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UNESCO Adds 29 New World Heritage Sites

In 2018, the United Nation’s Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) inscribed 20 new sites to its World Heritage List. However, early this month, July 2019, more sites were added to the list. UNESCO added 29 more to the list of global landmarks deemed to have “outstanding universal value”.
Now places like Vatnajökull National Park in Iceland and Jaipur City in Rajasthan, India, are on the list of global cultural and natural sites that includes such famous destinations as the Palace of Versailles in France and Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.
UNESCO held its 43rd World Heritage Committee session in Baku, Azerbaijan, from June 30 to July 10 this year. During the conference, representatives from 21 member states approved a list of 29 sites, which were nominated by their countries. Each site added must meet at least one of 10 criteria, such as containing superlative natural phenomena, representing a masterpiece of human creative genius, or a unique cultural tradition.
Here are some examples:
The picturesque hills of Italy’s prosecco sparkling wine region in Valdobbiadene
About 40 miles north of Venice, Italy’s prosecco production area in the hills of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene is the second wine region in the country to be recognized by UNESCO. (Piedmont was added to the list in 2014.) It is also officially Italy’s 55th site on the list, tying it with China as the country with the most UNESCO World Heritage sites. Since the 17th century, wine producers have grown grapes for sparkling wine on the area’s rugged hills in small plots of vines on narrow terraces—known as ciglioni—giving the region a unique and picturesque look.

Another site is Bagan, Myanmar, where Buddhist monks walk around the sacred Shwezigon Paya, a pagoda in Bagan. From temples and stupas to archaeological remains and sculptures, this landscape of monumental Buddhist architecture in the central plain of Myanmar is only the second location in the country to be added to the World Heritage List. (UNESCO inscribed the Pyu Ancient Cities, the remains of three walled cities in the Ayeyarwady River basin, in 2014.) Created from a variety of materials
including stone, brick, and the gleaming gold of the Shwezigon Pagoda, the area’s  emples show the range that the Bagan civilization was able to build when it was at its peak between the 11th and 13th centuries.
If you are looking for a site closer to home, the 20th-Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, in the United States is among the new additions. Fallingwater house is one of eight Frank Lloyd Wright buildings that were added as a group to the World Heritage List. In fact, the recent addition of eight Frank Lloyd Wright buildings to the World Heritage List marks the first time UNESCO has recognized modern U.S. architecture. Scattered across the United States from the Guggenheim Museum in New York City to Hollyhock House in Los Angeles and Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Arizona, these eight sites represent some of Wright’s most important contributions to 20th-century architecture.

Here are the rest of UNESCO’s confirmed 2019 World Heritage Sites, organized by region:
Africa
Ancient Ferrous Metallurgy Sites of Burkina Faso, Burkina Faso

Asia
Korean Neo-Confucian Academies, Korea
Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City, China
Migratory Bird Sanctuaries along the Coast of Yellow Sea–Gulf of Bohai, China
Megalithic Jar Sites in Xiengkhuang–Plain of Jars, Laos
Mozu-Furuichi Kofun Group: Mounded Tombs of Ancient Japan, Japan
Ombilin Coal Mining Heritage of Sawahlunto, Indonesia
Australia/Oceania
Budj Bim Cultural Landscape, Australia
Jaipur City, Rajasthan, India

Europe
Royal Buildings of Mafra, Portugal
Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Monte in Braga, Portugal
Churches of the Pskov School of Architecture, Russia
Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří Mining Region, Czechia/Germany
French Austral Lands and Seas, France
A visitor to an ice cave in Vatnajökull National Park
Historic Centre of Sheki with the Khan’s Palace, Azerbaijan
Jodrell Bank Observatory, United Kingdom
Krzemionki Prehistoric Striped Flint Mining Region, Poland
Landscape for Breeding and Training of Ceremonial Carriage Horses at Kladruby and Labem, Czechia
Risco Caido and the Sacred Mountains of Gran Canaria Cultural Landscape, Spain
Water Management System of Augsburg, Germany

Middle East
Babylon, Iraq
Dilmun Burial Mounds, Bahrain
Hyrcanian Forests, Iran
North America
Writing-on-Stone / Áísínai’pi, Canada

South America
Paraty and Ilha Grande, Brazil

International Day of the Tropics

The Tropics are a region of the Earth, roughly defined as the area between the tropic of Cancer and the tropic of Capricorn. Although topography and other factors contribute to
climatic variation, tropical locations are typically warm and experience little seasonal change in day-to-day temperature. An important feature of the Tropics is the prevalence of rain in the moist inner regions near the equator, and that the seasonality of rainfall increases with the distance from the equator. The Tropics account for 40 per cent of the world’s total surface area and are host to approximately 80 per cent of the world’s biodiversity and much of its language and cultural diversity. The tropical region faces a number of challenges such as climate change, deforestation, logging, urbanisation and demographic changes.
Background
The United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution A/RES/70/267 on 14 June
2016, which declared that 29 June of each year is to be observed as the International Day
of the Tropics. Tropical nations have made significant progress, but face a variety of challenges that demand focused attention across a range of development indicators and data in order to achieve sustainable development.
The international Day of the Tropics was designated to raise awareness to the specific
challenges faced by tropical areas, the far-reaching implications of the issues affecting
the world’s tropical zone and the need, at all levels, to raise awareness and to underline
the important role that countries in the tropics will play in achieving the Sustainable
Development Goals .

World Refugee Day

The United Nations’ (UN) World Refugee Day is observed on June 20 each year. This event honors the courage, strength and determination of women, men and children who
are forced to flee their homeland under threat of persecution, conflict and violence. World Refugee Day honors the spirit and courage of millions of refugees worldwide.
World Refugee Day is a global observance and not a public holiday.
Background
For years, many countries and regions have been holding their own events similar to
World Refugee Day. One of the most widespread events is Africa Refugee Day, which is
celebrated on June 20 in many countries. the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution
to express its solidarity with Africa on December 4, 2000.
The resolution noted that 2001 marked the 50th anniversary of the 1951 Convention
relating to the status of refugees, and that the Organization of African Unity (OAU)
agreed to have International Refugee Day coincide with Africa Refugee Day on June 20.
The Assembly therefore decided that June 20 would be celebrated as World Refugee Day
from 2001 onwards. This day was designated by the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees to bring attention to the plight of approximately 14 million refugees around the
world.

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2019 Theme: #StepWithRefugees — Take A Step on
World Refugee Day
Around the world, communities, schools, businesses, faith groups and people from all
walks of life are taking big and small steps in solidarity with refugees. This World
Refugee Day, we challenge everyone to join together and take a step with refugees. Join
the movement.
Unaided Nation

World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought

Desertification is the degradation of land in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas. It is caused primarily by human activities and climatic variations. Desertification does not refer to the expansion of existing deserts. It occurs because dryland ecosystems, which cover over one third of the world‘s land area, are extremely vulnerable to overexploitation and inappropriate land use. Poverty, political instability, deforestation, overgrazing and bad irrigation practices can all undermine the productivity of the land.

The World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought is observed every year to promote public awareness of international efforts to combat desertification. The day is a unique moment to remind everyone that land degradation neutrality is achievable through problem-solving, strong community involvement and co-operation at all levels

Background

In December 1994, the United Nations General Assembly declared June 17 the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought. The assembly acknowledged that desertification and drought were global problems because they affected all regions of the world. The assembly also realized that joint action by the international community was needed to combat desertification and drought, particularly in Africa.

States were invited to devote the World Day to promoting awareness of the need for international cooperation to combat desertification and the effects of drought, and on the implementation of the Convention to Combat Desertification.  Since then, country parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), non-governmental organizations and other interested stakeholders celebrate this particular day with outreach activities worldwide on June 17 each year.

Happy World Oceans Day – June 8th

Why Celebrate World Oceans Day?

We celebrate World Oceans Day to remind everyone of the major role the oceans have in
everyday life. They are the lungs of our planet, providing most of the oxygen we breathe.
The purpose of the Day is to inform the public of the impact of human actions on the
ocean, develop a worldwide movement of citizens for the ocean, and mobilize and unite
the world’s population on a project for the sustainable management of the world’s oceans.

They are a major source of food and medicines and a critical part of the biosphere. In the
end, it is a day to celebrate together the beauty, the wealth and the promise of the ocean.
Focus for 2019: Gender and the Ocean. We have an opportunity to explore the gender dimension of humankind’s relationship with the ocean.

This year, we strive to build greater ocean and gender literacy, and to discover possible
ways to promote gender equality in ocean-related activities such as marine scientific
research, fisheries, labour at sea, migration by sea and human trafficking, as well as
policy-making and management.

The importance of gender equality — in particular for the effective conservation and
sustainable use of oceans, seas and marine resources — is increasingly recognized.
However, there is very little data and research on these issues, and a concerted action
towards gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls is still needed in all
ocean-related sectors to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 5.

The UN is hosting a conference in celebration of World Oceans Day . Storytellers and
speakers from around the world will join to share perspectives to build greater ocean and
gender literacy and discover possible ways to promote gender equality in ocean-related
activities.

The Battle Against Plastic Pollution

This year, the President of the General Assembly launched 'Play It Out', a global campaign against plastic pollution. Decades of overuse and a surge in single-use plastics has led to a global environmental catastrophe. Today, 13,000,000 tonnes of plastic leak into the ocean every year, what among other damage, kill 100,000 marine animals
annually. While most plastics are expected to remain intact for decades or centuries after use, those that do erode end up as micro-plastics, consumed by fish and other marine
wildlife, quickly making their way into the global food chain. From plastic straws to plastic bags, we all are at the frontline of efforts to #BeatPlasticPollution.

Coordinated By the UN Office of Legal Affairs, the Division for Ocean Affairs and the
Law of the Sea, the 2019 finalists of the UN WOD Photo Competition will be announced
at the UN celebration on Friday, June 7 th . More information on the competition, previous
finalists and this year's panel of judges is available on the World Oceans Day Photo
Competition website .

#WorldOceansDay #SaveOurOcean