1 March:
Zero Discrimination Day (ZDD)
The UN first celebrated ZDD on March 1, 2014, after UNAIDS—a UN programme on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)—launched its Zero Discrimination Campaign on World AIDS Day in December 2013. Almost 40 million people worldwide suffer from HIV/AIDS.
Discrimination refers to the selective practice of unfairly treating a person or a group of people differently from others due to such factors as nationality, race, colour, religion, gender, age, profession, education or disability. Despite laws and education, discrimination continues to be a wide-spread problem throughout the world. Many countries have and still use discrimination as a way of governing.
ZDD aims at promoting equality before the law and in practice through inclusion, compassion and peace, thus creating a global movement for change and solidarity to end all forms of discrimination, and to work towards positive transformation.
In February 2017, UNAIDS called on people to speak up and prevent discrimination from standing in the way of achieving ambitions, goals and dreams.
Campaigners in India have used this day to speak out against laws discriminating against the LGBTI (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgender, Intersex) community, especially during the previous campaign to repeal the law (Indian Penal Code, s377) that used to criminalise homosexuality in the country. That law was overturned by the Indian Supreme Court in September 2018.
In 2020, UNAIDS challenged the discrimination faced by women, in order to raise awareness and mobilize action to promote equality and empowerment.
Although some countries have made laudable progress towards greater gender equality, discrimination against women still exists everywhere. In many countries, laws that discriminate against women remain in force, while laws that uphold women’s basic rights and protect them against harm and unequal treatment are far from the norm.
Our world is still deeply tainted by discrimination. Racial discrimination has led to unjust killings and riots in several countries in the recent past. Some other countries reel under discrimination based on differences of caste and creed. We all need to feel brothers and sisters in one universal human family.
Discriminating against some people or groups as inferior or as outsiders—whether based on race, religion, caste, tribe, language, political party or gender orientation or whatever—is wrong and unjust. The majority does not have the right to violate the rights of smaller and weaker groups.
27 March (last Saturday of March)
Earth Hour (8:30 to 9:30 pm)
“Earth Hour,” organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia. It encourages individuals, businesses and governments in more than 180 countries and territories to be accountable for their ecological footprint, and provide real solutions to environmental challenges. Every year, on the last Saturday of March, from 8:30 to 9:30 pm, millions across the world choose to turn off their lights to celebrate their commitment to preserve the planet and its natural heritage.
We waste a lot of fuel and electricity. We produce a lot of waste. The consumption of fossil fuels at a rapid pace in the last few decades has greatly harmed our environment. Nature loss, biodiversity and climate change are the biggest challenges of our time, and they are interconnected.
Our world has been transformed by an explosion in global trade, consumption, population growth and the move towards urbanisation. Climate change is causing rising seas, stronger storms and shifting habitats for wildlife and people. More and more species are being endangered. By switching off our lights just for one hour, we can make a substantial difference in energy consumption.
During EH in 2013, Toronto recorded a 205-megawatt reduction, equivalent to 92,000 homes off the grid. Bangkok recorded a 1,699-megawatt reduction, eliminating roughly 1,073 tons of carbon-dioxide emissions.
In 2015, 82 million EH videos were watched between January and March, with 7.8 million digital EH interactions taking place just between March 27 and 29. These figures will keep on growing as the years go by and more EHs are celebrated.
Regardless of whether alone or with others, sitting in the dark at EH is a reminder that we need to come together to solve climate change. There are 8760 hours in a year. Switching off the lights for just one hour in 365 days might not seem to make a lot of difference. Some suggest that EH should be at least one hour every month. It might still be insufficient, but saving power for twelve hours in a year is much better than doing it for one hour.
Sr Esme da Cunha FDCC
To subscribe to the magazine, click Subscribe
