Category: United Nations Observances

UN programme to help spare millions from child marriage, extended to 2023

©UNFPA-UNICEF Nepal/KPanday Millions of girls have been able to avoid “an unwanted marriage and an unwelcome end to their childhood”, since the launch four years ago, of a joint UN agency programme, the head of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday. The UNFPA-UNICEF Global Programme to End Child Marriage, a multi-country initiative to help […]

Emulate his example’ urges UN chief as world celebrates Nelson Mandela: a ‘global advocate for dignity and equality’

Nelson Mandela was an “extraordinary global advocate for dignity and equality” who anyone in public service should seek to emulate, Secretary-General António Guterres said marking the International Day that honours the iconic anti-apartheid campaigner, and South Africa’s first democratically-elected President. As “one of the most iconic and inspirational leaders of our time”, the UN chief said: […]

On the Global Day of Parents, UNICEF is urging support for parents to give children ‘the best start in life’

Kicking off on Saturday the first-ever global Parenting Month, the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, is calling on world leaders to invest in family-friendly policies that support parents to give their children “the best start in life”. According to UNICEF, the month of June is a time to focuse on raising awareness of the impact that protection, nutrition and stimulation have on brains in the earliest years […]

The world is being ‘swamped’ by harmful plastic waste says UN chief, marking Environment Day

UNEP/Cyril Villemain Local people from Watamu, Kenya, work with Local Ocean Conservation to pick up plastic on the beach each Friday.   The world must unite to “beat plastic pollution” United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said in his message for World Environment Day on Tuesday, noting that microplastic particles in the ocean, “now outnumber stars in our […]

Mine action is ‘concrete step towards peace,’ says UN chief on International Mine Awareness Day

On the day set aside to raise awareness about the threat of landmines, unexploded grenades and other munitions that impede the return to normal life after conflict, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres is urging Governments to provide political and financial support to keep up the vital work of mine action wherever it is needed. “An unprecedented volume of landmines and […]