|
World Health Day, 7th April
Theme: Save lives. Make hospitals safe in emergencies
World Health Day 2009 focuses on the safety of health
facilities and the readiness of health workers to treat
emergencies. Health centres and staff are critical lifelines
for vulnerable people in disasters - treating injuries,
preventing illnesses and caring for people’s health needs.
Often, already fragile health systems are unable to keep
functioning through a disaster, with immediate and future
public health consequences.
This year, WHO and international partners are underscoring
the importance of investing in health infrastructure that
can withstand hazards and serve people in immediate
need. They are also urging health facilities to implement
systems to respond to internal emergencies, such as fires,
and ensure the continuity of care.
International Day of Families, 14 May
Theme: Mothers and Families: Challenges in a Changing
World
The day focuses on the important role of mothers for
families and communities around the world. It aims to
highlight the critical role of mothers in a family towards
social cohesion, as a care giver and bread winner, and
their plight in the society and continuity to face major –
and even life threatening – challenges in motherhood. The
year aims to focus on:
Childbirth: aim to provide safer pregnancy and childbirth,
enabling health systems to provide family planning, skilled
attendance at birth and emergency obstetric care.
Violence against women: ending and preventing violence
against women as a key priority for all countries.
Universal access to education: The benefits of educating
women and girls accrue not only to individual families but
to whole countries, unlocking the potential of women to
contribute to broader development efforts.
Besides these measures the day also focuses on the need
to expand family-friendly policies and services, such
as child care centres, that would reduce some of the
workload placed on women. Women and men alike need
stronger public support to share equally in work and
family responsibilities. Families built on the recognition of
equality between women and men will contribute to more
stable and productive societies.
For more information visit:
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/family/idf09.html
.jpg) |
World Environment Day, 5 June
Theme: Your Planet Needs You-UNite to Combat Climate
Change’
Established by the
UN General Assembly
in 1972 to mark the
opening of the Stockholm
Conference on the
Human Environment,
the world environment
day (WED) is one of the principal vehicles through which
the United Nations stimulates worldwide awareness of the
environment and enhances political attention and action.
The day’s agenda is to:
- Give a human face to environmental issues;
- Empower people to become active agents of sustainable
and equitabledevelopment
- Promote an understanding that communities are
pivotal to changing attitudes towards environmental
issues
- Advocate partnership which will ensure all nations and
peoples enjoy a safer and more prosperous future.
The theme for WED 2009 reflects the urgency for nations
to agree on a new deal at the crucial climate convention
meeting in Copenhagen some 180 days later in the year,
and the links with overcoming poverty and improved
management of forests.
For more information visit:
http://www.unep.org/wed/2009
World Ocean Day, 8 June
Theme: Our Oceans, Our Responsibility
The oceans are essential to food security and the health
and survival of all life, power our climate and are a critical
part of the biosphere. The official designation of World
Oceans Day is an opportunity to raise global awareness
of the current challenges faced by the international
community in connection with the oceans.
For more information visit:
http://www.un.org/Depts/los/reference_files/worldoceansday.htm
|
