Team Blitz India
NEW DELHI: The United Nations has embraced the practice of celebrating “international days’ as a powerful advocacy tool. Member states propose such dates and the reasons for observance to the UN General Assembly, which then decides by consensus whether to adopt the resolution establishing the particular day on its calendar.
Such commemorations can broadly be categorised as International Days and Weeks, International Years, International Decades, and UN Anniversaries.
The themes of international days are always linked to the UN’s main fields of action. This includes the maintenance of international peace and security, promotion of sustainable development, protection of human rights, and the guarantee of international law and humanitarian action.
In its resolutions, the General Assembly usually explains what prompted it to proclaim the International Day. According to the UN resolution on International Day of Yoga says it noted, “The importance of individuals and populations making healthier choices and following lifestyle patterns that foster good health.”
Some international days are proclaimed not by the UNGA, but by specialised agencies of the UN to draw the attention of the public to topics under their field of expertise. Such issues are related to health, aviation, intellectual property, etc.
For example, World Press Freedom Day, which is celebrated on May 3, was proclaimed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco), based in Paris, and was later adopted by the UN General Assembly.
