Read this online at www.intuition-in-service.org/newsletter/September16.html


Please Hold in the Light
September 2016

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.

Daily Reminder
Check out a daily reminder of these events to hold in the light. Share this daily reminder with others by including the app on your website.

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 September the Spiritual Caucus will gather for silence in the UN Meditation Room at UN Headquarters, New York on September 1 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 September 15 from 1.30 - 2.45 PM.
 
 
 

September Please Hold These Events in the Light


August 28 - September 2
World Water Week, Stockholm, Sweden

2016 theme: Water for Sustainable Growth
World Water Week in Stockholm is the annual focal point for the globe’s water issues. Last year over 3,300 individuals and close to 300 convening organizations from 130 countries participated in the Week.
www.worldwaterweek.org/

September 1
UN High Level Forum on the Culture of Peace, UN Headquarters, New York

Organized by the President of the General Assembly, this fifth High Level Forum provides an opportunity for UN member states, UN agencies, media and civil society to consider ways and means of implementing the UN Programme of Action on the Culture of Peace and its importance to the Sustainable Development Goals. The Forum, which will be attended by members of the public, seeks to support the global movement for the Culture of Peace. It can be watched live at webtv.un.org
www.un.org/pga/

September 5
International Day of Charity

Honoring the date of Mother Theresa's death, the United Nations General Assembly has designated September 5th as International Day of Charity.
Affirming the role of charity in furthering the culture of peace the Day seeks to draw attention to the value of charitable organizations. The day is dedicated to commemorate the common desire to help the most disadvantaged members of society and to promote charitable activities around the world. Charity, like the notions of volunteerism and philanthropy, provides real social bonding and contributes to the creation of inclusive and more resilient societies. www.un.org/en/events/charityday/

September 8
International Literacy Day

Theme 2016: Reading the Past, Writing the Future
This special UNESCO Day celebrates one of the most basic movements in the education and uplift of consciousness: the movement to promote support and teach adult literacy programs. Large numbers of professionals and volunteers work in every country helping adults in their efforts to learn to read and write.
Literacy contributes to peace as it brings people closer to attaining individual freedoms and better understanding the world, as well as preventing or resolving conflict.
www.unesco.org

September 10
World Suicide Prevention Day

Theme 2016: Connect. Communicate. Care.
Supported by the World Health Organization, this annual Day promotes worldwide commitment and action to prevent suicides. Every year, over 800,000 people die from suicide; this roughly corresponds to one death every 40 seconds. The number of lives lost each year through suicide exceeds the number of deaths due to homicide and war combined.
www.iasp.info

September 11 - 21
Global Unity Games

The Global Unity Games: Tomorrow Together seek to bring about unprecedented unity in communities around the world through compassionate action and service.
Iindividuals and groups are invited to register and to 'play their hearts out' during the 10 days leading up to the International Day of Peace by organizing service projects and acts of kindness in their community.
Scoreboards and results are co-ordinated by Compassion Games International which reports that Over the past four years, the Games have mobilized over 400,000 volunteers that have served over 1,500,000 people in 34 countries. compassiongames.org

September 13
United Nations General Assembly 71st Session opens with a Minute of Silence

Every year the annual session of the General Assembly at UN Headquarters in New York opens with a Minute of Silent Prayer or Meditation. The General Assembly is the one place where representatives of all 193 member states of the UN have the opportunity to take part in deliberation and policy making on global issues. The Minute of Silence is an important symbolic moment in UN affairs, when according to the Rules of Procedure, members are invited to stand to observe one minute of meditation or prayer.
Following the ceremonial opening of the session, the General Debate takes place over a number of days (starting September 20) when Heads of State from many of the member countries address the Assembly.The period surrounding the opening of the General Assembly marks a high point in international affairs every year because heads of state from many of the countries of the world are in New York City and a wide variety of other events are held.
Explore the function and purpose of the General Assembly at: www.un.org/ga/

September 15
International Day of Democracy

2016 theme: Democracy and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
This United Nations Day highlights the state of democracy in the world.
Democracy is as much a process as a goal, and only with the full participation of and support by the international community, national governing bodies, civil society and individuals, can the ideal of democracy be made into a reality to be enjoyed by everyone, everywhere.
www.un.org/en/events/

September 16
International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer

2016 theme: Ozone and Climate: Restored by a World United
The 1985 Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer and the associated Montreal Protocol is one of the great successes of modern international action to protect the environment. As a result of concerted international efforts, the ozone layer is healing itself and is expected to recover by the middle of this century.
This is a Day to celebrate humanity’s ability to work together for a common cause and is a model for climate change agreements.
montreal-protocol.org/
www.un.org/en/events/ozoneday/
www.facebook.com/my.ozone.day

September 16
Full Moon — Virgo

Since ancient times human beings have honored the full moon as a time when the sacred is most accesible. 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
www.worldservicegroup.com/

September 16 - 18
Clean Up the World Weekend

2016 theme: Our Place. Our Planet. Our Responsibility
Groups, organisations, schools and businesses from communities around the world unite on Clean Up the World Weekend to take action at a local level to address global environmental issues. An estimated 35 million volunteers participate in this annual weekend of activities.
Clean Up activities include tree planting, cleaning parks or beaches, conserving water or running environmental awareness-raising and education initiatives.
www.cleanuptheworld.org

September 17 - 25
Earthdance Global Peace Party — Prayer for Peace

Earthdance coordinates the annual Global Peace Party, a multi-location charity event in alignment with the United Nations International Day of Peace on September 21. All events support local charities. More than an entertainment event, Earthdance is an international network of communities coming together locally and connecting globally to deliver real solutions for peace, sustainability, and social justice.
The highlight of the Earthdance Global Peace Party is a sychronized link-up, when every event around the world plays the Prayer for Peace music track at the same time. This year there will be three synchronized meditations. The Prayer for Peace is a moment of deep reflection and connection, and a powerful affirmation that unifies our intentions for peace, on all levels.
www.earthdance.org

September 18 - 19
Social Good Summit, New York, USA

2016 theme: #2030NOW
The Social Good Summit is a two-day conference examining the impact of technology and new media on social good initiatives around the world. Held in New York, while heads of state and others are gathered for the opening of the UN General Assembly,the Summit unites a dynamic community of global leaders and grassroots activists to discuss solutions for the greatest challenges of our time. Our theme, #2030NOW, asks the question, “What type of world do I want to live in by the year 2030?” During the Social Good Summit, global citizens around the world unite to unlock the potential of technology to make the world a better place.
September 19 - 21
Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting

2016 theme: Partnering for Global Prosperity
Established in 2005 by former US President Bill Clinton, CGI convenes a community of global leaders to forge solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges. CGI Annual Meetings have brought together more than 150 heads of state, 20 Nobel Prize laureates, and hundreds of leading CEOs, heads of foundations and NGOs, major philanthropists, and members of the media. The meeting takes advantage of the number of world leaders gathered in New York for the General Debate of the UN General Assembly. In order to aviod any apparent conflict of interest between US Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and the work of the Clinton Foundation this will be the last CGI Annual Meeting.
www.clintonglobalinitiative.org

September 19
United Nations Private Sector Forum, UN Headquarters, New York

2016 theme: Business and the 2030 Agenda: Securing the Way Forward
350 Chief Executives, Heads of State, UN leaders and leaders from Civil Society will attend this annual event focussed on the contributions being made by business to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and addressing the crises faced by mass migrations of refugees and others.
www.unglobalcompact.org

September 19
UN Summit for Refugees and Migrants, UN Headquarters, New York

The UN General Assembly will host a high-level summit to address large movements of refugees and migrants, with the aim of bringing countries together behind a more humane and coordinated approach.
This is the first time the General Assembly has called for a summit at the Heads of State and Government level on large movements of refugees and migrants and it is a historic opportunity to come up with a blueprint for a better international response.
The Summit, which can be watched live on UN TV, will be followed the following day by a Leaders' Summit on refugees (see below). Both events will be the focus of a Cycles of Conferences Visualisation initiative from World Goodwill.
refugeesmigrants.un.org

September 20
Leaders' Summit on the Global Refugee Crisis, UN Headquarters, New York

The United States together with leaders from 6 nations and the UN Secretary-General will host this summit where the focus will be on financial pledges by individual governments to support refugees.
The goal is to secure:at least a 30 percent increase in financing for global appeals and international humanitarian organizations; to double the global number of resettled refugees and those afforded other legal channels of admission; and to increase the number of refugees worldwide in school by one million, and the number of refugees granted the legal right to work by one million.
www.whitehouse.gov



September 21
International Day of Peace

2016 theme: The Sustainable Development Goals: Building Blocks for Peace
UN Peace Day has come to be widely observed around the world with citizens undertaking a huge variety of local actions for peace including interfaith prayers, meditations and minutes of silence. At UN Headquarters, an annual ceremony is held during which the Secretary General ceremonially rings the Peace Bell and calls on the people of the world to observe a minute of silence at 12 noon. (This years ceremony will take place on September 16) The day is celebrated by the UN as a day of non-violence and cease fire, inviting all nations and people to honour a cessation of hostilities during the Day, and to otherwise commemorate the Day through education and public awareness on issues related to peace.
Events organized around the world on the day include festivals, concerts, a global Peace Wave with moments of silence at noon in every time zone and countless local activities. Special talks by leading peace builders from around the world are available now from the Summer of Peace 2016 initiative.
Meditation Vigils and inter faith events are being organized around the world for Peace Day - more information here A global 24 hour Vigil will again be organized by UNmeditation.org, using the Great Invocation or another world prayer every 15 minutes. To find out more and register for the Vigil visit: http://www.meditationvigil.org. Registration will be available shortly.
www.internationaldayofpeace.org
www.un.org/en/events/peaceday/
www.peaceoneday.org

September 21
Solutions Summit, UN Headquarters, New York

During the Solutions Summit, a group of selected global innovators will be invited to give a ‘lightning talk’ outlining their breakthrough efforts to a juxtaposed audience of senior policymakers who have the means to pave solid regulatory foundations, investors who care deeply about long-term change and impact, and industry leaders who are able to deploy quickly and at scale. The gathering will serve as a catalyst to convene resources and talent around solution-makers.
This years summit will highlight projects advancing the objectives of forthcoming global summits and conferences on Habitat, Open Government and the Oceans. www.solutions-summit.org/

September 25
World Rivers Day

Every year since 2005, when the UN Water for Life Decade was launched, millions of people around the world have observed the last Sunday of September as World Rivers Day.
World Rivers Day highlights the many values of our rivers, strives to increase public awareness, and encorages the improved stewardship of all rivers around the world. Activities include stream cleanups, habitat enhancement projects, educational outings, and community riverside celebrations. In previous years several million people across more than 60 countries have participated in the Day.
worldriversday.com

September 26
International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons

The UN has been aiming to achieve nuclear disarmament for much of its history. It was the subject of a General Assembly resolution in 1946.
Today, some 15,000 nuclear weapons remain. Countries possessing such weapons have well-funded, long-term plans to modernize their nuclear arsenals. More than half of the world’s population still lives in countries that either have such weapons or are members of nuclear alliances.
www.un.org/en/events/

September 27
World Tourism Day

2016 theme: Tourism for All - Promoting Universal Accessibility
This United Nations Day seeks to foster awareness of the social, cultural and economic importance of tourism and its role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
www.un.org/en/events/
wtd.unwto.org

September 28
World Rabies Day

2016 theme:Rabies: Educate. Vaccinate. Eliminate
Marking the anniversary of the death of Louis Pasteur who developed the first rabies vaccine, this World Health Organization Day raises awareness about rabies prevention and celebrates progress in defeating the disease.
WHO promotes mass dog vaccinations and animal birth control programs among street and stray dog populations. Significant work has been done in pioneering this work at Help in Suffering Animal Shelter in Jaipur India and the two shelters in the Darjeeling District of India administered by Darjeeling Goodwill Animal Shelters Trust.
www.who.int/rabies/
rabiesalliance.org/