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World Cerebral Palsy Day – 6 October

About World Cerebral Palsy Day

Cerebral palsy is one of the least understood disabilities and people with cerebral palsy are often out of sight, out of mind and out of options in communities around the world. This needs to change.

World Cerebral Palsy Day on 6 October was created by the Cerebral Palsy Alliance in 2012 and now brings together people living with cerebral palsy, their families, allies, supporters and organisations across more than 100 countries. All with the aim to ensure a future in which children and adults with cerebral palsy have the same rights, access and opportunities as anyone else in our society.

About Cerebral Palsy

There are more than 17 million people across the world living with cerebral palsy. Another 350 million people are closely connected to a child or adult with cerebral palsy. It is the most common physical disability in childhood. Cerebral palsy is a permanent disability that affects movement. Its impact can range from a weakness in one hand, to almost a complete lack of voluntary movement.

It is a complex disability:

  • 1 in 4 children with cerebral palsy cannot talk
  • 1 in 4 cannot walk
  • 1 in 2 have an intellectual disability
  • 1 in 4 have epilepsy.

Cerebral palsy is a lifelong disability and there is no known cure.

 

Source: Text: https://worldcpday.org/   Image: iStock

World Youth Day – 15 July

Young people are drivers of change and must be fully engaged in decisions affecting their future. Guided by the United Nations Youth 2030 strategy, I urge everyone to act for youth skills development as a priority, at the Summit and beyond.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres

Transforming youth skills for the future

In 2014, the United Nations General Assembly declared 15 July as World Youth Skills Day, to celebrate the strategic importance of equipping young people with skills for employment, decent work and entrepreneurship. Since then, World Youth Skills Day has provided a unique opportunity for dialogue between young people, technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions, firms, employers’ and workers’ organizations, policy-makers and development partners.

World Youth Skills Day 2022 takes place amid concerted efforts towards socio-economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic that are interconnected with challenges such as climate change, conflict, persisting poverty, rising inequality, rapid technological change, demographic transition and others.

Young women and girls, young persons with disabilities, youth from poorer households, rural communities, indigenous peoples, and minority groups, as well as those who suffer the consequences of violent conflict and political instability, continue to be excluded due to a combination of factors. In addition, the crisis has accelerated several transitions the world of work was already undergoing, which add layers of uncertainty regarding the skills and competencies that will be in demand after the pandemic is overcome.

The United Nations and its agencies,  such as UNESCO-UNEVOC, are well placed to help address these challenges by reducing access barriers to the world of work, ensuring that skills gained are recognized and certified, and offering skills development opportunities for out-of-school youth and those not in employment, education or training (NEET). During this Decade of Action for the 2030 Agenda, the full engagement of young people in global processes is vital to generate positive change and innovation.

 

Source: Text: UN   Image: pngtree.com

 

International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances – 30 August

Enforced disappearance has frequently been used as a strategy to spread terror within the society. The feeling of insecurity generated by this practice is not limited to the close relatives of the disappeared, but also affects their communities and society as a whole.

Enforced disappearance has become a global problem and is not restricted to a specific region of the world. Once largely the product of military dictatorships, enforced disappearances can nowadays be perpetrated in complex situations of internal conflict, especially as a means of political repression of opponents. Of particular concern are:

the ongoing harassment of human rights defenders, relatives of victims, witnesses and legal counsel dealing with cases of enforced disappearance; the use by States of counter-terrorist activities as an excuse for breaching their obligations;
and the still widespread impunity for enforced disappearance.

Special attention must also be paid to specific groups of especially vulnerable people, like children and people with disabilities.

On 21 December 2010, by its resolution 65/209 the UN General Assembly expressed its deep concern about the increase in enforced or involuntary disappearances in various regions of the world, including arrest, detention and abduction, when these are part of or amount to enforced disappearances, and by the growing number of reports concerning harassment, ill-treatment and intimidation of witnesses of disappearances or relatives of persons who have disappeared.

By the same resolution the Assembly welcomed the adoption of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, and decided to declare 30 August the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, to be observed beginning in 2011.

Missing Persons
Since 1999 in Kosovo more than 6,000 people have been registered as missing. The UN Mission in Kosovo, UNMIK, together with OHCHR has supported the creating of a missing persons’ resource centre.

Source: Text: UN Image: OHCHR

World Autism Awareness Day – 2 April

2017 Theme: « Toward Autonomy and Self-Determination »

Autism affects approximately 1 out of every 150 children around the world. It is a neural development disorder that affects their ability to socialize normally by impacting their abilities to utilize verbal and non-verbal communication. Since 2012, there has been a 30% increase in the amount of children being affected with autism, and World Autism Awareness Day helps to bring awareness to this growing health concern.

Autism first appears very early on, sometimes manifesting as early as infancy, in other times waiting until later in childhood. The disease progresses steadily without remission, its first symptoms generally appearing around six-months, and being firmly in place by age two or three. Rather than having one distinguishing characteristic, Autism is indicated by the coming together of three separate symptoms. The triad includes difficulty socializing, problems in communication, and a limited number of interests combined with repetitive behavior such as can-stacking.

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) recognizes the right of persons with disabilities to independence of person and to individual autonomy (article 3).

Legal capacity is instrumental to the recognition of a person as a human being of full personhood, with the right to take decisions and enter into contracts. However, certain abilities have often been seen as necessary qualifications for full personal autonomy, creating a barrier to full societal inclusion for people with autism.

The WAAD observance, on 31 March 2017, will discuss policies and approaches being implemented with regard to guardianship and the path to self-determination and legal capacity of persons with autism.

Source: Textx: UN;  DAYS of the YEAR   Image: giphy.com

International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances – 30 August

Thousands of people commemorated the 17th anniversary of the Santa Cruz massacre today with a march from the Motael Church to the Santa Cruz cemetery in Dili. Many mourners carried photographs of loved ones who died or who disappeared on 12 November 1991 when the Indonesian military opened fire on a group of pro-independence supporters during a peaceful demonstration at the Santa Cruz Cemetery. UNMIT Photo/Martine Perret
Thousands of people commemorated the 17th anniversary of the Santa Cruz massacre today with a march from the Motael Church to the Santa Cruz cemetery in Dili. Many mourners carried photographs of loved ones who died or who disappeared on 12 November 1991 when the Indonesian military opened fire on a group of pro-independence supporters during a peaceful demonstration at the Santa Cruz Cemetery. UNMIT Photo/Martine Perret

« On this international day, I urge all Member States to ratify or accede to the Convention without delay, and I call on the States parties to the Convention to implement it. It is time for an end to all enforced disappearances.”
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

Enforced disappearance has frequently been used as a strategy to spread terror within the society. The feeling of insecurity generated by this practice is not limited to the close relatives of the disappeared, but also affects their communities and society as a whole.

Enforced disappearance has become a global problem and is not restricted to a specific region of the world. Once largely the product of military dictatorships, enforced disappearances can nowadays be perpetrated in complex situations of internal conflict, especially as a means of political repression of opponents. Of particular concern are:

– the ongoing harassment of human rights defenders, relatives of victims, witnesses and legal counsel dealing with cases of enforced disappearance;
the use by States of counter-terrorist activities as an excuse for breaching their obligations;
and the still widespread impunity for enforced disappearance.

Special attention must also be paid to specific groups of especially vulnerable people, like children and people with disabilities.

Source: Text & Image: UN