World Refugee Day
The UN General Assembly, on 4 December 2000, adopted resolution 55/76 where it noted that 2001 marked the 50th anniversary of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, and that the Organization of African Unity (OAU) had agreed to have International Refugee Day coincide with Africa Refugee Day on 20 June. The General Assembly therefore decided that 20 June would be celebrated as World Refugee Day.
Magna Carta 2015 Canada
In this year of the 800th anniversary of the issuance of Magna Carta under the seal of King John, Canada is proudly participating in the world-wide celebrations with several significant initiatives. The most important, and the most exciting, is the traveling exhibition being organized by Magna Carta Canada, which will feature Durham Cathedral’s original copy of the 1300 exemplifications of both Magna Carta and The Charter of the Forest. The fully interactive exhibition, which is being designed by Canadian museum and exhibition design firm Lord Cultural Resources, is set to open on June 12, 2015 at the Canadian Museum of History in Ottawa/Gatineau. The exhibition will then travel to the following Canadian cities: Ottawa/Gatineau Canadian Museum of History June 12, 2015 to July 26, 2015 Toronto Fort York National Historic Site October 4, 2015 – November 7, 2015 Winnipeg Canadian Museum for Human Rights August 15, 2015 to September 18, 2015 Edmonton Legislative Assembly of Alberta Visitor Centre November 23, 2015 to December 29, 2015
World Day Against Child Labour
The International Labour Organization (ILO) launched the World Day Against Child Labour in 2002 to focus attention on the global extent of child labour and the action and efforts needed to eliminate it. Each year on 12 June, the World Day brings together governments, employers and workers organizations, civil society, as well as millions of people from around the world to highlight the plight of child labourers and what can be done to help them. Around the world, large numbers of children are engaged in paid or unpaid domestic work in the home of a third party or employer. These children can be particularly vulnerable to exploitation. Their work is often hidden from the public eye, they may be isolated, and they may be working far away from their family home. Stories of the abuse of children in domestic work are all too common.
Junior Scholar Workshop at the Peter A. Allard School of Law
Law and Human Rights in the Global South The Role of the State and the Non-State The Allard School of Law has established a Junior Scholar Workshop to stimulate the exchange of ideas and research among younger scholars in the academy on Human Rights in the Global South: The Role of the State and the Non-State. This transnational initiative to foster legal scholarship reaches out specifically to junior scholars working in countries of the so-called Global South. The Workshop encourages submissions representing a wide range of views, techniques and methodologies. At this point in history it is trite to suggest that the evolving role of non-state actors is transforming the landscape of human rights law. Yet despite repeated calls to incorporate the reality of non-state actor law-making in our accounts of human rights law, scholars are still struggling to incorporate this empirical insight in the emerging literature of law and human rights. How can human rights law be further enriched by a nuanced understanding of the ways in which non-state actors are both protecting human rights and preventing the realization of these rights? And what is the role of the state in protecting human rights in an era where security, immigration control and global trade appear to dominate state political agendas? This Workshop invites submissions on all these themes, including papers addressing the scope, impact and future of human rights as they apply to the corporate world.
Oslo Freedom Forum
The Oslo Freedom Forum (OFF) is a thriving global community of rights defenders, dissidents, Nobel Laureates, tech visionaries, heads of state, journalists, policymakers, entrepreneurs, authors, artists, philanthropists, photographers, filmmakers, cartoonists, musicians, scholars, and students. Each spring, they come together in Norway to tell their stories, brainstorm ideas, launch initiatives, and share an unforgettable experience of solidarity in challenging arbitrary power around the world. Since the inaugural conference in 2009, OFF has expanded beyond the annual flagship event to include satellite forums, including the College Freedom Forum—a series of one-day events at colleges and universities designed to educate and enlighten students about individual rights and democracy around the world. For more information click here.
World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development
In 2001, UNESCO adopted the Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity and in December 2002, the UN General Assembly, in its resolution 57/249, declared May 21 to be the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development. The day provides us with an opportunity to deepen our understanding of the values of cultural diversity and to learn to live together better.
International Press Freedom Day
World Press Freedom Day was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in December 1993, following the recommendation of UNESCO’s General Conference. Since then, 3 May, the anniversary of the Declaration of Windhoek is celebrated worldwide as World Press Freedom Day. It is an opportunity to: celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedom; assess the state of press freedom throughout the world; defend the media from attacks on their independence; pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the line of duty.
International Day of Reflection on the Genocide in Rwanda
On 23 December 2003, the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution (A/RES/58/234) designating 7 April, the start date of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, as the International Day of Reflection on the Genocide in Rwanda.
International Day of Sport for Development and Peace
On 23 August 2013, the Sixty-seventh session of the United Nations General Assembly decided to proclaim 6 April as the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace. Previously, the Fifty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 2005 as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education to promote education, health, development and peace. Many organizations of the United Nations system, including the International Forum on Sport, Peace and Development, organized jointly with the United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace, have already established partnerships with the International Olympic Committee. The mission and role of the Committee, as set out in the Olympic Charter, are placing sport at the service of humankind and promoting a peaceful society and healthy lifestyles by associating sport with culture and education and safeguarding human dignity without any discrimination whatsoever. The General Assembly also recognizes the role that the International Paralympic Committee plays in showcasing the achievements of athletes with an impairment to a global audience and in acting as a primary vehicle to change societal perceptions of disability sport.
International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade
Transatlantic slave trade The transatlantic slave trade was the largest forced migration in history, and undeniably one of the most inhumane. The extensive exodus of Africans spread to many areas of the world over a 400-year period and was unprecedented in the annals of recorded human history. As a direct result of the transatlantic slave trade, the greatest movement of Africans was to the Americas — with 96 per cent of the captives from the African coasts arriving on cramped slave ships at ports in South America and the Caribbean Islands. From 1501 to 1830, four Africans crossed the Atlantic for every one European, making the demographics of the Americas in that era more of an extension of the African diaspora than a European one. The legacy of this migration is still evident today, with large populations of people of African descent living throughout the Americas. Forever Free: Celebrating Emancipation The Emancipation Proclamation, signed by President Abraham Lincoln on 1 January 1863, which declared that; all persons held as slaves within any States, or designated part of the State, the people whereof shall be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free. This year’s theme, “Forever Free: Celebrating Emancipation”, pays tribute to all those who worked tirelessly to overturn the acceptance of the slave trade and institution of slavery as legitimate and moral. By the early nineteenth century it was becoming clear to the international community that the trade of enslaved people was no longer tolerable. The initial momentum to overturn the formerly accepted view began with the early Anglo-American abolitionist movement. Individuals and organizations corresponded, advocated and published books, pamphlets and newspapers as part of an effort to raise awareness of the cause. This was the beginning of one of the largest humanitarian movements ever seen. A key role in this early movement was played by a number of black abolitionists, including the British group the Sons of Africa, whose members included Olaudah Equiano (Gustavus Vassa) and Ottobah Cugoano. The abolitionist movement gathered pace, with groups such as the Quakers working to effect change from the ground up. Several states in the United States beginning with Vermont in 1777 passed anti-slave trade and anti-slavery laws long before federal legislation. A global effort was also building with many nations becoming signatories to international treaties on the issue. By 1807 Great Britain and America legally abolished the transatlantic slave trade. These actions however did not mean the end of slavery. Decades later, the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 ended slavery in Canada, the British West Indies and the Cape of Good Hope, while the Indian Slavery Act was signed in 1843. Slavery was abolished in 1848 in France, in 1853 in Argentina, in 1863 in the Dutch colonies and the United States, and in 1888 in Brazil. Commemorating the memory of the victims In commemoration of the memory of the victims, the General Assembly, in its resolution 62/122 of 17 December 2007, declared 25 March the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, to be observed annually. The resolution also called for the establishment of an outreach programme to mobilize educational institutions, civil society and other organizations to inculcate in future generations the “causes, consequences and lessons of the transatlantic slave trade, and to communicate the dangers of racism and prejudice.”