July is all about changing the world for the better!

July is all about changing the world for the better!

Nelson Mandela Month

While Nelson Mandela’s birthday is actually on the 18th of July, South Africans at large celebrate the hero throughout the whole month. This gives every South African a chance to heed the call-to-action for people to recognise their individual power to make an imprint and change the world around them for the better. This year’s theme is: ”Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."

G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting, Bali

International Relations and Cooperation Minister, Honourable Dr Naledi Pandor, attended a two-day G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting (G20 FMM). The theme: “Recover Together, Recover Stronger”.

The aim of the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting was to discuss current geopolitical tensions across the world, their humanitarian and socioeconomic impacts and the role and contribution of the G20 in strengthening multilateralism.

This visit to Bali follows her visit to Singapore on 5-6 July 2022 at the invitation of Honourable Vivian Balakrishnan, Singapore’s Minister of Foreign Affairs.

World Population Day

Established in 1989, by the then Governing Council of the United Nations Development Programme, the day aims to shift focus and attention on the urgency and importance of population issues. It was first marked on 11 July 1990 in more than 90 countries. According to the United Nations, the global population reached the 7 billion mark in 2011, it stood at almost 7.9 billion in 2021. Weighing in on the milestone, UN Secretary- General, António Guterres, stated: ”Reaching a global population of eight billion is a numerical landmark, but our focus must always be on people. In the world we strive to build, 8 billion people means 8 billion opportunities to live dignified and fulfilled lives.”

Nelson Mandela Day

The UN General Assembly made a unanimous decision in 2009 to launch Nelson Mandela International Day in recognition of Nelson Mandela’s birthday. The day is more than a celebration of Madiba’s life and legacy, it is now a global movement to honour his life’s work and to change the world for the better. The global icon made a call for the next generation to take on the burden of leadership in addressing the world’s social injustices. This year, the plight of food security and climate change will be highlighted with everyone encouraged to “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”

World Hepatitis Day

This is a day that is marked to increase the awareness and understanding of viral hepatitis and the diseases that it causes. The day was chosen because it is the birthday of Nobel Prize-winning scientist, Dr Baruch Blumberg, who discovered the hepatitis B virus (HBV) and developed a diagnostic test and vaccine for it.

The day provides an opportunity to focus on specific actions such as strengthening prevention, screening and control of viral hepatitis and its related diseases, increasing hepatitis B vaccine coverage and integration. into national immunisation programmes coordinating a global response to hepatitis.

World Day Against Trafficking in Persons

The World Day Against Trafficking in Persons was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in 2013 after a resolution was adopted on July 30. This resolution declared that such a day was necessary to “raise awareness of the situation of victims of human trafficking and for the promotion and protection of their rights.”The UN said the majority of detected victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation and 35% of those trafficked for forced labour are female. This year’s theme puts victims of human trafficking at the centre of the campaign and will highlight the importance of listening to and learning from survivors of human trafficking.