UN International Days

From 1970 until 2000, the costs of disaster averaged $70-$80 billion. Those mainly preventable costs doubled this century to average $180-$200 billion annually, according to a recent report published by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR).  

Adults were in the back seat at UN Headquarters on Friday as girls and young women from across the world took over the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Chamber to speak up for their rights in the face of conflict, climate change, and other challenges.  

Humanity is looking up – and beyond. This Saturday, World Space Week lifts off, inviting the world to imagine what life might look like beyond planet Earth.

Member States, UN officials and civil society came together on Wednesday to shift the global perspective on ageing, with a call for new policies and action that bring older persons in from the margins of society.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres marked the International Day of Peace on Sunday with a stark warning that “our warring world is crying out for peace,” urging people everywhere to act now to silence guns, heal divisions and build hope.

The UN Secretary-General appealed on Friday for greater efforts towards peace in a “fractured world” where conflicts are increasing. 

On the International Day for People of African Descent, celebrated each year on 31 August, UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called for justice, dignity and equality for people of African descent around the world.

In honour of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples on 9 August, the UN hosted a virtual commemoration on Friday on the theme AI: Defending Rights, Shaping Futures.  

Spacious paddocks, green pastures, and a devoted all-female staff: on Long Island, a strip of land surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean near New York City, horses once destined for slaughter are given a second chance – to live, and to help people heal. The farm, founded in 2010 by Marisa Striano, is named after her beloved horse, Spirit. It offers healing – for both horses and humans in need.