International Human Solidarity Day (IHSD), observed on December 20, is an international annual unity day of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

and its member states. Its main goal is to recognize the

universal value A value is a universal value if it has the same value or worth for all, or almost all, people. Spheres of human value encompass morality, aesthetic preference, human traits, human endeavour, and social order. Whether universal values exist is ...

solidarity ''Solidarity'' is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. It is based on class collaboration.''Merriam Webster'', http://www.merriam-webster.com/dicti ...

by making

member states A member state is a state that is a member of an international organization or of a federation or confederation. Since the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) include some members that are not sovereign s ...

aware of global objectives and initiatives to reduce poverty and to formulate and share poverty reduction strategies of independent nations around the world. IHSD is promoted by the World Solidarity Fund and

United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)french: Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, PNUD is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human dev ...

, which are focused on achieving goals set for worldwide poverty eradication. An individual can participate or celebrate the day, either by contributing to education or by helping the poor or physically or mentally

disabled Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, ...

. Governments are instead encouraged to respond to poverty and other social barriers through the

Sustainable Development Goals The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or Global Goals are a collection of 17 interlinked objectives designed to serve as a "shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future".United Nations (2017) R ...

Background

International Human Solidarity Day was established under the U.N. Millennium Declaration that determines the

civil and political rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life ...

of an individual in the modern era by establishing foreign relations between the member states and the U.N. It was introduced by the General Assembly during the 2005 World Summit and formally established on December 22, 2005, by resolution 60/209, which recognized solidarity as a fundamental and

. According to the

, International Human Solidarity Day is * a day to celebrate our unity in diversity; * a day to remind governments to respect their commitments to international agreements; * a day to raise public awareness of the importance of solidarity; * a day to encourage debate on ways to promote solidarity for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals including poverty eradication; * a day of action to encourage new initiatives for poverty eradication.

References

External links

* {{Authority control United Nations days United Nations General Assembly subsidiary organs IHSD 2005 establishments in the United States Economic development