21 Feb 2012 - International Mother Language Day - Mother tongue instruction and inclusive education

International Mother Language Day is an observance held annually on 21 February worldwide to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism. It was first announced by UNESCO on 17 November 1999. Its observance was also formally recognized by the United Nations General Assembly in its resolution establishing 2008 as the International Year of Languages .

On 16 May 2009 the United Nations General Assembly in its resolution A/RES/61/266 called upon Member States "to promote the preservation and protection of all languages used by peoples of the world". By the same resolution, the General Assembly proclaimed 2008 as the International Year of Languages, to promote unity in diversity and international understanding, through multilingualism and multiculturalism.

International Mother Language Day has been observed every year since February 2000 to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism. The date represents the day in 1952 when students demonstrating for recognition of their language, Bangla, as one of the two national languages of the then Pakistan, were shot and killed by police in Dhaka, the capital of what is now Bangladesh.

Languages are the most powerful instruments of preserving and developing our tangible and intangible heritage. All moves to promote the dissemination of mother tongues will serve not only to encourage linguistic diversity and multilingual education but also to develop fuller awareness of linguistic and cultural traditions throughout the world and to inspire solidarity based on understanding, tolerance and dialogue.

Related articles:

• International Mother Language Day 2012 (socialactions.net)
• UN  (http://www.un.org)

International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation

6 February 2012

    The International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation is observed each year to raise awareness about this practice. Female genital mutilation of any type has been recognized as a harmful practice and violation of the human rights of girls and women. WHO is committed to the elimination of female genital mutilation within a generation and is focusing on advocacy, research and guidance for health professionals and health systems.

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    Female genital mutilation (FGM) refers to all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. Female genital mutilation has no known health benefits. On the contrary, it is associated with a series of short and long-term risks to both physical, mental and sexual health and well-being.
    FGM is affecting about 140 million girls and women, and more than 3 million girls are at risk every year. A special focus for WHO this year, is the troubling trend of health-care providers increasingly being the ones performing female genital mutilation, and thereby contributing to legitimize and maintain the practice.

Read More:

• Global strategy to stop health-care providers from performing female genital mutilation
• Eliminating female genital mutilation: an interagency statement
• Fact sheet on female genital mutilation
• More information on FGM

February 2012- Health Observations and Events

February 2012 Health Current Events - Months

Awareness Event	Coverage	Related Organization
Heart Month	Canada	Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada
Raynaud's and Scleroderma Awareness Month	United Kingdom	Raynaud's & Scleroderma Association
AMD/Low Vision Awareness Month	United States	Prevent Blindness America
American Heart Month	United States	American Heart Association
National Children's Dental Health Month	United States	American Dental Association
Duchenne MD Awareness Week	Worldwide	Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy

February 2012 Health Current Events - Weeks

Event	Date	Nation	Organisation
National Eating Disorders Awareness Week	3rd Feb - 9th   Feb	Canada	National Eating Disorder Information Centre
Tinnitus Awareness Week	6th Feb - 12th Feb	United Kingdom	British Tinnitus Association
Contraceptive Awareness Week	11th Feb - 17th Feb	United Kingdom	FPA
Sexual Health Awareness Week	14th Feb - 21st Feb	Australia	SHine SA
Australian Organ Donor Awareness Week	21st Feb - 28th Feb	Australia	Medicare Australia
National Eating Disorders Awareness Week	24th Feb - 1st Mar	United States	National Eating Disorders Association
National Eating Disorders Awareness Week	25th Feb - 2nd Mar	United Kingdom	Beat Eating Disorders

  February 2012 Health Events - Days

Event	Date	Nation	Organization
Give Kids A Smile Day	1st Feb	United States	American Dental Association
National Wear Red Day	6th Feb	United States	National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
National Condom Day	10th Feb	United States	American Social Health Association
Sexual and Reproductive Health Day	12th Feb	Canada	Canadian Federation for Sexual Health
National Donor Day	14th Feb	United States	OrganDonor.Gov
Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Day	14th Feb	Worldwide	Congential Heart Defects Foundation
National Impotence Day	14th Feb	United Kingdom	The Sexual Dysfunction Association

World Leprosy Day - Sunday 29, January

     Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae, an acid-fast, rod-shaped bacillus. The disease mainly affects the skin, the peripheral nerves, mucosa of the upper respiratory tract and also the eyes, apart from some other structures.
      Leprosy is curable and treatment provided in the early stages averts disability.
     Multidrug therapy (MDT) treatment has been made available by WHO free of charge to all patients worldwide since 1995, and provides a simple yet highly effective cure for all types of leprosy.

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Leprosy today

         The diagnosis and treatment of leprosy today is easy and most endemic countries are striving to fully integrate leprosy services into existing general health services. This is especially important for those under-served and marginalised communities most at risk from leprosy, often the poorest of the poor.
According to official reports received from 121 countries and territories, the global registered prevalence of leprosy at the beginning of 2009 stood at 213 036 cases, while the number of new cases detected during 2008 was 249 007. The number of new cases detected globally has fallen by 9126 (a 4% decrease) during 2008 compared with 2007.
         Pockets of high endemicity still remain in some areas of Angola, Brazil, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, India, Madagascar, Mozambique, Nepal, and the United Republic of Tanzania. These countries remain highly committed to eliminating the disease, and continue to intensify their leprosy control activities.

International Holocaust Remembrance Day

 International Holocaust Remembrance Day, 27 January, is an international memorial day for the victims of the Holocaust, the genocide that resulted in the annihilation of 6 million European Jews, 2 million Gypsies (Roma and Sinti), 15,000 homosexual people and millions of others by the Nazi regime. It was designated by the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 60/7 on 1 November 2005 during the 42nd plenary session. The resolution came after a special session was held earlier that year on 24 January 2005 during which the United Nations General Assembly marked the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps and the end of the Holocaust.

This year’s theme is Children and the Holocaust. Watch or read Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s remarks on the 1.5 million Jewish children and the tens of thousands of other youths who died during the Holocaust.