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Welcome
During International Days and major international conferences there is a special opportunity to serve in
the creation of a more unified and compassionate world.
As meditators we can hold these events in the light.
Millennium Goals & Climate Change
These International Days reflect important themes in the mobilisation of energies to:
2011 United Nations International Years
Silence at the United Nations
The Spiritual Caucus at the United Nations gathers within UN Headquarters in New York (October - June) on the third Thursday every month for 30 minutes of silence followed by 30 minutes of dialogue, sharing insights and exploring ways to use an inner focus in service of the work of the UN. On the 1st Thursday of the month the Caucus invites friends to sit in silence for 30 minutes in the Meditation Room in the public lobby of UN Headquarters in New York.
Please link in from wherever you are. More information at: http://www.spiritualcaucusun.org/
In February the Spiritual Caucus will meet on February 3 for silence in the Meditation Room at UN Headquarters and on February 17 for silence and discussion in the NGO Resource Room at UN Headquarters, NY.
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February Please Hold These Events in the Light
January 15 - February 23
A Winter Feast for the Soul
Starting on January 15, people around the world from different spiritual paths are invited to join their intention for personal and planetary peace by comitting to forty minutes of spiritual practice each day for forty days. The goal is to include all spiritual traditions and organizations.
http://www.winterfeastforthesoul.com
January 30 - April 4
The Gandhi King Chavez Season for Nonviolence
A 64-day educational, media, and grassroots campaign dedicated to demonstrating that nonviolence is a powerful way to heal, transform, and empower our lives and our communities. Inspired by the 50th and 30th memorial anniversaries of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., this international event honors their vision for an empowered, nonviolent world
http://www.agnt.org/node/10
February 1 - 7
World Interfaith Harmony Week
In November 2010, following a proposal by HM King Abdullah II and HRH Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad of Jordan, the United Nations General Assembly decided to observe the first week of February every year as World Interfaith Harmony Week. The resolution recognized that the moral imperatives of all religions, convictions and beliefs
call for peace, tolerance and mutual understanding, and it reaffirmed that mutual understanding and interreligious dialogue constitute important dimensions of a culture of peace … Read the full resolution here.
In the words of HRH Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad, the Week has three objectives:
- To co-ordinate and unite the efforts of all the interfaith groups doing positive work with one focused theme at one specific time annually, thereby increasing their collective momentum and eliminating redundancy.
- To Harness and utilise the collective might of the world's second-largest infrastructure (that of places of worship — the largest being that of education) specifically for peace and harmony in the world: inserting, as it were, the right "software" into the world's religious "hardware".
- To permanently and regularly encourage the silent majority of preachers to declare themselves for peace and harmony and providing a ready-made vehicle for them to do so. Moreover, if preachers and teachers commit themselves on the record once a year to peace and harmony, this means that when the next inter-religious crisis or provocation occurs, they cannot then relapse into parochial fear and mistrust, and will be more likely to resist the winds of popular demagoguery.
See the extensive web site listing activities around the world during the Week:http://worldinterfaithharmonyweek.com
February 2
World Wetlands Day
On February 2,1971 an intergovernmental treaty was adopted in the Iranian city of Ramsar, on the shores of the Caspian Sea. The Treaty, known as the Ramsar Convention, commits member countries to maintain the ecological character of their Wetlands of International Importance and to plan for the "wise use", or sustainable use, of all of the wetlands in their territories. It is the only environmental treaty governing a particular ecosystem. World Wetlands Day has been observed on February 2, every year since 1977. Government agencies, NGO's, and people of concern mark the day with activities to raise awareness of the value of wetlands and their need for protection.
http://www.ramsar.org/cda/en/ramsar-activities-wwds-world-wetlands-day-2/main/ramsar/1-63-78%5E21729_4000_0__
February 4
World Cancer Day
On this Day groups around the world shine a light on the global impact of cancer and efforts to raise the quality of care for cancer patients. Cancer is the generic term for a large group of diseases in which cells grow out of control and can spread to other parts of the body. Cancer involves a series of mutations or changes in the genetic make up of a cell, causing it to look and function differently from normal cells. Thus, cancer is actually a disease of the cell.
Every year the equivalent of the entire population of Switzerland dies from cancer - two thirds of these deaths occur in low and middle-income countries. Cancer kills more people every year than AIDS, malaria and TB combined. It is estimated by the UN's World Health Organisation that between 2005 and 2015, 84 million people will die of cancer without intervention. Research suggests that one-third of all cancer deaths can be avoided by prevention and another third by eartly detection and treatment.
For many cancer patients the disease provides an opportunity to access deep spiritual resources and there are now a wide range of programs in meditation, spiritual development and alternative therapies offered as part of cancer treatment. See, for example, the US government's National Cancer Institute:
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/supportivecare/spirituality/Patient. Similar sites are available from major cancer centers in many countries.
http://www.worldcancerday.org/wcd-home
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/events/annual/world_cancer_day/en/index.html
February 6 - 11
World Social Forum, Dakar, Senegal
The World Social Forum is an open meeting place for reflective thinking, democratic debate of ideas, formulation of proposals, free exchange of experiences and interlinking for effective action, by groups and movements of civil society that are opposed to neoliberalism and to domination of the world by capital and any form of imperialism, and are committed to building a planetary society directed towards fruitful relationships among Humankind and between it and the Earth.
First held in Porto Alegre, Brazil in 2001, the Forum has been held on an annual basis in different locations around the world.
http://fsm2011.org/en/wsf-2011
February 20
World Day of Social Justice
The United Nations World Day of Social Justice celebrates the international agreements reached at the World Summit on Social Development in Copenhagen, 1995.
On this Day governments are called upon to undertake concrete activities towards the goals of poverty eradication, full employment and social integration.
The World Summit in 1995 recognised that social development aims at social justice, solidarity, harmony and equality within and among countries and social justice, equality and equity constitute the fundamental values of all societies. To achieve "a society for all" governments made a commitment to the creation of a framework for action to promote social justice at national, regional and international levels. They also pledged to promote the equitable distribution of income and greater access to resources through equity and equality and opportunity for all. The governments recognized as well that economic growth should promote equity and social justice and that "a society for all" must be based on social justice and respect for all human rights and fundamental freedoms.
http://www.un.org/en/events/socialjusticeday/
February 21
international Mother Language Day
We live in One World, and are all part of One Life. Yet within this unified whole each individual unit is precious and significant. It is essential that cultural diversity be fostered to maintain richness and variety in the human community. At the heart of culture is language.
Each individual's mother language plays a vital role in their health and development: "It is the language of childhood, of intimate family experience and of our social relations". Yet in a world of increasing globalization small language groups find it increasingly difficult to survive.
UNESCO estimates that about half of the approximately 6,000 languages spoken in the world are under threat.
International Mother Language Day promotes linguistic and cultural diversity and multi-lingualism The date represents the day in 1952 when students demonstrating for recognition of their language, Bangla, as one of the two national languages of the then Pakistan, were shot and killed by police in Dhaka, the capital of what is now Bangladesh.
http://www.un.org/en/events/motherlanguageday/
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/languages-in-education/advocacy/international-mother-language-day-21-february-2009/
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