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International Day for the Eradication of Poverty – 17 October

17 octobre 2022
Nicole Gregoire
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Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: beliefs, commitment, human rights, hunger, poverty, solidary, UNESCO, victims, violence

17 October presents an opportunity to acknowledge the effort and struggle of people living in poverty, a chance for them to make their concerns heard, and a moment to recognize that poor people are the first ones to fight against poverty.

Participation of the poor themselves has been at the center of the Day’s celebration since its very beginning. The commemoration of 17 October also reflects the willingness of people living in poverty to use their expertise to contribute to the eradication of poverty.

The observance of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty can be traced back to 17 October 1987. On that day, over a hundred thousand people gathered at the Trocadéro in Paris, where the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was signed in 1948, to honour the victims of extreme poverty, violence and hunger.

They proclaimed that poverty is a violation of human rights and affirmed the need to come together to ensure that these rights are respected. These convictions are inscribed in a commemorative stone unveiled on this day. Since then, people of all backgrounds, beliefs and social origins have gathered every year on 17 October to renew their commitment and show their solidarity with the poor. Replicas of the commemorative stone have been unveiled around the world and serve as a gathering place to celebrate the Day.

 

Source: Text: https://en.unesco.org/events/international-day-eradication-poverty   Image: freepik.com

International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction – 13 October

13 octobre 2022
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: danger, disaster, health, hunger, international community, poverty, risk

International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction is observed on October 13 every year. The day is a chance to recognize the progress made in addressing vulnerability to disasters and the loss of lives, economies, and health. Every year, the day honors people and communities all over the world who are working to reduce their vulnerability to disasters and raise awareness about the urgency of lowering the dangers they face. Disaster resilience in response to catastrophic weather events and other natural and man-made disasters requires international cooperation in the form of Official Development Aid (ODA) as well as capacity building.

HISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR DISASTER RISK REDUCTION

International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction is an annual event that urges citizens and governments to work together to make their communities and countries more disaster-resilient. As part of its declaration of the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction, the United Nations General Assembly established October 13 as the International Day for Natural Disaster Risk Reduction.

After the United Nations General Assembly called for a day to foster a global culture of risk awareness and catastrophe reduction, International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction was born in 1989.

In 2022, the General Assembly resolved to keep the yearly commemoration as a tool for promoting a global mindset of natural disaster mitigation, covering prevention and preparedness. The United Nations General Assembly resolved in 2009 to make October 13 the official date, and to rename it International Day for Disaster Reduction.

The international community was informed in 2015 at the third U.N. World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai, Japan, that disasters strike worst at the local level, with the possibility of creating tremendous social and economic devastation. Every year, millions of people are displaced by sudden disaster outbreaks. Catastrophic events, many of which have been aggravated by global warming, have a detrimental influence on sustainable development investment and its desired outcomes.

Disasters significantly affect low- and middle-income countries, especially in terms of fatalities, the number of persons injured or displaced, and damage to key infrastructure. While other global problems might seem more pressing, hunger and poverty cannot be eradicated if we do not address disaster risk reduction.

 

Source: Text: https://nationaltoday.com/international-day-for-disaster-risk-reduction/   Image: nationaldaycalendar

World Post Day – 9 October 2023

9 octobre 2022
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: Climate change, economy, hunger, inclusion, innovation, integration, post, services

Innovation, Integration and Inclusion

World Post Day is celebrated each year on 9 October, the anniversary of the establishment of the Universal Postal Union in 1874 in the Swiss Capital, Bern. It was declared World Post Day by the UPU Congress held in Tokyo, Japan in 1969. Since then, countries across the world participate annually in the celebrations. The Posts in many countries use the event to introduce or promote new postal products and services.

In 2015 countries all over the world committed themselves to working together towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, which aim to end extreme poverty and hunger, fight inequality and injustice, and take action to reverse climate change – to name just some of these 17 agreed new Goals. Playing its part in this global effort, the Post today has a more relevant role than ever by providing infrastructure for development.

2023 theme: Together for trust: Collaborating for a safe and connected future

Post offices play a crucial role in fostering cohesive, inclusive, connected communities. Presently, over five million postal employees are entrusted with a variety of essential and personal items, from messages, gifts and goods, to money and medicines.

 

Source: Texte & Image: https://www.un.org/en/observances/world-post-day#

International Tea Day – 21 May

21 mai 2022
Nicole Gregoire
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Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: beverage, cash crops, drink, hunger, income, livelihood, poverty, production, tea, water

Why drink tea?

Tea is a beverage made from the Camellia sinesis plant. Tea is the world’s most consumed drink, after water. It is believed that tea originated in northeast India, north Myanmar and southwest China, but the exact place where the plant first grew is not known. Tea has been with us for a long time. There is evidence that tea was consumed in China 5,000 years ago.

Tea production and processing constitutes a main source of livelihoods for millions of families in developing countries and is the main means of subsistence for millions of poor families, who live in a number of least developed countries.

The tea industry is a main source of income and export revenues for some of the poorest countries and, as a labour-intensive sector, provides jobs, especially in remote and economically disadvantaged areas. Tea can play a significant role in rural development, poverty reduction and food security in developing countries, being one of the most important cash crops.

Tea consumption can bring health benefits and wellness due to the beverage’s anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and weight loss effects. It also has cultural significance in many societies.

International Tea Day

Re-emphasizing the call from the Intergovernmental Group on Tea to direct greater efforts towards expanding demand, particularly in tea-producing countries, where per capita consumption is relatively low, and supporting efforts to address the declining per capita consumption in traditional importing countries, the General Assembly decided to designate 21 May as International Tea Day.

The Day will promote and foster collective actions to implement activities in favour of the sustainable production and consumption of tea and raise awareness of its importance in fighting hunger and poverty.

 

Source: Text: International Tea Day | United Nations     Image: eventlas.com

4th Sunday of Lent, Year C – 2022

25 mars 2022
Nicole Gregoire
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Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: bitterness, compassion, émotions, feelings, freedom, hunger, Luke 15:1-3, Luke 15:11-32, need, pleasures, regret, The Father, the Spirit

In many ways, feelings and emotions mold our personalities.
They mark our actions and reactions.
They influence much of what we live, for better or for worse.

Today’s gospel is filled with emotions (Luke 15:1-3,11-32):
The eagerness of sinners to hear Jesus.
The frustration of the Pharisees seeing them at the table.
The desire for freedom of the younger son.
The compassion and generosity of the father.
The anger of the jealous brother.

In this whole panorama describing human attitudes, there is one verse that stands out.
It refers to the young man and says:
“He came to himself” (v.17).
 
And this has been quite a long journey indeed!
He has gone through a whole landscape of feelings.

 

His desire for freedom, his enjoyment of life’s pleasures,
his hunger and need, the awareness of what he has lost,
his regret, his planning to return home,
the preparation of his ‘confession’ to his father,
and… finally setting on the road…
with, probably, more than a little bitterness.

This was the l o n g  process of ‘coming to himself’…
And, strangely enough, it had to take place before he could come to his father!

This may be the experience we need to make in this period of Lent:
We have to come to ourselves.
We have to become aware of what lies deep within us –
become aware and acknowledge what makes us act and react as we do.

Then, with all that ‘inhabits’ the depths of our being,
we will be able to set on the way to return to our Father.

This may involve a long pilgrimage but the Spirit can accompany us every step of the way…
If we allow him to do so…

                                                              

And another reflection, on a different theme, is available in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/4e-dimanche-du-careme-annee-c-2022/

 

Source: Images: Free Bible Images   

 

 

 

6th Sunday of Year C – 2022

11 février 2022
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: happiness, hatred from others, hunger, Jeremiah 17:5-8, pleasures, possessions, poverty, prestige, sadness

Poverty, hunger, sadness, hatred from others – who would dare say that these will bring happiness?
Someone has dared to say so – Jesus did when speaking to the crowds eager to listen to him (Luke 6:17,20-26).

I wonder how they reacted, all those listening to him on that day…
As they walked back home, they must have been puzzled, wondering about such an unusual message.

I ask myself: ‘Nowadays, how many people are listening to these words, listening and being ready to accept the message given – such a challenging message!’…

Possessions and prestige, this is what people are looking for, not poverty and hunger.
Enjoying life and all the pleasures it can offer, this is what appeals to people, not suffering and sadness.

Of course, there is the promise – the promise of the kingdom of God, of future satisfaction and joy, a reward waiting in heaven.
But precisely, this is all to come… in the future.
This perspective has not much interest for people living in what has been qualified as a time of instant gratification!
Enjoying life now, not in what seems to many as a doubtful future.

We, each one of us, are faced with a choice, a challenge: accepting Jesus’ message and following him, or…
Or, following our own path, searching, and searching, never really finding what we are longing for…

In the 1st reading, the prophet Jeremiah says (Jeremiah 17:5-8):

“Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose hope is the Lord”.

Trust and hope: relying on someone who cannot disappoint our search – this is the option offered to us.
Instead of a constant search leading to… a dead end.

 

Note: Another reflection on a different theme is available in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/6e-dimanche-de-lannee-c-2022/

 

Source: Image: historyandthenews.wordpress

3rd Sunday of Lent, Year A – 2020

13 mars 2020
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: Exodus 17:3-7, freedom, God's presence, hunger, need, power, quarrelling, thirst, to test

The 1st reading on this 3rd Sunday of Lent (Year A – Exodus 17:3-7) presents us with a scene known to many of us.
The people of Israel complain that they have no water and accuse Moses of bringing them to a desert place.
He, in turn, complains to the Lord who tells him what to do to remedy the situation.
Moses strikes a rock and water gushes out abundantly.

We say: Fantastic! Wonderful!
We may add with religious admiration: ‘God answers the prayer of his servant!’
This is one aspect of the scene.

There is another, no less important if seldom mentioned.
Moses gives the location where this happened the names of:
Massah which means testing, and Meribah which means quarrelling.

These names are definitely foreign to us, but the reality they describe is most certainly familiar!
No one can doubt that, in our world today, there is much of this: testing and quarrelling.

What had led the Israelites to quarrel, to test Moses, and more still, to test God?
They were thirsty.
The 1st Sunday of Lent spoke about hunger, this one speaks of thirst – basic human needs indeed.

Our hunger and our thirst can take many forms –
bread and water are only representations of all that we long for:
health and wealth, power and prestige, freedom and domination – and so much more.

This ‘so much more’ hides ONE deeper need:
it is the one mentioned in the last verse of the text:
« The Israelites “tested the Lord saying,
‘Is the Lord among us or not?’ ”
 
This is the need for God’s presence with us.
It may remain hidden deeply within us, but it is there…
This period of Lent is welcome if it enables us to identify both, the need AND the presence!

Note: The scene of the gospel of the Samaritan at the well is presented in a video (in English) at: https://youtu.be/jU09NpjS27w
And another reflection on a different theme is available in French at: https://image-i-nations.com/3e-dimanche-du-careme-annee-a-2020/

 

Source: Image: Wikimedia Commons

 

 

 

 

International Day of Peace – 21 September

21 septembre 2018
Nicole Gregoire
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Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: development, dignity, environment, equality, health, history, human rights, hunger, justice, poverty, sustainable goals

Each year the International Day of Peace is observed around the world on 21 September. The General Assembly has declared this as a day devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace, both within and among all nations and peoples.

The United Nations Member States adopted the 17 Sustainable Development Goals in 2015 because they understood that it would not be possible to build a peaceful world if steps were not taken to achieve economic and social development for all people everywhere, and ensure that their rights were protected.  The Sustainable Goals cover a broad range of issues, including poverty, hunger, health, education, climate change, gender equality, water, sanitation, energy, environment and social justice.

Sustainable Development Goal 16 “Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions” calls for promoting peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, providing access to justice for all and building effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.

A peaceful society is one where there is justice and equality for everyone. Peace will enable a sustainable environment to take shape and a sustainable environment will help promote peace.

2018 Theme: “The Right to Peace – The Universal Declaration of Human Rights at 70” 

The theme celebrates the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a milestone document in the history of human rights. Drafted by representatives with different legal and cultural backgrounds from all regions of the world, the Declaration was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on 10 December 1948 as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations.The Universal Declaration – the most translated document in the world, available in more than 500 languages – is as relevant today as it was on the day that it was adopted.

“It is time all nations and all people live up to the words of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which recognizes the inherent dignity and equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human race. This year marks the 70th anniversary of that landmark document.” — Secretary-General António Guterres

Source: Text & Image: UN

 

World Day for War Orphans – 6 January

6 janvier 2018
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: abuse, armed conflicts, child soldiers, diseases, handicaps, hunger, malnutrition, orphanage, poverty, violence, vulnérable

Civilians bear the brunt of the suffering in war. Of the big number of war victims, the most often neglected are children.

Orphans throughout the world face many challenges: Malnutrition, starvation, disease, and decreased social attention. As the most vulnerable population on planet Earth, they have no one to protect them and are most likely to suffer from hunger, disease, and many other problems.

In recent decades, the proportion of civilian casualties in armed conflicts has increased dramatically and is now estimated at more than 90 per cent. About half of the victims are children.
An estimated 20 million children have been forced to flee their homes because of conflict and human rights violations and are living as refugees in neighbouring countries or are internally displaced within their own national borders.

More than 2 million children have died as a direct result of armed conflict over the last decade.
More than three times that number, at least 6 million children, have been permanently disabled or seriously injured.
More than 1 million have been orphaned or separated from their families.
Between 8,000 and 10,000 children are killed or maimed by landmines every year.

An estimated 300,000 child soldiers – boys and girls under the age of 18 – are involved in more than 30 conflicts worldwide. Child soldiers are used as combatants, messengers, porters, cooks and to provide sexual services. Some are forcibly recruited or abducted, others are driven to join by poverty, abuse and discrimination, or to seek revenge for violence enacted against themselves and their families.

Sadly, however, they rarely receive the time, attention, and love for optimal social and personal development. Research reveals that children growing up in an orphanage experience emotional, social, and physical handicaps. Without a doubt, the best place for a child to grow up is in a stable family with a loving father and mother.

Source: Text: keepincalendar.com  Image: Unsplash (free download)

 

World Day to Overcome Extreme Poverty – 17 October

17 octobre 2017
Nicole Gregoire
Aucun commentaire
Catégories: Anglophones et anglophiles
Mots-clés: human rights, humanity, hunger, ignorance, poverty, respect, violence

On October 17, 1987,World Day to Overcome Extreme Poverty , at the call of Father Joseph Wresinski , 100,000 human rights defenders gathered at the Parvis du Trocadéro in Paris to honor the victims of hunger, violence, ignorance and violence. To say their refusal of misery and call on humanity to unite to make respect for Human Rights..

A slab, proclaiming this message, was inaugurated on this occasion on the Parvis des Libertés and Human Rights, where the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was signed in 1948.

Source: Text: Zyppia, NationalPedia Image:UN