Category: Holidays & Observances

Persons Day

“The  historic decision to include women in the legal definition of “persons” was handed  down by Canada’s highest court of appeal – the Judicial Committee of the Privy  Council of Great Britain – on October 18, 1929. This gave women the right to be  appointed to the Senate of Canada and paved the way for women’s increased  participation in public and political life.” (From Status of Women Canada: Persons Day.)

source: famous5ottawa.ca

It may seem incomprehensible to us that women were not considered to be “persons”, at least under a strict definition of Canadian law prior to 1929.  The “Famous Five” led the fight all the way to the highest courts of the land to include women in the legal definition of “persons.”

“The exclusion of women from all public offices is a relic of days more barbarous than ours. And to those who would ask why the word  “person” should include females, the obvious answer is, why should it  not?”

–Lord Sankey of the Privy Council, 1929 (source)

Today we can celebrate that victory, and the slow but steady change in Canadian society towards equality for women.  We still have a long way to go, and sadly, in much the world, women are still denied equality, a “relic of days  more barbarous than ours.” Persons Day is a chance to celebrate how far we have come, and to reflect on how far we still need to go.

World Food Day

From the United Nations:

On 16 October 1945, 42 countries acted in Quebec, Canada, to create the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). In doing so they took another important step forward in man’s perpetual struggle against hunger and malnutrition. For through the establishment of FAO they provided themselves, and the many other nations that were to enter the Organization, with a mechanism through which its Member Countries could deal with a set of problems that are of major concern to all countries and all people… FAO celebrates World Food Day each year on 16 October, the day on which the Organization was founded in 1945.

Read more at Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

International Day of the Girl

source: UNICEF

The United Nations has declared October 11 to be the International Day of the Girl Child. The day was first celebrated in 2012, as an opportunity to recognize the rights of girls, to raise awareness about the challenges that they face around the world, and to celebrate our daughters, sisters, friends and students. Sadly, girls around the world daily face discrimination, violence and the violation of their human rights.

The theme for 2015 is:  The Power of the Adolescent Girl: Vision for 2030.

Find out more:

 

World Mental Health Day

From the World Health Organization:wmhd

“Thousands of people with mental health conditions around the world are deprived of their human rights. They are not only discriminated against, stigmatised and marginalised but are also subject to emotional and physical abuse in both mental health facilities and the community. Poor quality care due to a lack of qualified health professionals and dilapidated facilities leads to further violations.

The theme for this year’s World Mental Health Day, observed on 10 October, is “Dignity in mental health”. This year, WHO will be raising awareness of what can be done to ensure that people with mental health conditions can continue to live with dignity, through human rights oriented policy and law, training of health professionals, respect for informed consent to treatment, inclusion in decision-making processes, and public information campaigns.”

Find out more:

World Mental Health Day 2015

WHO Information Sheet

Canadian Mental Health Association

World Teachers` Day

Happy World Teachers’ Day!  In 1994, the United Nations (UNESCO) established October 5th as World Teachers’ Day, a day to recognize and celebrate the vital role that teachers play in the lives of all people, especially children and youth.

world teachers day 2015
source: UNESCO

Empowering teachers, building sustainable societies

“Empowering teachers, building sustainable societies” is the World Teachers’ Day slogan for 2015.

It is recognized that teachers are not only a means to implementing education goals; they are the key to sustainability and national capacity in achieving learning and creating societies based on knowledge, values and ethics. However, they continue to face challenges brought about by staff shortages, poor training and low status…”

 For the rest of this article at UNESCO, click here

 

International School Library Month

October is International School Library Month. Join with people from all over the world in celebrating the powerful and vital role that school library programs play in education.

ISLMonthLarge

For more on ISLM, visit the online home of the International Association of School Libraries.

Banned Books Week

BBW-logoSeptember 21-27 is Banned Books Week in the United States, as established by the American Library Association. We can observe it in Canada too.  We live in a society where we believe everyone should learn to read, that reading is important, and that people should have the right to read what they want to read.  So many of our fundamental rights and freedoms are represented in the fight for educated, literate citizens to have control over what they read.  Sadly, our society also has powerful forces that work against those freedoms.  Sometimes those countering forces are well-meaning, hoping to protect us from lies, hate, propaganda and such. Sometimes these countering forces are even necessary, as we seek to protect children from pornography and other age-inappropriate material.  Yet a free and vital democracy requires that individuals, not the state, determine what is acceptable reading material and what is not acceptable. Parents must be able to protect their children from the mistakes of society, yet the state must also protect children from the mistakes of their parents. There are no easy answers in all this, yet that is not a reason to shy away from this vital issue.

Yom Kippur

rhandykYom Kippur, or the “Day of Atonement”, is the holiest day on the Jewish Calendar. For devout Jews in Canada and around the world, Yom Kippur is the most important Holiday, beyond Hanukkah or even the Passover. Many Jews will spend the entire day in fasting, praying and other observances.

In 2015 Yom Kippur begins at sundown on September 22, (This is according to the Gregorian Calendar, while the Jewish Calendar is at year 5776.)

For more on Yom Kippur, click here.

The Hajj

The annual pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, begins at sundown on September 21st and concludes on the 26th.  Millions of Muslims will descend on Mecca, the birthplace of the Prophet, Mohammad, the founder of Islam. It is considered to be one of the “Five Pillars of the Faith” for Muslims to make the pilgrimage once in their life, if they are able to manage it physically and financially.

source: wikimedia / Creative Commons

International Day of Peace

PeacePeace.

Celebrate it. Dream of it. Work for it. Enjoy it. Promote it. Demand it. Model it. Protest for it.

In 1981 the United Nations established the International Day of Peace. In 2002  the UN declared September 21 to be the permanent day “Peace Day.”

For more information, check out the official site. And come down to your school library to check out some of our resources on peace, including champions of peace, peace education and more.

Rosh Hashanah

Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year feast and celebration.

The Jewish Calendar is a lunar calendar, therefor the dates of Rosh Hashanah and other Jewish holidays will vary according to the Gregorian Calendar (the standard calendar used in most of the world for politics, business and daily life.)  In 2015 Rosh Hashanah begins at Sundown on September 13 and ends at nightfall of September 15.