On 5 November 2001, the UN General Assembly declared 6 November of each year as
the International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict (A/RES/56/4 ).
Though mankind has always counted its war casualties in terms of dead and wounded soldiers and civilians, destroyed cities and livelihoods, the environment has often remained the unpublicized victim of war.Water wells have been polluted, crops torched, forests cut down, soils poisoned, and animals killed to gain military advantage.
Furthermore, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has found that over
the last 60 years, at least 40 percent of all internal conflicts have been linked to the
exploitation of natural resources, whether high-value resources such as timber, diamonds, gold and oil, or scarce resources such as fertile land and water. Conflicts involving natural resources have also been found to be twice as likely to relapse.
The United Nations attaches great importance to ensuring that action on the environment is part of conflict prevention, peacekeeping and peacebuilding strategies – because there can be no durable peace if the natural resources that sustain livelihoods and ecosystems are destroyed.
On 27 May 2016, the United Nations Environment Assembly adopted
resolution UNEP/EA.2/Res.15 , which recognized the role of healthy ecosystems and
sustainably managed resources in reducing the risk of armed conflict, and reaffirmed its
strong commitment to the full implementation of the Sustainable Development
Goals listed in General Assembly resolution 70/1, entitled “Transforming our world: the
2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development ”.
Education
Celebrating Cyrus day, even virtually
This year is the 16th year that the people of Iran, both within and outside of the country, celebrate October 29th (Aban 7th on the Iranian Calendar) as “Cyrus the Great Day.” The day coincides with the arrival of Cyrus in Babylon and the issuance of a charter within which, for the first time, human rights were stated.
In the early years of “Cyrus the Great Day,” many people from all over Iran went to Pasargadae and celebrated, marking the day with dancing and singing. (Pasargad is the Tomb of Cyrus, a UNESCO World Heritage Site).
However, the Islamic Republic of Iran, which only celebrate sadness, and at the same time cannot bear to honor a great leader who is the first flag-bearer of religious freedom in the world, has instead been using cannons, tanks, guns, and threats for several years. Recently, the threat of imprisonment has prevented people from going to Pasargadae.
In recent years, however, people have come to celebrate Cyrus’ Day on the roads leading to Pasargadae, or in schools, universities, private halls, or even in their own homes. And these celebrations have been getting bigger every year.
Fortunately, in the last three or four years, people in other countries in addition to the people of Iran have also started to celebrate the day of Cyrus. The people of Tajikistan, for example, have been more diligent than any other country, because, unlike the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Tajik government is vigilant and observant in encouraging the people to celebrate on this special occasion.
It is a perfectly timely and natural reaction for the people in the lands once ruled by Cyrus the Great to realize now, centuries later, the exceptional values of his character, and to pay homage to him on different occasions. It is true that man today cannot live up to the standards of his past. Every sensible and rational human being can inevitably make a logical comparison between the orders and behaviors of Cyrus the Great (2550 years ago), and the brutal behavior and reactionary orders of the Islamic government in Iran in the 21 st century. Hundreds of years apart, the two are completely different
governments: one (Cyrus’s government) gave people the right to choose their faith and religion, transformed their citizens’ lives from unconscious beings to human beings with rights and decisions, and the other (today) deprives people of their simplest and most basic human rights.
It is clear that due to the pandemic and COVID-19 this year it is not possible to easily gather anywhere, without taking into account all mandated health precautions and restrictions. But fortunately we are in a time with the most advanced digital and media systems and we can use these to facilitate us wherever we are and to hold the day of Cyrus the Great in the most beautiful way, even if it is just done simply.
Today, while many people have lost loved ones and might have endured difficult times, we remember the great leadership Cyrus the Great showed to his citizens and the people of the world.
The Pasargad Heritage Foundation proposed years ago this day as the day to celebrate Cyrus the Great, and is once again asking everyone to celebrate today as a reminder of our common civil struggle against
oppression and tyranny.
Wishing you health and joy
Shokooh Mirzadegi
Pasargad Heritage Foundation
www.savepasargad.com
International Day of Rural Women
This year on International Day of Rural Women (15 October), we’re celebrating the vital
role that rural women play in climate action with a spotlight on “ Rural women and girls
building resilience ” theme.
As the world faces an increasingly critical need to address climate change, the important impact that rural women and girls have on building resilience is undeniable.
It will take not only leaders, but whole populations to make the changes for a carbon-
neutral world.
Rural women and girls are leaders in agriculture, food security and nutrition, land, managing natural resource management and unpaid and domestic care work. They are at the frontline when natural resources and agriculture are threatened. In fact, globally, one in three employed women works in agriculture . Women also collect biomass fuels, manually process food materials, and pump water; eighty percent of households without piped water rely on women and girls for water collection.
World Migratory Bird Day
World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) is an awareness-raising campaign highlighting the
need for the conservation of migratory birds and their habitats. It aims to draw attention
to the threats faced by migratory birds, their ecological importance, and the need for
international cooperation to conserve them.
The Day is celebrated bi-annually on the second Saturday in May and in October.
Ice Core Offers Insight Into 20th-Century Spanish Flu Pandemic
According to a statement released by Harvard University , Alexander More of Long Island University and the University of Maine and his colleagues compared climate data
collected from an ice core from a central European glacier with early twentieth-century historical records, and found that a six-year period of “miserable weather” preceded and overlapped with major battles of World War I and peaks in the numbers of deaths from the Spanish flu. “Basically, we saw a spike in cold, wet marine air from the northwest Atlantic that came down into Europe and lingered,” More said. Trench warfare in the cold, torrential rains and the resulting mud likely contributed to the run-down condition of soldiers’ health, in addition to malnutrition brought on by crop failures. The weather may have also disrupted the migratory patterns of disease-carrying waterfowl, More explained. The outbreak of the Spanish flu in the spring of 1918 is thought to have been connected to troop movements, infecting more than 500 million people and killing between 30 and 50 million.
