OLD Jayne Blog on nonprofits/ngos, communications, community engagement, volunteerism, aid & development, women's empowerment, & random thoughts

You should leverage UN days, weeks, years & decades!

11:36, 8 October 2010

.. Posted in Communication, Outreach and General Mngmt

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International days, weeks, years and decades offer excellent outreach opportunities for nonprofit organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), civil society organizations, charities, and others trying to improve our communities, our individual lives, and the environment. There is a commemorative day or week, as designated by the UN general assembly, for just about any subject you can think of, and on top of that, there are designated years and decades you may also be able to utilize for outreach efforts.

You can use these designations to tie in your organization's events and programs, through issuing press releases, writing op-ed pieces for local media, blogging on a related topic, offering yourself for interviews to radio and TV, or even holding a special event. If you mention these days, weeks, etc. on your blog and web site, you increase the chance of your organization coming to the attention of anyone doing a search online for information about these days, weeks, etc.

For a list of these UN days, weeks, years and decades, see either this part of the UNESCO web site or this page by the UN Association of Canada. 

2010 is both the International Year of Biodiversity and the International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures (most years have more than one designation).

2011 has already been designated

• International Year of Youth: Dialogue and Mutual Understanding - from 12 August 2010 (International Youth Day) to 11 August 2011
• International Year of Forests; and
• International Year of Chemistry.

2011 is also the International 10th anniversary of International Year of Volunteers (IYV+10), and the United Nations Volunteers programme is leading its promotion. There is already a IYV+10 logo for you to use in your own materials that recognize this event. In addition, 2011 is also the European Year of Volunteering 2011.

Individual countries and individual organizations also have their own designated days and weeks that may be different than other countries and agencies. For instance, Girl Scouts of the USA and Girl Guides all over the world celebrate World Thinking Day on February 22-- why not also any organization that believes "empowering girls will change our world"?

There is no one site to find all of these dates, because they are designated by all sorts of different organizations; it would be a great job for an online volunteer to help find dates for your organization to use!
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