Explore the World

Upstate International Month (UIM) March 1 – 31, 2023, is a multi-county collaboration of organizations, partners, sponsors, and communities.

Welcoming, supporting, celebrating, and educating through a variety of internationally themed events, UIM promotes our rich cultural diversity, heritage, and global connections.

UIM collaborates and welcomes co-branding of events that have an international connection, education-focused, and are open to the public (paid or fee-based).

World Wildlife Day is an opportunity to celebrate the many beautiful and varied forms of wild fauna and flora and to raise awareness of the multitude of benefits that their conservation provides to people. At the same time, the Day reminds us of the urgent need to step up the fight against wildlife crime and human-induced reduction of species, which have wide-ranging economic, environmental and social impacts. Given these various negative effects, Sustainable Development Goal 15 focuses on halting biodiversity loss.  #WorldWildlifeDay

The Iberian lynx (above) was a critical predator in Mediterranean ecosystems. 20 years ago, there were only 94 Iberian lynx left. A recovery programme allowed numbers of Iberian lynx to climb to over 1,100, showing the power of conservation.

International Women’s Day is celebrated annually on March 8, yet the global campaign theme continues all year long to encourage action.

International Women’s Day has been around since 1911, so anyone anywhere can play a part in helping forge women’s equality.

International Women’s Day is supported by organizations, groups, governments and individuals worldwide committed to a more gender equal world.

The International Women’s Day website is the go-to hub for everything IWD and provides detailed information, guidance and resources.

Look for local events across the South Carolina Upstate.

International Day of Women Judges is celebrated on March 10 each year to promote equal and complete participation of women at different levels of the judiciary. Women’s involvement in the judiciary is critical to ensure that courts represent their population, respond to their concerns, and issue competent decisions. Women judges increase the credibility of courts just by being present, giving a strong message that they are open and accessible to anyone seeking justice. Join us as we honor all women judges. From International Today

Did you know? (UN website)

Join the worldwide celebration of St. Patrick’s Day.

Wear the green and be Irish for a day.

Quilting is an art form that is worldwide, the US observes National Day.  2022 is the 31st year of this observance.

The Quilt Alliance and the National Quilt Museum are proud to be the coordinators of this special day! Check this page often for fun and meaningful ideas for celebrating National Quilting Day, graphics and posters you can use to publicize your own NQD events, and a home base for this important day to honor and promote quilting!   More information: https://quiltalliance.org/nationalquiltingday/

Explore examples of quilts called “around the world:” https://quiltdom.com/trip-around-world-quilts/

The date of March 20 was chosen to celebrate the anniversary of the Agency for Cultural and Technical Cooperation (ACCT) that was born on March 20, 1970 in Niamey, Niger. This agency marks the first step toward Francophone cooperation, which will become the International Organization of La Francophonie a little later.  About 300 million people speak French today.

The French language has always had an important place among languages. First a symbol of culture and creativity, it was then a vector of democracy and humanism, values ​​that UNESCO intends to promote. UNESCO loves, speaks and promotes French – one of its 6 official languages ​​and one of its 2 working languages. But more broadly UNESCO celebrating the Francophonie celebrates the cultural and linguistic diversity that makes up the world.

Celebrating La Francophonie is recognizing the potential of language and culture to unite people, to create spaces of solidarity and mutual understanding, to reflect together on our common future. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF) share this common vision that places culture and language at the heart of any lasting effort for peace. and development. Per UNESCO website

World Water Day, held on 22 March every year since 1993, focuses on the importance of freshwater.

World Water Day celebrates water and raises awareness of the 2.2 billion people living without access to safe water. It is about taking action to tackle the global water crisis. A core focus of World Water Day is to support the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 6: water and sanitation for all by 2030.

Did you know?

• Almost all of the liquid freshwater in the world is groundwater.
• About 40 per cent of all the water used for irrigation comes from aquifers.
• Asia and the Pacific region has the lowest per capita water availability in the world, with groundwater use in the region predicted to increase 30 per cent by 2050.
• In North America and Europe, nitrates and pesticides represent a big threat to groundwater quality: 20 per cent of European Union (EU) groundwater bodies exceeds EU standards on good water quality due to agricultural pollution.

Source: UN website

The 2023 theme and webpage have not been posted (1 Sept 2022)

The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), an organization of the United Nations, was created on 23 March 1950 to replace the International Meteorological Organization. It began operations in 1951 to coordinate member nation in the fields of meteorology, operational hydrology, and Earth sciences for the security of their population. The first World Meteorological Day was held on 23 March 1961.^{[5][6] Wikipedia entry}

The theme for 2023 has yet to be posted (September 2022)

International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade

The UN “Outreach Programme on the Transatlantic Slave Trade and Slavery was established in 2007 with the adoption of the General Assembly resolution 62/122.  The Programme raises awareness of the history of the transatlantic slave trade, its impact on the modern world, and its legacies, including racism and prejudice. Over the years, the Programme has established a global network of partners, including from educational institutions and civil society, and developed resources and initiatives to educate the public about this dark chapter of history and promote action against racism.”

UN Outreach Programme on the Transatlantic Slave Trade and Slavery

There are two days of Remembrance on this topic: one in March and one in August.

Piano Day, an annual worldwide event founded by a group of like-minded people, takes place on the 88th day of the year – in 2023 it’s the 29th March – because of the number of keys on the instrument being celebrated.

The aim of the day is to create a platform for piano-related projects in order to promote the development of musical dimensions and to continue sharing the centuries-old joy of playing the piano. Piano Day welcomes all kinds of piano lovers — young and old, amateur and professional, of any musical direction – to join in. It is intended to be the most joyful of all holidays!