2010–2020 United Nations Decade for Deserts and the Fight against Desertification 2008–2017 Second United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty 2006–2016 Decade of Recovery and Sustainable Development of the Affected Regions (third decade after the Chernobyl disaster) 2005–2015 International Decade for Action, “Water for Life” 2005–2014 United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development Second International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People 2003–2012 United Nations Literacy Decade: Education for All 2001–2010 International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence for the Children of the World Decade to Roll Back Malaria in Developing Countries, Particularly in Africa Second International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism 1997–2006 Decade for The Eradication for Poverty 1995–2004 Decade for Human Rights Education 1994–2004 Decade of the World's Indigenous People 1993–2003 Third Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination 1991–2000 Second Industrial Development Decade for Africa Second Transport and Communications Decade in Africa United Nations Decade Against Drug Abuse Fourth United Nations Development Decade 1990–2000 International Decade for the Eradification of Colonialism 1990–1999 United Nations Decade of International Law International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction 1990s Third Disarmament Decade 1988–1997 World Decade for Cultural Development 1983–1993 Second Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination 1983–1992 United Nations Decade for Disabled Persons 1981–1990 International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade Third United Nations Development Decade 1980–1990 Second Disarmament Decade 1980s Industrial Development Decade for Africa 1978–1988 Transport and Communications Decade for Africa 1976–1985 United Nations Decade for Women: Equality, Development and Peace 1973–1983 Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination 1971–1980 Second United Nations Development Decade 1970s Disarmament Decade 1960–1970 United Nations Development Decade Source: United Nations Observances

2011

International Year of Forests In its resolution 61/193, the General Assembly proclaimed 2011 as the International Year of Forests and invited Governments, the United Nations system, relevant non-governmental organizations, the private sector and other actors to make concerted efforts to raise awareness at all levels to strengthen the sustainable management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests for the benefit of current and future generations.

International Year of Chemistry The International Year of Chemistry 2011 (IYC 2011) is a worldwide celebration of the achievements of chemistry and its contributions to the well-being of humankind. Under the unifying theme “Chemistry—our life, our future,” IYC 2011 will offer a range of interactive, entertaining, and educational activities for all ages. The Year of Chemistry is intended to reach across the globe, with opportunities for public participation at the local, regional, and national level.

2010

2010, International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures The goal of the International Year consists in making the rapprochement of cultures the hallmark of all policy-making at local, national, regional and international levels, involving the greatest number of relevant stakeholders.

2010, International Year of Biodiversity UN opens International Year of Biodiversity with plea to save world's life-supporting ecosystems

2010

2010, International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures The goal of the International Year consists in making the rapprochement of cultures the hallmark of all policy-making at local, national, regional and international levels, involving the greatest number of relevant stakeholders.

2010, International Year of Biodiversity UN opens International Year of Biodiversity with plea to save world's life-supporting ecosystems

1st Global Congress of Maternal and Infant Health Sep 22–26, 2010, Barcelona, Spain This event will be a milestone in the history of Perinatal Medicine for several reasons: Firstly, the leaders of the most important opinions in the field of the Perinatal Medicine will be part of the “Faculty” of the Congress. Experts from more than 80 countries of the five continents will be in Barcelona to share their knowledge and their experience on relevant topics and novel aspects of this field. For a few days, Barcelona will be the capital of the World Perinatal Medicine. A great effort has been made to present a programme with a balanced content including the most advanced research, clinical practice, daily problems and future prospecting. Secondly, it is the first time that the three basic groups meet to attempt a change of direction of the dramatic situation of the maternal and infant health in the world. On the one hand all the International Society of Perinatal Medicine (WAPM, EAPM, IAPM, The Fetus as a Patient, etc.), on the other hand the NGOs and Foundations working in this field, and finally the specialized agencies of the United Nations. For this reason, the key words of the Congress are: Globalness, Dialogue and Solidarity.

International Day of Peace Sep 21, 2010 The International Day of Peace ("Peace Day") provides an opportunity for individuals, organizations and nations to create practical acts of peace on a shared date. It was established by a United Nations resolution in 1981 to coincide with the opening of the General Assembly. The first Peace Day was celebrated in September 1982. In 2002 the General Assembly officially declared September 21 as the permanent date for the International Day of Peace.

Millennium Development Goals Summit Sep 20–22, 2010, UN Headquarters, New York, USA With only five years left until the 2015 deadline to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on world leaders to attend a summit next September to boost progress towards the MDGs. The UN General Assembly took a decision in July 2009 to hold such a high-level plenary meeting at the opening of its 65th session in 2010. At the Assembly’s request, the Secretary-General has issued a report setting out a proposed format and modalities for the event, which are expected to be agreed through consultations before the end of 2009. The Assembly has encouraged all countries to be represented at this important meeting at the level of Heads of State and Government.

World Breastfeeding Week Aug 1–7, 2010 World Breastfeeding Week is celebrated every year from 1 to 7 August in more than 120 countries to encourage breastfeeding and improve the health of babies around the world. It commemorates the Innocenti Declaration made by WHO and UNICEF policy-makers in August 1990 to protect, promote and support breastfeeding. Breastfeeding is the best way to provide newborns with the nutrients they need. WHO recommends exclusive breastfeeding until a baby is six months old, and continued breastfeeding with the addition of nutritious complementary foods for up to two years or beyond.

XVIII International AIDS Conference 2010 Jul 18-23, 2010, Vienna, Austria The 2010 International AIDS Conference (IAC) takes place at a defining moment in the history of the AIDS epidemic. In 2010, donors decide if the world will meet the Millennium Development Goals. If adequate resources are provided, major successes are within reach. However, if the donors’ commitment wavers, there is a serious risk that the gains achieved in recent years will be reversed. AIDS, as well as tuberculosis and malaria, will gain force again.

World Blood Donor Day Jun 14, 2010 WHO chose 14 June as the day to recognize the millions of people who save lives and improve the health of others by donating blood. The Day highlights the need to regularly give blood to prevent shortages in hospitals and clinics, particularly in developing countries where quantities are very limited. Out of the 80 countries with low blood donation rates (fewer than 10 donations per thousand people), 79 are developing nations. The annual event focuses on motivating more people to become blood donors. It demonstrates how health systems and policy-makers work to make blood transfusions safe and accessible to people worldwide. The focus of World Blood Donor Day 2010 will be on young donors, with the slogan: “New blood for the world”. Young people can make an important contribution by donating blood and by recruiting other young people to become donors. The 2010 global event will take place in Barcelona, Spain. It will be hosted by the Spanish and Catalonian Health Care Authorities, the Spanish and Catalonian donor associations and the Spanish Red Cross.

World Day against Child Labour Jun 12, 2010 The annual World Day against Child labour on June 12 will this year put the spotlight on the need for urgent national and international steps to accelerate action against child labour. Coinciding with the opening of the football world cup, the theme for this years World Day is “Go for the goal-end child labour”. The goal of eliminating the worst forms of child labour by 2016 was the major focus of a recent Global Conference against Child Labour held in The Hague.

World Environment Day Jun 5, 2010 World Environment Day (WED), which aims to be the biggest global celebration for positive environmental action, is coordinated by UNEP every year on 5 June. This year’s theme is ‘Many Species. One Planet. One Future.’ – a message focusing on the central importance to humanity of the globe’s wealth of species and ecosystems. The WED theme also supports this year’s UN International Year of Biodiversity. UNEP is proud to announce that the global host country for WED 2010 is Rwanda, home to more than 1,000 plant species and 13 different primate species, including the rare mountain gorillas.

World No Tobacco Day May 31, 2010 On 31st May each year WHO celebrates World No Tobacco Day, highlighting the health risks associated with tobacco use and advocating for effective policies to reduce consumption. Tobacco use is the second cause of death globally (after hypertension) and is currently responsible for killing one in 10 adults worldwide. The theme for World No Tobacco Day 2010 is Gender and tobacco, with an emphasis on marketing to women. WHO will use the day to draw particular attention to the harmful effects of tobacco marketing and smoke on women and girls. The World Health Assembly created World No Tobacco Day in 1987 to draw global attention to the tobacco epidemic and its lethal effects. It provides an opportunity to highlight specific tobacco control messages and to promote adherence to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Tobacco use is the number one preventable epidemic that the health community faces.

World Malaria Day Apr 25, 2010 Approximately half of the world's population is at risk of malaria, particularly those living in lower-income countries. It infects more than 500 million people per year and kills more than 1 million. The burden of malaria is heaviest in sub-Saharan Africa but the disease also afflicts Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and even parts of Europe. World Malaria Day - which was instituted by the World Health Assembly at its 60th session in May 2007 - is a day for recognizing the global effort to provide effective control of malaria. It is an opportunity: * for countries in the affected regions to learn from each other's experiences and support each other's efforts; * for new donors to join a global partnership against malaria; * for research and academic institutions to flag their scientific advances to both experts and general public; and * for international partners, companies and foundations to showcase their efforts and reflect on how to scale up what has worked.

World Book and Copyright Day Apr 23, 2010 23 April: a symbolic date for world literature for on this date and in the same year of 1616, Cervantes, Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega all died. It is also the date of birth or death of other prominent authors such as Maurice Druon, K.Laxness, Vladimir Nabokov, Josep Pla and Manuel Mejía Vallejo. It was a natural choice for UNESCO's General Conference to pay a world-wide tribute to books and authors on this date, encouraging everyone, and in particular young people, to discover the pleasure of reading and gain a renewed respect for the irreplaceable contributions of those who have furthered the social and cultural progress of humanity.

Montreal Millennium Summit Apr 20–22, 2010, Montreal, Canada This year, the issue of poverty will be examined from the perspective of climate change and its impact on women, men and children who experience this phenomenon on a day-to-day basis.

World Health Day Apr 7, 2010 World Health Day is celebrated on 7 April to mark the founding of WHO. Each year, the Organization selects a key global health issue and organizes international, regional and local events on the Day and throughout the year to highlight the selected area. World Health Day 2010 will focus on urbanization and health. The theme was selected in recognition of the effect urbanization has on our collective health globally and for us all individually. With the campaign 1000 cities, 1000 lives, events will be organized worldwide during the week of 7–11 April 2010. The global goals of the campaign are: * 1000 cities: to open up public spaces to health, whether it be activities in parks, town hall meetings, clean-up campaigns, or closing off portions of streets to motorized vehicles; * 1000 lives: to collect 1000 stories of urban health champions who have taken action and had a significant impact on health in their cities.

World TB Day Mar 24, 2010 World TB Day raises awareness about the global epidemic of tuberculosis (TB) and efforts to eliminate the disease. One-third of the world's population is currently infected with TB. The Stop TB Partnership, a network of organizations and countries fighting TB, organizes the Day to highlight the scope of the disease and how to prevent and cure it. The annual event on 24 March marks the day in 1882 when Dr Robert Koch detected the cause of tuberculosis, the TB bacillus. This was a first step towards diagnosing and curing tuberculosis. WHO is working to cut TB prevalence rates and deaths by half by 2015.

World Water Day Mar 22, 2010 In response to new priorities, the organizing theme for the 40th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in 2010 is a call to action, "Improve the State of the World: Rethink, Redesign, Rebuild". Driving the rethink at the 40th Annual Meeting will be the Network of Global Agenda Councils comprised of over 1,000 experts active in over 70 Councils created to advance solutions to the most critical challenges facing the world.

International Women's Day Mar 8, 2010 International Women's Day is a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future. In some places like China, Russia, Vietnam and Bulgaria, IWD is a national holiday. The first IWD was run in 1911. Next year is IWD Global Centenary 1911-2011

2010 Human Rights Summit Feb 17–19, 2010, Washington, D.C., USA The 2010 Washington Human Rights Summit: Affirming Fundamental Freedoms will bring together many of the new generation of dissidents and human rights advocates with U.S. policy makers, officials from other democratic governments, and influential figures from the world of media, think tanks, universities, NGOs, and human rights and freedom of expression activists. The summit will produce an action plan for the Obama Administration, other governments and multilateral institutions in defense of democratic values and fundamental human rights. It will also give government officials the opportunity to hear from activists currently engaged in frontline struggles for freedom and democracy.

World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2010 Jan 27–31, 2010, Davos-Klosters, Switzerland In response to new priorities, the organizing theme for the 40th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in 2010 is a call to action, "Improve the State of the World: Rethink, Redesign, Rebuild". Driving the rethink at the 40th Annual Meeting will be the Network of Global Agenda Councils comprised of over 1,000 experts active in over 70 Councils created to advance solutions to the most critical challenges facing the world.

2009

European Year of Creativity and Innovation 2009 To raise awareness of the importance of creativity and innovation for personal, social and economic development; to disseminate good practices; to stimulate education and research, and to promote policy debate on related issues.

COP15 Dec 7–18, 2009, Copenhagen, Denmark The 15th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15) in Copenhagen in December 2009 offers a historical opportunity to step up international action on climate change. A Copenhagen deal is essential to the global transition into green economic growth, and, most urgently, to help the world, especially the most vulnerable, adapt to impacts that are now inevitable.

TckTckTck Dec 7, 2009 TckTckTck is an unprecedented global alliance of non-government organizations, trade unions, faith groups and people like you—all calling for an ambitious, fair and binding climate change agreement. This global alliance has come together to ensure a fair, ambitious, and binding agreement from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, a meeting of world governments in Copenhagen, Denmark starting December 7, 2009.

World Toilet Day Nov 19, 2009 November 19th is World Toilet Day. A day to celebrate the importance of sanitation and raise awareness for the 2.5 billion people (nearly half of the world's population) who don't have access to toilets and proper sanitation.

350.org Oct 24, 2009 On 24 October, we will stand together as one planet and call for a fair global climate treaty. United by a common call to action, we'll make it clear: the world needs an international plan that meets the latest science and gets us back to safety. 350 is the most important number in the world. This number is the safe line for our global climate and a start line for a global movement. Join 350.org to take action in your community, engage our world's leaders, and build an international movement to solve the climate crisis.

Stand Up 2009 | Stand Against Poverty Oct 16–18, 2009 Last year, more than 116 million Stood Up and Took Action to end poverty in support of the Millennium Development Goals. This year, join the growing movement. Stand with us on October 16-18.