Today is the International Day for Persons with Disabilities.

According to World Health Organization (WHO), 15% of the world’s population has a disability. That means one billion people worldwide, out of which 11 million reside in the UK.

The UN first established the International Day for Persons with Disabilities in 1992, and originally the day was called International Day of Disabled Persons. The UN day aims to promote understanding of disabilities worldwide, “and mobilise support for the dignity, rights and well-being of persons with disabilities.” In addition, the day  “seeks to increase awareness of gains to be derived from the integration of persons with disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life.”

Each year focuses on a different issue around disabilities. The theme for 2012 is “Removing barriers to create an inclusive and accessible society for all.”

Read more about disability and health, as well as the International Day for Persons with Disabilities, here.

Or, browse the BBC disability blog, Ouch! here.

Today is the start of a four-day Muslim festival, Eid-ul-Adha.

Eid-ul-Adha is also known as Feast of the Sacrifice

Eid-ul-Adha is the second most important festival in the Muslim calendar. It is a public holiday in Muslim countries, but not a public holiday in the UK. Most Muslims living in the UK are likely to take one or more days of annual leave at this time.

Eid-ul-Adha commemorates Ibrahim’s will to sacrifice his son when God ordered him to. The story goes that Allah ordered Ibrahim to sacrifice his youngest son as an act of obedience. The devil then appeared to Ibrahim telling him to disobey Allah. Ibrahim ignored the devil. When he was about the kill his son, Allah stopped him and gave him a lamb to sacrifice instead.

This story is also found in the Jewish Torah and in the Old Testament.

Today, Muslims around the world sacrifice a sheep or a goat as a reminder of Ibrahim’s obedience. It is common to sacrifice the sheep at home, but in the UK the animal must be killed in the slaughterhouse.

Eid-ul-Adha is always a great feast. One of the most important things about the festival is sharing. The lamb meat is usually shared among family, friends, and the poor. Helping the less fortunate is also very important during the festival, and many Muslims donate money to charities during Eid.

Eid-ul-Adha also marks the end of the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi-Arabia.

Happy Eid Everyone!

“We stand at a critical moment in Earth’s history, a time when humanity must choose its future.”

 Earth Charter

One World Week highlights the values we have in common.

The theme for One World Week 2012 is “Sharing destiny: Moving towards One World”.

One World Week is a UK development education charity with an aim to raise awareness and understanding of cross-cultural and intercultural issues. The seven-day celebration, One World Week, happens annually in October, but there are smaller events happening all year round.

One World Week focuses on commonalities that cultures, nations, and religions have. Issues that One World Week sees are important for all of us are earth and its resources, justice, equality, peace, and mutual respect. This year’s One World Week theme asks how can we best shape our lives to contribute to an equitable future for all.

Black History Month (BHM) is held every October in Britain and every February in USA and Canada.

Nelson Mandela

Its aims are to:

• Promote knowledge of  Black History and Cultural Heritage
• Disseminate information on positive Black contributions to British Society
• Heighten the confidence and awareness of Black people to their cultural heritage.

The origins of BHM go as far back as the 1920s, when Carter G Woodson, editor of the Journal of Negro History established Afro-Caribbean celebrations in America. Black History Month is for all of the African Diaspora. In Britain now, BHM has over 6,000 events!

There are many events about Black history and culture, including theatre performances, concerts, art exhibits, and film screenings. Entertainment highlights for Black History Month this year are FELA!, a musical of Africa’s most legendary figures; Home Grown, an exhibition on the evolution of British hip hop culture; and Picture This, a photo exhibition of 30 inspirational portraits of black Britons by John Ferguson.

Today is the first day of the seven-day Jewish Festival, Sukkot.

A Sukkah in North Carolina

Sukkot takes place on the fifth day of Yom Kippur, and is 
known to be one of the most joyous and ecstatic festivals in the Jewish calendar. The transition to Sukkot always seems very drastic because Sukkot is preceded by one of the most quiet, solemn days in the Jewish calendar.

Sukkot has a dual significance: historical and agricultural. Historically, the festival commemorates the 40-year period that the people of Israel wandered in the desert. To reflect upon this 40-year journey it is common for Jewish families to build a Sukkah, a form of temporary shelter.

27^th of September was established as World Tourism Day by the UN World Tourism Association (UNWTO) 1980. The aim of the day is to raise awareness of the importance of tourism for the international community and its positive effects, socially and economically, on societies worldwide.

The theme for 2012 is Tourism and Sustainable Technology: Powering Sustainable Development. Official celebrations will take place in Maspalomas, Spain. Watch live footage of the celebrations here!

Laylat al-Qadr is also known as the Night of Power or the Night of Destiny.

Night of a Thousand Months

It is a very important night in the Muslim calendar as it is said to be the night Allah revealed the first verses of the Quran to prophet Muhammad. Muhammad received the first revelations through the Archangel Gabriel. The revelations continued for two decades throughout Muhammad’s life and together they came to form the Quran. Fittingly, the word Quran, in English, means ‘recitation.’

There is some controversy over the exact date for Laylat al-Qadr but the night is usually celebrated on the 27^th of Ramadan. The last ten days of Ramadan are most important and it is likely that the true night for Lailat al-Qadr falls on any of the odd nights. During the last ten days charity work is likely to increase among Muslims. People want to make sure they have given enough during the holy month.

This night marks the beginning of Muhammad’s mission, and Muslims, therefore, regard it as the most important night in history. The Quran says that this night is better than a thousand months (that’s 83.3 years in modern terms)…

Today is International Youth Day!

Young people are the generation of change.

The age group which the United Nations defines as youth, 15-25 –year-olds, makes up for one sixth of the world’s population, the largest youth generation the world has ever known. Young people worldwide face high rates of unemployment, vulnerable working conditions, and marginalization from decision-making processes. 85% of the world’s youth live in developing countries. The main purpose of International Youth Day is the promote the rights and abilities of young people around the world.

1985 was the first International Year of Youth. Ten years later, in 1995, the United Nations adopted an official set of policy guidelines, World Programme of Action for Youth, for nations and NGOs to improve the living, working, and social conditions of youth.

To honour the spirit of the Olympics 2012,  204 poems from around the world, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, have been collected from each of the 204 participating countries by the Scottish Poetry Library.

Here is the second set of ten from Asia. Enjoy!

1. Iraq: My Apologies
2. Israel: Returning to Tel Aviv
3. Jordan: Dog’s Tail
4. Japan: Two Tokyos
5. Kazakhstan: Summer
6. Kuwait: from My Dreams Often Humble Themselves
7. Kyrgyzstan: from Nomad in the sunset
8. Lebanon: ‘Our cries, she used to say…’
9. Malaysia: Modern Secrets
10. Maldives: Realities of Island Life

Follow the link to read the first set of ten Asian poems

The poems selected are often not by the most notable poet a country has produced. Some of them are funny or light-hearted. Often they are snapshots of lives rather than grand narratives. And some of the choices may be controversial. However, they all give a glimpse of lives in countries spanning the globe. Together these poems depict a world united not only by sport, but by emotions that are universal and need no translator other than the heart.

To honour the spirit of the Olympics 2012,  204 poems from around the world, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, have been collected from each of the 204 participating countries by the Scottish Poetry Library.

Here is the second set of ten from Africa. Enjoy!

1. Egypt: Socks
2. Equatorial Guinea: from Minitopography of Santa Isabel
3. Eritrea: Unjust Praise
4. Ethiopia: The Road to Nowhere
5. Gambia: Parachute men say
6. Ghana: Tin Roof
7. Guinea-Bissau: Regresso
8. Ivory Coast: The Death of Old Men
9. Kenya: from Poem to her Daughter
10. Liberia: Nyanken Hne, My Husband

The poems selected are often not by the most notable poet a country has produced. Some of them are funny or light-hearted. Often they are snapshots of lives rather than grand narratives. And some of the choices may be controversial. However, they all give a glimpse of lives in countries spanning the globe. Together these poems depict a world united not only by sport, but by emotions that are universal and need no translator other than the heart.

You will find the first set of ten here: Africa