International Day of Friendship of Friendship Day is celebrated annually on 30th July. The day is observed by the United States and the Member States with the aim to foster the role of friendship that plays in promoting unity among the cultures.
The International Day of Friendship is an initiative that supports UNESCO ‘s proposal to identify the Culture of Peace as a collection of principles, attitudes, and behaviors that condemn violence and seek to avoid conflict by resolving its root causes in order to resolve problems. The UN General Assembly adopted this resolution in 1997.
In 2011, the United Nations General Assembly declared the International Friendship Day to promote peace efforts and build bridges by the friendship between nations, countries, cultures, and individuals. It is a day to recognize the importance of friendship which is a noble and valuable sentiment in the lives of people in the whole world.
In July 1958, Paraguay was the first country to celebrate International Friendship Day. Not only single country celebrate International Day of Friendship on 30th July, but there are also many countries which celebrate friendship day although some countries celebrate it on different dates such as India, Bangladesh, Myanmar celebrate it on the first Sunday of August and Argentina, Brazil and Spain celebrate Friend’s Day on 20 July.
Note: In India Friendship Day is celebrated on the first Sunday of August. This year friendship day 2020 will be celebrated on the 2nd of August.
Why International Day of Friendship is celebrated?
The International Day of Friendship is also observed as a precious asset in a meaningful life. The International Day of Friendship has been declared with the goal of ensuring friendship between the nations, the country, and the families and building relationships throughout the world. Here are the few actions declared by the UN
*To foster culture of Peace through the education
* To foster an education culture of peace;
* Promoting economic and social sustainability;
* Encourage human rights to be respected;
* Ensuring equality between men and women;
*Encouraging political involvement;
*Encouragement of understanding, tolerance and solidarity;
*Support the free flow of information and knowledge and participatory communication;
*Encourage peace and stability worldwide.
The world is faced by many threats, crises, and dividing forces including hunger, conflict, and abuses of human rights that threaten stability, security, prosperity, and social cohesion between the citizens of the world.
The root causes of these problems and challenges have to be resolved by cultivating and defending a common ethos of human unity in multiple ways friendship is the simplest form.
Through friendship and the building of strong trust, we can contribute to the fundamental changes needed urgently for sustainable stability, weave a safety net to protect us all and create a passion for a better world where they all unite for the better.
How International Day of Friendship is celebrated?
To celebrate International Day of Friendship the UN is urging the United Nations to organize meetings, programs and projects to promote dialog among cultures and unity, shared understanding and reconciliation in the sense of the International Day of Friendship. It’s a wonderful day to honor the lovely bond of friendship. The day is celebrated with an exchange of presents, and also to honor their relationship and links with friendly bands.
Swikriti Dandotia
