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Welcome
International Days and major international conferences reflect a growing sense that we are part of One Humanity and One Life. On these occasions there is a special opportunity to serve in
the creation of a world that reflects this spirit of Oneness in all its diversity.
As meditators we can symbolically stand together with all those actively working to create right human relations, and invoke the aid of the Forces of Light in support of these events.
Sustainable Development Goals & Climate Change
These International Days and events reflect important themes in the mobilization of energies to:
- Build right relations in the world by addressing serious problems of poverty, inequality and climate change through practical actions to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030
- engaging people of goodwill all over the world in a common movement.
2023 United Nations International Years
Silence at the United Nations
The Spiritual Caucus at the United Nations gathers in the vicinity of UN Headquarters in New York (September - June) on the third Thursday every month for 30 minutes of silence followed by 30 minutes of dialogue, sharing insights and exploring ways to use an inner focus in service of the work of the UN.
Please link in from wherever you are. More information at: http://www.spiritualcaucusun.org/
In August the Spiritual Caucus is on summer recess.
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August Please Hold These Events in the Light
Since ancient times human beings have honored the full moon as a time when the sacred is most accessible. It is a time of light - the moon reflects the light of the sun onto the face of the earth. In astrology this is a time when the qualities and potentials of the zodiacal sign of the sun are especially available to humanity for use in service.
During the full moon religious and esoteric groups around the world use the opportunities of this time to vizualize light and love and spiritual power flowing into humanity and strengthening all that is being done to help prepare the way for a world of unity, justice and peace; a world in which the Sustainable Development Goals will be achieved.
www.lucistrust.org
August 6
Nuclear Prayer Day
August 6th marks the 78th anniversary of the Hiroshima atomic bomb. With the goal of creating global awareness of the threats of nuclear weapons, and encouraging individuals to replace feelings of fear with hope, solidarity, and action the United Religions Initiative's Voices for a World Free of Nuclear Weapons invites people of goodwill from all faiths to pray for a world free of nuclear weapons. Last year, on the first observance of Nuclear Prayer Day, 100,000 people from around the world took part in the Day.
www.voices-uri.org
August 9
International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples
Theme 2023: Indigenous youth as agents of change for self-determination.
This Day, together with the Second International Decade of the World's Indigenous People, is a sign of the growing concern for the rights and welfare of indigenous communities.
www.un.org/en/
social.desa.un.org
August 12
International Youth Day
Theme 2023: Green Skills for Youth: Towards a Sustainable World
Today, the world is embarking on a green transition. The shift towards an environmentally sustainable and climate-friendly world is critical not only for responding to the global climate crisis but also for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A successful transition towards a greener world will depend on the development of green skills in the population. Green skills are “knowledge, abilities, values and attitudes needed to live in, develop and support a sustainable and resource-efficient society”.
www.un.org/en/
social.desa.un.org
August 14 - 18
Parliament of the World's Religions, Chicago, USA
Theme 2023: A Call to Conscience: Defending Freedom & Human Rights
First convened in Chicago in 1893, the Parliament of the World's Religions seeks to cultivate harmony among the world’s spiritual traditions and foster their engagement with guiding institutions in order to achieve a more peaceful, just, and sustainable world. The modern Parliament has convened 7 times since 1993, in 6 different cities in South Africa, Spain, Canada, Australia and the USA, attracting participants from more than 200 diverse religious, indigenous, and secular beliefs and more than 80 nations.
parliamentofreligions.org
August 19
World Humanitarian Day
This Day celebrates and shines a light on humanitarian aid workers around the world while also honoring those who have been killed or injured in the course of their work. The Day commemorates the tragic bombing of the UN Office in Iraq on 19 August 2003.
www.un.org/en/
2023.worldhumanitarianday.org
sergiovdmfoundation.org
August 20 - 24
World Water Week
2023 theme: Seeds of Change: Innovative Ideas for a Water-Wise World
World Water Week in Stockholm, usually involving over 300 collaborating organizations, is the annual focal point for the globe’s water and development issues. The Week provides a unique forum for the exchange of views, experiences and practices between the scientific, business, policy and civic communities. It focuses on new thinking and positive action toward water-related challenges and their impact on the world’s environment, health, climate, economic and poverty reduction agendas.
World Water Week 2023 is focused on innovation at a time of unprecedented challenges. The theme invites us to rethink how we manage water. Which ideas, innovations, and governance systems will we need in a more unstable and water scarce world?
www.worldwaterweek.org/
August 21
International Day of Remembrance and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism
First observed in 2018, this UN Day recognises that: While more countries are affected by terrorism today, the number of victims has largely been concentrated in a small number of Member States. In 2017 alone, nearly three-quarters of all deaths caused by terrorism were in just five countries: Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia and Syria.
www.un.org/en/
www.un.org/counterterrorism/
August 22
International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief
In May of 2019 the UN General Assembly resolved to observe this day. Freedom of religion or belief, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to peaceful assembly and the right to freedom of association are interdependent, interrelated and mutually reinforcing. They are enshrined in articles 18, 19 and 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Upholding these rights plays an important role in the fight against all forms of intolerance and of discrimination based on religion or belief.
www.un.org/en/events/
August 23
International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition
This is a Day to celebrate humanity's achievement in abolishing the slave trade, and to reflect upon the history of the relations between Africa, Europe, the Americas and the Caribbean.
The process that led to the abolition of the slave trade began on the night of 22 to 23 August, 1791 when the slaves of Saint-Dominque and Haiti rose up in rebellion.
Meditators can reflect on the deep significance to the goodwill movement of the struggle against slavery, and its eventual abolition. This was a moral revolution of enormous significance. Yet although law abolished the slave trade, slavery continues to be practiced throughout the world, and the struggle against slavery continues in many fields of human relationship. The principles of freedom and human rights are now deeply ingrained in the conscience - the struggle is to bring these principles into expression.
www.unesco.org
www.unesco.org/en/days/
August 23 - 25
World Ethic Forum - Annual Firekeeper Gathering, Pontresina, Switzerland
With the support of the World Future Council, the World Ethic Forum works towards a transformation of the world with a spirit of radically shared aliveness centered around 4 principles: The world is alive; All living beings have rights; An ideology of death underlies the ecological crisis; Humans must support a society of all beings.
Fifty inspirational leaders, many of whom are councillors of the World Future Council, have come together as the Firekeepers of the Ethic Forum, charged to keep the fire alive. For a seven-year period the group meets together online, and physically at the gathering in Switzerland. We exchange knowledge, refine our theses and create conditions and structures so that we can exist and develop as a group over seven years.
www.worldethicforum.com
August 29
International Day Against Nuclear Tests
On this United Nations Day the goal is to encourage governments, NGO's and all concerned parties to raise awareness of the need to ban nuclear tests as a valuable step to achieving a safer world.
It is a little known fact that, as a result of regional treaties, the entire southern hemisphere of the planet is now a virtual nuclear weapons free zone. On July 17 2017 the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was adopted. This is the first multilateral legally binding instrument for nuclear disarmament to have been negotiated in 20 years, by 122 countries.
www.un.org/en/events/
www.ctbto.org
www.unfoldzero.org/
August 30
International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances
Enforced disappearances (including arrests, detention and abduction) have frequently been used by military dictatorships and political groups to spread terror in a society and eliminate opposition.
Reflecting a growing concern amongst governments as well as people of goodwill, UN member states adopted an International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and, since 2011, have observed August 30 as this International Day.
www.un.org/en/events/disappearancesday/
August 31
International Day for People of African Descent
Observed for the first time in 2021, the International Day for People of African Descent aims to promote the extraordinary contributions of the African diaspora around the world and to eliminate all forms of discrimination against people of African descent. The UN is observing 2015 - 2024 as the International Decade for People of African Descent.
www.un.org
www.un.org/
August 31
Full Moon — Virgo
Since ancient times human beings have honored the full moon as a time when the sacred is most accessible. It is a time of light - the moon reflects the light of the sun onto the face of the earth. In astrology this is a time when the qualities and potentials of the zodiacal sign of the sun are especially available to humanity for use in service.
During the full moon religious and esoteric groups around the world use the opportunities of this time to vizualize light and love and spiritual power flowing into humanity and strengthening all that is being done to help prepare the way for a world of unity, justice and peace; a world in which the Sustainable Development Goals will be achieved.
www.lucistrust.org
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