The Philosophical Toilet
I suppose I am not the only former UNICEF staff whose smartphone calendar looked embarrassingly void. The only alerts reminded me to put the trashcan out for collection on Wednesday; the long anticipated holiday visits of kids and grandchildren were still far away. Then came the XUNICEF calendar; I first ignored it, then gave it a try. You find it on the sidebar on the right.
The calendar is a trough of inspiration. Scroll back, and you discover that you missed the World Philosophy Day, and the World Toilet Day, both on 19th November, 2020.
UNESCO is responsible for the philosophy, the WTO for the bodily functions. The WTO might be the World Trade Organization, but it is also the World Toilet Organization. On its prompting, the UN created the World Toilet Day as an international observance day; UN Water is involved, UNICEF is a prominent member. This year, UNICEF contributed a calculation of the cost of achieving universal access to sanitation. The struggle continues, much remains to be done.
The UNESCO message on World Philosophy Day is not as consistent. While UNESCO recognizes that on the third Thursday in November, philosophy should be commemorated as an ‘inspiring discipline as well as an everyday practice that can transform societies’, its website has it on Tuesday the 17th. A minor quirk. But I like the message of Audrey Azoulay, the UNESCO Director-General, inadvertently directed at former UN staff: philosophy allows us to both step back and see further ahead.
This is sufficient material for us, next time we take a rest, to have a philosophical thought. And don’t forget to look at the XUNICEF calendar; or merge it with you own.
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Yes.. retirement allows us to step back, reminisce about our times in UNICEF , assess our impact and see the challenges of fulfilling children's rights in the post covid future .
ReplyDeleteSree
From Gianni. Detlef, a question. How to merge UNICEF calendar with one’s own? Thank you
ReplyDeleteIf you already use your own google calendar: Go to the XUNICEF calendar, for example by clicking calendar on the sidebar. Once the XUNICEF calendar opens, click the '+' button in the bottom right corner. The dates of the XUNICEF calendar will be added automatically to your own calendar, or you might be prompted whether you want to add the XUNICEF calendar to yours. That's it.
DeleteIf you use gmail, but haven't used your google calendar so far: Go to your gmail account. On the far right side is a small calendar symbol (showing '31'). When you click it, you will be welcomed to your own google calendar. Enter the birthday of your spouse, and those of your offspring. (You can also skip that step). As you now have your google calendar, proceed as explained above.
If you use an email account other than gmail: I don't know. Perhaps some other colleague knows. Otherwise, bookmark the XUNICEF website and keep on checking the XUNICEF calendar from there!
Detlef
There is a specific global day for so many issues and events that it begin to lose its meaning and people may not even take these seriously. Some of these global days soul be localized specific to a region or country or countries to make people take it seriously. No?
ReplyDeleteWith all those international days, at least you can find a reason to celebrate (almost) every day! We also have examples of national days. The USA, for example, is celebrating National Potato Day on 18th August.....though I think I will stick to international children's day..... Detlef
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