Welcome
During International Days and major international conferences there is a special opportunity to serve in
the creation of a more unified and compassionate world.
As meditators we can symbolically stand together with all actively working in the spirit of the Charter of Compassion, 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:
- End poverty, inequality and climate change by 2030 through practical actions to achieve the new Sustainable Development Goals
- engaging people of goodwill all over the world in a common movement.
2016 United Nations International Year
2017 United Nations International Year
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. On the 1st Thursday of the month the Caucus invites friends to sit in silence for 30 minutes in the newly renovated Meditation Room at UN Headquarters in New York.
Please link in from wherever you are. More information at: http://www.spiritualcaucusun.org/
In November the Spiritual Caucus will gather for silence in the UN Meditation Room at UN Headquarters, New York on November 3 from 12.45 - 1.15 PM and for silence and discussion at the Conference Room of the NGO Resource Center at UN Headquarters in New York on November 17 from 1.30 - 2.45 PM.
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November Please Hold These Events in the Light
November 1 - 19
19 Days of Activism for Prevention of Abuse and Violence against Children & Youth
2016 theme: Malnutrition
This global campaign leading up to World Day for Prevention of Child Abuse, is sponsored by a coalition of international organizations and networks.
We have a Dream … the creation of a world without violence against children and youth.
By focusing during 19 days on the prevention of diverse types of abuse and violence against children and youth, the campaign aims to continue to bring to light the alarming problem, its multifaceted aspects, and the need to generate sufficient grass-roots interest and government and public support for better prevention measures.
19days.woman.ch
November 6
International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict
In earlier times it was not uncommon for the environment to be damaged in warfare - crops were destroyed, water supplies poisoned and forests set alight. Modern technologies mean that environmental damage from wars can be far more serious and the consequences more long-term. The damage often extends beyond the limits of national territories and the present generation.
This Day reminds us that it is not only people who suffer in times of war. As universal ethics condition the conscience of humanity, there is a growing sense of responsibility for the well-being of all life on Earth: minerals, plants & animals.
www.un.org/en/events/
November 7 - 18
United Nations Climate Change Conference, Marrakech, Morocco
COP 22 is the 22nd annual gathering of parties to the UN Climate Change Framework Convention - and the first session of the conference of the parties that are signatories to the Paris Climate Change Agreement. It includes government noegotiations on implementation of the Paris Agreement as well as a Global Climate Action Agenda involving different sectors of the climate change movement.
The Paris Agreement seeks to accelerate and intensify the actions and investment needed for a sustainable low carbon future. Its central aim is to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The Agreement also aims to strengthen the ability of countries to deal with the impacts of climate change.
Official United Nations Site: newsroom.unfccc.int
Morocco official site www.cop22.ma
November 10
World Science Day for Peace & Development
This Annual UNESCO Day seeks to renew the national as well as the international commitment to science for peace and development and to stress the responsible use of science for the benefit of society. The Day is part of an International Week of Science and Peace
www.un.org/en/events/scienceday/
www.unesco.org/
November 10 - 13
International Symposium for Contemplative Studies, San Diego, CA, USA
The Mind & Life Institute’s International Symposium for Contemplative Studies seeks to encourage and help shape a cohesive interdisciplinary field in which basic and applied science, scholarship, education, the arts, and contemplative traditions collaboratively develop an integrated way of knowing.
www.mindandlife.org
November 16
International Day of Tolerance
Tolerance and the celebration of diversity are two of the essential characteristics of the emerging mind and heart. Yet while the sense of wholeness and universal responsibility grows, the absence of tolerance and the emotional power of intolerance continues to fuel violent and separative movements in all parts of the world.
This is an important United Nations Day when we can give energy, love and support to the countless initiatives around the world designed to nourish and nurture the growing spirit of tolerance and universal responsibility. It is observed as a day to promote Tolerance Education and to reflect on how tolerance can best be fostered in our communities, particularly in divided communities.
See the UNESCO Declaration on the Principles of Tolerance
www.un.org/en/events/
www.unesco.org
November 17
World Philosophy Day
This UNESCO Day is celebrated on the third Thursday of November. The Day aims to encourage the peoples of the world to share their philosophical heritage and to open their minds to new ideas, as well as to inspire a public debate between intellectuals and civil society on the challenges confronting our society.
www.un.org/en/events/philosophyday/
www.unesco.org/
November 19
World Day for Prevention of Child Abuse
Held each year the day before Universal Children's Day, this is a day to focus on the creation of a culture of prevention of child abuse — particularly sexual abuse of children. A coalition of organizations from around the world organizes a range of activities on the Day to raise awareness of the problem and to promote various prevention programmes.
www.woman.ch/
www.facebook.com/
November 19
World Toilet Day
Theme 2016: Toilets & Jobs
2.4 billion People do not have adequate sanitation. 1 billion people still defecate in the open. Poor sanitation increases the risk of disease and malnutrition, especially for women and children. Women and girls risk rape and abuse, because they have no toilet that offers privacy.
http://www.worldtoiletday.info/
www.un.org/en/events/
November 20
Universal Children's Day
One of the outstanding keynotes of our present time is the focus that is being put on children: the rights of children; the needs of children; the importance of considering children in every area of life. At a global level this is reflected in The Convention on the Rights of the Child, an international human rights treaty that is transforming the lives of children and their families around the world. Under the Convention, ratified by all but two of the world's countries (USA and Somalia) governments have agreed to meet universal standards, guaranteeing children the rights to survival, health, education, a caring family environment, play and culture ….
Universal Children's Day is observed on different days in different countries. It is a Day to celebrate children and to empower the vision of an interdependent world of families, communities and nations in which the rights and needs of children are accorded the highest priority. 20 November marks the day in which the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, in 1959, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, in 1989.
There is no clearer way of measuring the progress we are making as a global community in acting on the ethics of universal responsibility than by measuring the progress we make in implementing the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Please hold this process in the light on Universal Children's Day.
www.un.org/en/events/
November 25
International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women
At least one out of every three women around the world has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime - with the abuser usually someone known to her.
Women's activists have marked 25 November as a day against violence since 1981. The date commemorates the brutal assassination of the three Mirabal sisters, political activists in the Dominican Republic, in 1960 on orders of Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo .
Each year, for 16 days, bookended by the International Day to End Violence Against Women (25 November) and Human Rights Day (10 December), groups from around the world join together to speak out against gender violence which all too often, is covered up or tacitly condoned. More
www.saynotoviolence.org/
www.un.org/en/events/endviolenceday/
November 25
International Buy Nothing Day
Traditionally the weekend following Thanksgiving Day sees some of the biggest shopping sprees of the year in the USA - and this is when hundreds of thousands of people around the world will be encouraging consumers to move towards a simpler lifestyle, and to Buy Nothing. In Canada and USA the Day takes place on the Friday following Thanksgiving Day - elsewhere on the following Saturday.
It's a day where you challenge yourself to switch off from shopping and tune into life.
www.adbusters.org/campaigns/bnd
en.wikipedia.org
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