen tremendous decreases, with five of nine developing regions reducing the under-five mortality rate by half. More than 2 billion people have gained access to clean drinking water. These and other economic achievements of the global South have given rise to a rapidly expanding middle class adding a strong voice to demands for more liberties, equity, decent jobs and a wide range of goods and services that are critical to genuine human progress.

Despite these positive trends, 1.2 billion people are still trapped in conditions of extreme poverty. Wide-ranging global discussions are under way to define a Post-2015 development agenda that will galvanize development efforts at all levels. Wide-ranging global discussions are under way to define a Post-2015 development agenda that will galvanize development efforts at all levels in the years and decades ahead.  As that agenda takes shape, the international community is already united around the idea that South-South cooperation should remain an integral part of the global partnership for development.

Developing countries are turning to each other for lessons on innovative policies and schemes to address pressing development challenges. The Brazilian Bolsa Familia Programme, a cash transfer model, has helped improve childhood nutrition and education in Brazil, and the system has been successfully transplanted to Africa. India’s National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme entitles each rural Indian household by law to one hundred days of unskilled work per year on public works programmes. China’s emphasis on infrastructure development in other developing countries has resulted in improvements in electricity supply, an increase in railway connections and reduced prices for telecommunications services. More solutions are available across the global South which, if adequately harnessed, could make meaningful contributions across a range of urgent concerns, from hunger and health to education and sustainable energy. 
South-South cooperation offers real, concrete solutions to common development challenges. Sharing best practices, funding pilot projects in far-flung locales, providing the capital to scale-up successful projects, supplying regional public goods, developing and adapting appropriate technologies —these are the opportunities that the international community needs to better leverage.  On this United Nations Day for South-South cooperation, I call on all partners to redouble their efforts to harness the wealth of knowledge, expertise and development thinking in the Global South.

Ban Ki-moon

Delivered by Ms. Rebecca Grynspan, Associate Administrator
of the UN Development Programme

  The state of South-South cooperation : Report of the Secretary-General

° Día de las Naciones Unidas para la Cooperación Sur-Sur, 12 de septiembre.
° Journée des Nations Unies pour la coopération Sud-Sud, 12 septembre.
°  联合国南南合作日, 9月12日
°  День сотрудничества Юг-Юг Организации Объединенных Наций, 12 сентября
°  مقطتف من رسالة الأمين العام للأمم المتحدة


South-South Cooperation is sweeping the globe. Find out how Unep's South South Cooperation Exchange Mechanism is helping the southern hemisphere find solutions for an environmentally sustainable future for southern countries...and beyond.

UNEP's South South Cooperation Exchange Mechanism (MP4) from UNEP

United Nations Day for South-South Cooperation 2013, September 12

The 10th United Nations Day for South-South Cooperation .

The tenth United Nations Day for South-South Cooperation will be celebrated on 12 September 2013 highlighting the scaling up of South-South flows of trade, investment, technology, and know-how as an increasingly important dimension of development co-operation.

A series of events throughout the day will include an opening ceremony and inaugural addresses, a featured event on the India, Brazil and South-Africa (IBSA) Fund and two panel discussions. All the events will take place at CB Conference Room 3 at United Nations Headquarters in New York.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (TBC), and other UN and UNDP high-level representatives will participate in the opening ceremony at 10am. Following their remarks, the featured event “IBSA Fund: A Flagship Initiative in South-South Cooperation” will highlight the commitment of the IBSA Fund to poverty and hunger alleviation and how innovative South-South partnerships are positively impacting the development landscape” with remarks by the Permanent Representatives of IBSA Fund countries to the UN, and Permanent Representatives of IBSA Fund partner countries. IBSA Fund initiatives include efforts in Palestine, Laos, Viet Nam, Guinea Bissau, Haiti, Cape Verde, and Burundi. The panel will be followed by the launch of an exhibition and the IBSA Fund Project Portfolio Overview.

The afternoon sessions will discuss experiences of the World Bank and the Republic of Korea in South-South collaboration followed by a panel on South-South sharing of Social Protection Floors, highlighting experiences led by the International Labour Organization (ILO), and facilitated by the People’s Republic of China and the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC).

"South-South cooperation has the potential to balance growth and equity on a global scale. Even in the midst of severe economic, social and political instabilities, South-South cooperation has continued to drive buoyant trade and financial flows in recent years,” said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a
 Message during the UN Day of South-South Cooperation in 2012.

“In these past ten years, we were able to develop policies that raised global awareness in support of South-South cooperation, enable Member States to set policies and principles, facilitate coordination and mainstreaming of South-South Cooperation within the UN system, enabled national governments to better manage their South-South Cooperation initiatives, and fostered intra regional networking”, said Yiping Zhou, Director of the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation.

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LINKS:

• Overall Programme of Activities PDF
• UN Day for South-South Cooperation website

International Literacy Day 2013, September 8

" Literacies for the 21st century"  is the Theme for International Literacy Day 2013.

Literacy is at the heart of basic education for all, and essential for eradicating poverty, reducing child mortality, curbing population growth, achieving gender equality and ensuring sustainable development, peace and democracy.

Resources :

- Literacy rates are rising, but women and girls continue to lag behind. 
-Message from Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO on the occasion of the International Literacy Day 2013
-Working paper on the Definition of Fundamental Education

Infografics :

En savoir plus sur Tableau

That's why Sunday is International Literacy Day.

Milestones :

Starting from 2003, when UNESCO took the lead of the the United Nations Literacy Decade (2003-2012), and going back to 1946, when UNESCO first established a committee to promote ‘Fundamental Education’, review the major milestones on the road to Literacy for All. More

More information from Unesco here: http://bit.ly/QaiBGA

International Day of Charity 2013, September 5th.

United Nations Secretary-General's Message for International Day of Charity 2013.

Charity plays an important role in upholding the values and advancing the work of the United Nations.  Donations of time or money; volunteer engagement in one’s own community or on the other side of the world; acts of caring and kindness with no thought of recompense; these and other expressions of global solidarity help us in our shared quest to live together in harmony and build a peaceful future for all.

I welcome this first observance of the International Day of Charity, which was proclaimed last year by the United Nations General Assembly and which coincides with the anniversary of the death of Mother Teresa, whose life and good works for some of the human family’s poorest and most vulnerable members inspired emulation across the world.

Strangely, charity sometimes gets dismissed, as if it is ineffective, inappropriate or even somehow demeaning to the recipient.  “This isn’t charity”, some donors take pains to claim, “this is an investment”.  Let us recognize charity for what it is at heart: a noble enterprise aimed at bettering the human condition.
At a time when we aim to accelerate our efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and define a bold agenda for the period beyond 2015, the role of charity can and should grow.

UN bodies such as the UN Volunteers Programme and UNICEF offer venues for people across the world to get involved.  In establishing the Day, the General Assembly asked that charity be encouraged through education and awareness-raising activities; initiatives such as the United Nations Academic Impact's ASPIRE -- Action by Students to Promote Innovation and Reform through Education -- have encouraged young women and men to take on the responsibility of ensuring that their less fortunate peers have the financial opportunity to go to school.  The UN’s humanitarian agencies rely on charitable donations from the public as well as the generosity of governments to continue their lifesaving work in response to natural disasters, armed conflicts and other emergencies.

On this new International Day, I call on people everywhere, of all ages, to act on the charitable impulse that resides in every human being.

Ban Ki-moon

Día Internacional de la Beneficencia, 5 de septiembre.

Международный день благотворительности, 5 сентября.

 Journée internationale de la charité, 5 septembre.

国际慈善日, 9月5日

   أيلول/ سبتمبر 5