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 (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.

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.

In 1994, the UN General Assembly proclaimed 16 September the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer, commemorating the date of the signing, in 1987, of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (resolution 49/114).
The principal aim of the Montreal Protocol is to protect the ozone layer by taking measures to control total global production and consumption of substances that deplete it, with the ultimate objective of their elimination on the basis of developments in scientific knowledge and technological information.
The ozone layer, a fragile shield of gas, protects the Earth from the harmful portion of the rays of the sun, thus helping preserve life on the planet.
The phaseout of controlled uses of ozone depleting substances and the related reductions have not only helped protect the ozone layer for this and future generations, but have also contributed significantly to global efforts to address climate change; furthermore, it has protected human health and ecosystems by limiting the harmful ultraviolet radiation from reaching the Earth.

The United Nations’ (UN) International Day of Democracy is annually held on September 15 to raise public awareness about democracy. Various activities and events are held around the world to promote democracy on this date.
Background
The UN strives to achieve its goals of peace, human rights and development. It believes that human rights and the rule of law are best protected in democratic societies. The UN also recognizes a fundamental truth about democracy everywhere – that democracy is the product of a strong, active and vocal civil society.
The UN general assembly decided on November 8, 2007, to make September 15 as the annual date to observe the International Day of Democracy. The assembly invited people and organizations, both government and non-government, to commemorate the International Day of Democracy. It also called for all governments to strengthen their national programs devoted to promoting and consolidating democracy. The assembly encouraged regional and other intergovernmental organizations to share their experiences in promoting democracy.
The International Day of Democracy was first celebrated in 2008. The UN general assembly recognized that the year 2008 marked the 20th anniversary of the first International Conference of New or Restored Democracies, which gave people a chance to focus on promoting and consolidating democracy worldwide.