The United Nations General Assembly designates a number of "International Days" to mark important aspects of human life and history (the comprehensive list of all days celebrated by the United Nations and its Specialized Agencies is available here: International Days).Each international day offers many actors the opportunity to organize activities related to the theme of the day. Organizations and offices of the United Nations system, and most importantly, governments, civil society, the public and private sectors, schools, universities and, more generally, citizens, make an international day a springboard for awareness-raising actions.
United Nations Specialized Agencies, including UNESCO, can also proclaim World Days. In this case, the proclamation of international days depends on their governing bodies and internal regulations only.
UNESCO thus celebrates UN International Days related to its fields of competence, in addition to the other World Days, proclaimed by the Organization's governing bodies or other institutions.
The list of official messages by the Director-General of UNESCO on the occasion of International Days with which UNESCO is associated is available here.
International Days observed at UNESCO
January February March April May June July August September October November December
JANUARY
14 January
24 January
27 January
- International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust
( 34 C/61; A/RES/60/7) - UN website
FEBRUARY
11 February
13 February
21 February
MARCH
4 March
8 March
14 March
20 March
21 March
- World Poetry Day ( 30 C/29) - UN website
- International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
( 14 C/11; A/RES/2142 (XXI)) - UN website - International Day of Nowruz ( 184 EX/SR.1-9; A/RES/64/253) - UN website
22 March
APRIL
6 April
15 April
23 April
30 April
MAY
3 May
5 May
16 May
21 May
- World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development
( 166 EX/37; A/RES/57/249) - UN website
22 May
JUNE
5 June
8 June
17 June
JULY
18 July
26 July
AUGUST
9 August
12 August
23 August
SEPTEMBER
8 September
15 September
20 September
21 September
28 September
OCTOBER
5 October
11 October
13 October
17 October
24 October
27 October
NOVEMBER
First Thursday
-
International Day Against Violence and Bullying at School, including Cyberbullying ( 40 C/78)
2 November
5 November
10 November
Third Thursday in November
14 November
16 November
18 November
25 November
- International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women
( 159 EX/28; A/RES/54/134) - UN website
26 November
29 November
DECEMBER
1 December
3 December
10 December
18 December
18 December