MARCH 8: INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY
Every year, 8 March is celebrated around the world as International Women's Day. Established in 1977 by the United Nations, this special day provides an opportunity to recognize that peace and social progress require the active participation and equality of women, and to acknowledge the contribution of women to international peace and security.
This year Canadians celebrated International Women's Week (IWW) from Sunday, March 2 to Saturday, March 8, 2003. The IWW has on overall purpose to reflect on the progress made to advance women's equality, to assess the challenges facing women in contemporary society, to consider future steps to enhance the status of women and, of course, to celebrate the gains made
in these areas in Canada. The Canadian theme for IWD/IWW 2003 is World-Wide Women (WWW): Surfing the Digital Revolution! This theme encourages Canadians to take a closer look at the impact of ICTs, in particular Internet applications, on women and their use as a tool to empower women and to promote women's equality.
Teachers:
The UN has developed a program of information and fun for your classroom to celebrate International Women's Day, http://www0.un.org/cyberschoolbus/womensday/index.asp
Students and Teachers:
Check out UNAC's link on woman's day (includes suggested activities, background info, etc.), http://www.unac.org/en/news_events/un_days/women1.asp
Read the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/
For further background information on the Day visit the website prepared by Status of Woman Canada, http://www.swc-cfc.gc.ca/dates/iwd/index_e.html
MARCH 22: WORLD WATER DAY
The idea for World Water Day came from the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. The United Nations dedicated March 22nd to activities related to the conservation and development of water resources. This year's World Water Day will be a highlight of third World Water Forum held from 16-23 March in Japan, which is a key event of the UN's International Year of Freshwater.
The theme of World Water Day 2003 is "Water for the Future". It calls on everyone in the world to maintain and improve the quality and quantity of fresh water for future generations. The world is trying to halve, by 2015, the number of people living without safe drinking water and basic
sanitation. Right now, one billion people in the world have no clean water to drink and two billion have no toilet!
Canada is a world leader in water quality monitoring. Our country, in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme, manages the Global Environment Monitoring System Freshwater Quality Programme (GEMS/Water). GEMS/Water is a unique water science programme that helps the world understand more about the quality and importance of water. The
programme has collected more than 1.7 million water samples from 865 stations (river, lakes and groundwater) in 76 countries!
From April 1 until June 6, high school students around the world will team up to sample fresh water in the Global Water Sampling Project, just like GEMS/Water! All students are welcome to participate in this collaborative project, comparing the water quality of your local river, stream, lake, or pond with other water sources around the world.
Teachers:
Grades 9-12: The Shell Island Dilemma (must be completed on-line). http://www.ncsu.edu/coast/shell/
Grades 10 -12: White Gold, The Lesotho Highlands Water Project. http://www.peacecorps.gov/wws/guides/lesotho/leswhite.html
Join the Global Water Sampling Project: http://www.k12science.org/curriculum/waterproj/index.shtml
Students:
Explore the UN website for World Water Day, http://www.waterday2003.org/
Discover the Rideau River! http://www.nature.ca/rideau/
Take the Water Quiz! http://www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/waterquiz
See the freshwater slideshow! http://www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/freshwater2003/slide1_a.asp
Catch a tidal wave of information about water! http://www.ec.gc.ca/youth/water_e.html
MARCH 23: WORLD METEROLOGICAL DAY
World Meteorological Day (WMD) is celebrated on an annual basis to commemorate the Convention of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) that was entered-into-force over forty years ago on 23 March 1950.
The theme for this year is 'Our future climate'. Climate is vital and very complex notion that influences our daily life, affecting our moods, characters and cultures. It also affects human security, water resources, leisure and sustainable development. However, climate is not stable. It is ever changing and very fragile by its nature, and is easily altered by humankind. It is argued that the mean global temperature has increased 0.6 C since the 1860s and consequently the global mean sea-level has risen by between 10 and 20 cm as a result of human activities. Therefore, it is an urgent requirement to highlight the need to protect climate as a resource for the well-being of present and future generations.
WMD provides an opportunity to draw the attention of the general public to the role of WMO. The organization conducts great number of international event and conferences and executes a variety of programs to address on-going climate-related challenges such as desertification, biodiversity and ozone.
Teachers:
Check out the World Meteorological Organization website: http://www.wmo.ch/index-en.html
Try some activities on climate change in your classroom: http://www.climatechange.gc.ca/english/workroom/teachers_resources/index.shtml
Students:
Explore the UN's Briefing paper on climate change which includes key statistics, definitions, activities, and links to further resources: http://www0.un.org/cyberschoolbus/briefing/climate/index.htm
us of Woman Canada, http://www.swc-cfc.gc.ca/dates/iwd/index_e.html
MARCH 21: INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR THE ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION
MARCH 21-28: WEEK OF SOLIDARITY WITH THE PEOPLES STRUGGLING AGAINST RACISM AND RACIAL DISCRIMINATION
Recently, significant progress has been made in the advancement in the fight against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. This is in part due to the United Nations General Assembly declaration of a Week of Solidarity with the People Struggling against Racism and Racial Discrimination from March 21-28, and the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on March 21, both designed to combat racism and racial discrimination.
During this time, we can encourage our children and youth to take a stand against discrimination of any kind in our communities, be it based on race, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or physical or mental ability.
The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (March 21) marks the anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre in South Africa when peaceful demonstrators against apartheid were wounded and killed in 1960. Since 1966, this day has been recognized and celebrated by the United Nations. The March 21st campaign was started specifically to increase public awareness on the damaging effects that any form of racism has on people. In Canada, it was a way to get the youth of Canada involved in the fight against racism. Canada was one of the first countries to support the UN declaration and in 1989, the department of Canadian Heritage launched its first March 21st campaign.
Teachers:
Take a look at this Youth Anti-Racism toolkit which includes interesting classroom activities and discussion topics: http://www.unac.org/yfar/index_e.htm
Check outactivities which help students review the concepts that lead to hate -- bias, stereotyping and racism and distinguish between biased, prejudicial information and factual, objective information on the Internet: http://www.media-awareness.ca/eng/issues/internet/lessons.htm
Teachers and Students:
The UN's main site on racism: http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu2/issracis.htm
us of Woman Canada, http://www.swc-cfc.gc.ca/dates/iwd/index_e.html
Canadian Heritage's anti-racism site: http://www.canadianheritage.gc.ca/pc-ch/sujets-subjects/divers-multi/anti/index_e.cfm
Canada Race Relations Foundation, which aims to help bring about a more harmonious Canada that acknowledges its racist past, recognizes the pervasiveness of racism today, and is committed to creating a future in which all Canadians are treated equitably and fairly: http://www.crr.ca/EN/default.htm
The origins of the day: the Sharpeville Massacre in South Africa: http://africanhistory.about.com/library/weekly/aa-SharpevilleMassacre-a.htm