International Day

MET Column

Celebrate the Nelson Mandela International Day!

July 18 2018

Frederik Willem de Klerk and Mandela shake hands at the World Economic Forum, 1992. *Photo from Wikipedia July 18 is Nelson Mandela International Day (or Mandela Day). It is an annual international day in honor of Nelson Mandela, celebrated each year on July 18, Mandela’s birthday. The day was officially declared by the United Nations in November 2009, with the first UN Mandela Day held on July 18, 2010. However, other groups began celebrating Mandela Day on July 18, 2009. The Mandela Day campaign message is: “Nelson Mandela has fought for social justice for 67 years. We’re asking you to

Happy Birthday to the countries!

Celebrate the World Refugee Day!

June 20 2018

Refugee children from Syria at a clinic in Jordan, August 2013. *Photo from Wikipedia June 20 is World Refugee Day, which is dedicated to raising awareness of the situation of refugees throughout the world. African Refugee Day had been formally celebrated in several countries prior to 2000. The UN noted that the Organization of African Unity (OAU) had agreed to have International Refugee Day coincide with Africa Refugee Day on June 20. On December 4, 2000, the United Nations General Assembly in Resolution 55/76 decided that, from 2001, June 20 would be celebrated as World Refugee Day. In this resolution,