United Nations International Years, Decades, Days and Conferences
in 2008

Decades and Years -- Days and Weeks -- Conferences

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The General Assembly has declared three new United Nations Decades. It has marked the third decade after the 26 April 1986 disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant as the Decade of Recovery and Sustainable Development of the Affected Regions.  It has proclaimed 2008-2017 as the second United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty.  And it has declared 2010-2020 as the United Nations Decade for Deserts and the Fight against Desertification.

Reaffirming the universal principle of non-violence, the General Assembly has declared 2 October -- Mahatma Gandhi's birthday -- as the International Day of Non-Violence.  It has declared 15 September as the International Day of Democracy, designated 25 March as an annual International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, and proclaimed 15 October as the International Day of Rural Women.

Deeply concerned by the prevalence and high rate of autism, a developmental disability that affects children worldwide, the Assembly has designated 2 April as World Autism Awareness Day.  It has decided to rename the International Day of Disabled Persons, observed annually on 3 December, as the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.  It has also declared 20 February as the World Day of Social Justice, beginning in 2009.

Marking the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, the Assembly has proclaimed the International Year of Human Rights Learning, to begin on 10 December 2008.  It will hold a special plenary meeting on that day to commemorate the anniversary, and another at the end of the Year, to review activities undertaken in support of it.

The Assembly has proclaimed 2008 as the International Year of Languages, calling for measures to preserve and protect all languages used by peoples of the world.  It has also proclaimed 2008 as the International Year of Planet Earth, to raise awareness of Earth processes and the sustainable management of resources; as the International Year of Sanitation, to focus on provision of basic sanitation services in developing countries; and as the International Year of the Potato, in view of the role the potato can play in providing food security, eradicating poverty and achieving development goals.

In addition, the Assembly has recognized the period from 12 September 2007 to 11 September 2008 as the year commemorating the Ethiopian Millennium, and it has welcomed the decision by the World Health Assembly to commemorate Malaria Day annually on 25 April, or any day or days as individual Member States may decide.

The Assembly will also hold a number of high-level meetings during 2008.

On 2 and 3 October, it will address the needs of landlocked developing countries with a midterm review of the Almaty Programme of Action.  On 10 and 11 June 2008, it will review progress in realizing its Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS and the Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS.  No later than the first half of 2009, it will convene a United Nations Conference on South-South Cooperation.

The Follow-up International Conference on Financing for Development to Review the Implementation of the Monterrey Consensus will be held in Doha, Qatar, from 29 November to 2 December 2008.  The Preparatory Committee for the 2010 Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons will hold its second session from 28 April to 9 May 2008, in Geneva.

Looking beyond 2008, the Assembly has declared 2009 as the International Year of Reconciliation, to highlight to necessity of reconciliation processes in societies affected by conflicts.  Noting that natural fibres, an important source of income for farmers, can play an important role in improving food security and eradicating poverty, it has proclaimed 2009 as the International Year of Natural Fibres.  It has also declared 2009 the International Year of Astronomy, to promote widespread access to the fruits of astronomical observation.

During 2010, the Assembly focuses attention on the importance of mutual understanding and interreligious dialogue, with the International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures, and on the continued loss of biodiversity, with the International Year of Biodiversity.  The contribution of forests to sustainable development, poverty eradication and development will be highlighted in 2011, which has been declared the International Year of Forests.

Meanwhile, the international community continues to observe the Decade to Roll Back Malaria in Developing Countries, Particularly in Africa (2001-2010); the Second International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism (2001-2010); the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence for the Children of the World (2001-2010); the United Nations Literacy Decade:  Education for All (2003-2012); the Second International Decade of the World's Indigenous People (2005-2014); the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014); and the International Decade for Action, "Water for Life"(2005-2015).

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