World Polio Day

October 24 is a day that will come and go without notice to most people in the world. You will not see thousands of people wearing pink. You will not see the ribbons on peoples clothing. You will not see hundreds of races dedicated to raising money or awareness. But October 24 is a very special day. This day is World Polio Day.

What is polio? World Polio Day describes the virus as:

“Poliomyelitis (polio) is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus. It invades the nervous system, and can cause total paralysis in a matter of hours. It can strike at any age, but affects mainly children under three (over 50% of all cases). The virus enters the body through the mouth and multiplies in the intestine. Initial symptoms are fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck and pain in the limbs. One in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis (usually in the legs). Amongst those paralyzed, 5%-10% die when their breathing muscles become immobilized.

Many people still do not realize the US President Franklin D. Roosevelt was a polio victim who required a wheelchair to be mobile. Few pictures of him with his wheelchair exist and his illness was hidden from the public eye.

Most of us are too young to remember the horrible and crimpling polio virus. Most of us are even more luck to live in countries where polio has already been eradicated. We would not be this lucky if it was not for a world wide group called Rotary International (RI).

Rotary International is a world wide charitable organization with over 1.2 million members and 34,000 clubs. “Rotary club members are volunteers who work locally, regionally, and internationally to combat hunger, improve health and sanitation, provide education and job training, promote peace, and eradicate polio under the motto Service Above Self.”

Rotary International does thousands of charitable services but their main goal is the worldwide eradication of the Polio virus and so far they are doing a great job. There program to eradicate polio is called “Polio Plus.”

After 25 years of hard work, Rotary and its partners are on the brink of eradicating this tenacious disease. Its a great effort and contribution by the Rotarians worldwide to initiate the movement of global Polio eradication programme.

As a Rotaractor, I am proud to be a part of Rotary International Family. This is absolutely amazing and we must not drop the ball on this mission.

Today in World - IU Project

International understanding is very vital for the growth and the well being of a Rotaract club as from each piece of detail we could add something to our lives or help someone in need.

"Today in world", Our latest international understanding project is hosted from October 1st to widen the knowledge of many through a variety of aspects.

In this project we share a article full of information on special international days symbolized to celebrate or reminisce a certain person, event or a movement.These articles are publicized through our blog (Rotaract Club of Kuliyapitiya) and we shared them to our Official FB fan page also. Currently up until now we have posted articles on, 

                                       World children's day

                                       World sight day

                                       World standards day

                                       International day for the eradication of poverty 

                                       World Food day

                                       International day of rural women

                                       Global hand-washing day

                                       World white cane day

                                       World post day  etc.  

  

So far this project had been utterly successful and our objective of widening international understanding is fulfilled. We hope this will continue to be a success!

Rotaract Club of Kuliyapitiya shared a link.

October 9

Rotaract Club of Kuliyapitiya: World Post Day

blog.rotaractclubofkuliyapitiya.org

    Rotaract Club of Kuliyapitiya shared a link.

    October 12

Rotaract Club of Kuliyapitiya: World Sight Day

blog.rotaractclubofkuliyapitiya.org

Rotaract Club of Kuliyapitiya shared a link.

October 2

Rotaract Club of Kuliyapitiya: World Children's Day

blog.rotaractclubofkuliyapitiya.org

Rotaract Club of Kuliyapitiya shared a link.

October 15

Rotaract Club of Kuliyapitiya: "Today in World"

blog.rotaractclubofkuliyapitiya.org

Rotaract Club of Kuliyapitiya shared a link.

October 14

Rotaract Club of Kuliyapitiya: World Standards Day

blog.rotaractclubofkuliyapitiya.org

Rotaract Club of Kuliyapitiya shared a link.

October 16

Rotaract Club of Kuliyapitiya: World Food Day

blog.rotaractclubofkuliyapitiya.org

Rotaract Club of Kuliyapitiya shared a link.

October 17

Rotaract Club of Kuliyapitiya: International Day for the Eradication of Poverty

blog.rotaractclubofkuliyapitiya.org

International Day for the Eradication of Poverty

                                       

The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty is celebrated every year on October 17 throughout the world. It was officially recognized by the United Nations,but the first commemoration of the event took place in Paris, France, in 1987 when 100,000 people gathered on the Human Rights and Liberties Plaza at the Trocadéro to honour victims of poverty, hunger, violence and fear.It promotes people’s awareness of the need to eradicate poverty and destitution worldwide, particularly in developing countries.

At the Millennium Summit, world leaders committed themselves to cutting by half by the year 2015 the number of people living in extreme poverty - people whose income is less than one dollar a day.

The theme for this year’s International Day for the Eradication of Poverty -- “Working together out of poverty” -- highlights the need for a truly global anti-poverty alliance, one in which both developed and developing countries participate actively.

World Food Day

16th October has been declared as World Food Day which is observed in remembrance of launching of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 1945. It is also the Food Engineer day.

The World Food Day theme for 2012 is "Agricultural cooperatives – key to feeding the world".The official World Food Day theme, announced each spring by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), gives focus to World Food Day observances and raises awareness and understanding of approaches to ending hunger.

The aim of the Day is to heighten public awareness of the world food problem and strengthen solidarity in the struggle against hunger, malnutrition and poverty. 

Cooperatives are an important piece of achieving food security for all. 70 percent of those who face hunger live in rural areas where agriculture serves as the economic mainstay. Smallholder farmers are central to addressing hunger, yet many face barriers such as a lack of infrastructure, outdated farming practices, and a lack of access to financial services.  Cooperatives improve farmers’ agricultural productivity and equip them with access to marketing, savings, credit, insurance, and technology. Farmer cooperatives serve both to connect farmers to markets and to increase food production.

Supporting smallholder farmers enhances global food security and reduces poverty. Cooperatives link smallholder farmers to markets by aggregating their product, facilitating the adoption of new technologies and inputs, encouraging greater productivity and crop diversification, and providing a platform for smallholder producers in decisions that affect their livelihoods.

Good things happen when people believe in themselves and get organized. On World Food Day 2012, let us resolve to give cooperatives a helping hand, enabling them to overcome constraints and to play their full role in the drive to end hunger and poverty.

"Today in World"

Today marked as World White cane day, Global Hand-washing day and International day of Rural Woman.

International day of Rural Woman.

"Empowering rural women is crucial for ending hunger and poverty. By denying women rights and opportunities, we deny their children and societies a better future. This is why the United Nations recently launched a programme to empower rural women and enhance food security."

Throughout history, women traditionally have been the backbone of society. While men have gone off hunting or fighting, it has always been the women who have quietly stayed behind to run everything in their absence, caring for children and older relatives, managing the home and simply being there when and if the menfolk returned.

In rural areas women have traditionally played a crucial role in agriculture and the local economy. Although in the developed world where modern machinery is now capable of doing much the work formerly done by a large labour force, this is no longer so evident, but in developing countries, where agriculture continues to be largely centered around smallholder farming, a large labour force is still very important.

Rural women and girls make up about a quarter of the world's population and in the developing world women play a vital part in food production from the land.

International recognition of the vital role of rural women was first recognized during the 4^th UN World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995, when several international organisations launched World Rural Women's Day. Very soon this was being celebrated in more than 100 countries around the world.

In December 2007 the UN General Assembly decided that the particular role of rural women should be highlighted by making 15^th October 2008 the first International Day of Rural Women. This day was chosen since it is the day immediately before UN World Food Day.

The theme for the 57th session of the commission on the statues of Women is:

   " Elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls" 

Global Hand-washing Day

Global Hand-washing Day is a campaign to motivate and mobilize millions around the world to wash their hands with soap. It takes place on October 15 of each year. The campaign is dedicated to raising awareness of hand-washing with soap as a key approach to disease prevention.

It was made at the annual World Water Week 2008, which was held in Stockholm from August 17 to 23 and initiated the Public Private Partnership for Hand-washing. The Global Hand-washing Day took place for the first time on October 15, 2008, the date appointed by UN General Assembly in accordance with year 2008 as the International Year of Sanitation.

The theme for Global Hand-washing Day’s inaugural year was Focus on School Children. The members pledged to get the maximum number of school children hand-washing with soap in more than 70 countries.

2012 marks the 5th anniversary of Global Hand-washing Day!

World White Cane Day

This day of recognition is held around the world each year on 15 October to highlight the use of the White Cane in our community and to promote the safety needs of people who are blind or have low vision.

People who are blind have used canes to help them find their way for centuries but the origin of the White Cane lies between the two World Wars. James Biggs of Bristol claims to have invented the White Cane in 1921. After losing his sight and feeling vulnerable to traffic near his home, he painted his walking stick white to be more visible to motorists. It was after World War II that American Doctor Richard Hoover developed the "long cane" method of cane travel as a means to help war veterans who were blind return to a more functional lifestyle.

A day recognizing the importance of the White Cane was first proclaimed in 1964 by American President Lyndon B Johnson. He designated October 15th as White Cane Safety Day and called upon the community to observe the day with ceremonies and activities.

We celebrate  the day (now known as International White Cane Day) with events that promote the safety needs of people who are blind and celebrate the independence that can be achieved in spite of little or no vision.

In Sri Lanka we also celebrate it as " Loka Sudu Sarayati Dinaya" 

World Standards Day

Each year on 14 October, the members of the IEC, ISO and ITU celebrate World Standards Day, which is a means of paying tribute to the collaborative efforts of the thousands of experts worldwide who develop the voluntary technical agreements that are published as international standards.The aim of World Standards Day is to raise awareness among regulators, industry and consumers as to the importance of standardization to the global economy.

Today we celebrate the 43rd World Standard Day, under the theme: “Less waste, Better Results - Standards increase efficiency ” Although standardization is very important to nearly all aspects of human activity, ordinary people are still questioning what standardization means to their lives.

One of the most important aspects of standardization is ensuring that products or services are environmentally friendly and safe for humans. For instance, an electronic goods producer must ensure that products from its factory will not harm end users with shocks or dangerous frequencies.

For that reason, national and international standards have an important role in dictating the technical specifications of a product. Furthermore, standardized testing and assessment methods are also important to make sure products meet the necessary specifications.

And also the standardized measurement is very important in national and international society.Measurements are necessary to make everything standard, and every measurement needs a standard.

In conjunction with the World Standard Day, If everybody follows standards and uses proper methods of measurement, dangerous incidents would occur far less frequently.

World Sight Day

      "World Working Together to Eliminate Avoidable Blindness"

World Sight Day is a global event that focuses on bringing attention on blindness and vision impairment. It is observed on the second Thursday of October each year.

World Sight Day is observed around the world by all partners involved in preventing visual impairment or restoring sight. It is also the main advocacy event for the prevention of blindness and for "Vision 2020: The Right to Sight", a global effort to prevent blindness created by WHO and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness.

World Sight Day is a global observance but it is not a nationwide public holiday.World Sight Day is observed for the following reasons:

• Awareness is created about blindness and vision impairment issues which are considered to be international public health concerns.
• To motivate health ministers and other government officials to understand the problems and take keen interest in listing viable solutions and allocating resources to fight for the cause.
• To raise awareness and educate people about issues related to vision impairment, the importance of a 2020 vision, the corrective steps to be taken in order to restore partially lost sight etc.

World sight day 2012 theme is 

         "Working Together to Eliminate Avoidable Blindness"