Today, (20 February 2013) is the UN World Day of Social Justice.
Today, (20 February 2013) is the UN World Day of Social Justice.
Its origins, purpose and remit is described as follows: “Social Justice generally means that people should have equal rights and opportunities; everyone deserves equal justice in all aspects of society. There has been a need to promote efforts to tackle issues such as poverty, exclusion and unemployment all over the world.
“Therefore the United Nations General Assembly decided to observe a day to address this issue in the form of World Day of Social Justice. It is one of the most recent observed days which started in February 2009. The United Nations’ (UN) World Day of Social Justice is annually observed on February 20 to encourage people to look at how social justice affects poverty eradication. It also focuses on the goal of achieving full employment and support for social integration.
“History: The World Summit for Social Development was held in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1995 and resulted in the Copenhagen Declaration and Programmed of Action. At this summit, more than 100 political leaders pledged to make the conquest of poverty and full employment, as well as stable, safe and just societies, their overriding objectives. They also agreed on the need to put people at the centre of development plans.
“Nearly 10 years later, the UN’s member states reviewed the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action when they gathered at a session of the Commission for Social Development in New York in February 2005. They also agreed to commit to advance social development. On 26 November 2007, the UN General Assembly named 20 February as the annual World Day of Social Justice. The day was scheduled to be first observed in 2009.”
* World Day of Social Justic3 2013: http://www.un.org/en/events/socialjusticeday/
* UN declares 20 February as World Day of Social Justice: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=24801