International Day of Democracy, as decided vide a UN General Assembly resolution, is observed on:

Correct — C, 15 September. The United Nations General Assembly set 15 September as the International Day of Democracy by resolution A/RES/62/7, adopted in 2007, and the day has been marked every year since. The UN's own register of international days prints it exactly that way, with the resolution number beside the date. The observance is not a ceremony for its own sake: the resolution came out of the Assembly's continuing work in support of governments trying to establish or rebuild democratic institutions, and the day is used each year to take stock of how those institutions are faring — the state of elections, of parliaments, of civic space and of the press. It matters that the stem says 'as decided vide a UN General Assembly resolution', because plenty of days in circulation are proclaimed by other bodies or by no one in particular. This one has a resolution behind it, and that is why it is examinable.

• (a)20 January — The United Nations has no observance on this date. Its January days are 4 January for World Braille Day, 24 January for the International Day of Education, 26 January for the International Day of Clean Energy, 27 January for Holocaust remembrance and 28 January for the International Day of Peaceful Coexistence.
• (b)1 July — Also empty on the UN calendar. The nearest neighbours are 30 June, the International Day of Parliamentarism, and 5 July, the International Day of Cooperatives — the first of which is what tempts anyone reasoning from parliaments to democracy.
• (d)9 December — A real UN date, but for other things. It carries International Anti-Corruption Day, established by resolution A/RES/58/4, and also the day of commemoration for the victims of the crime of genocide. It sits close to Human Rights Day on 10 December, which is where the confusion usually starts.

An international day exists because the General Assembly, or occasionally a specialised agency such as UNESCO or WHO, has passed a resolution creating it. The resolution number is the day's credential, and the UN publishes the whole calendar with those numbers attached. This is worth knowing as a method rather than as a list: if a date cannot be matched to a resolution, it is very likely a national or industry observance rather than a UN one.

Date questions are pure recall and there is no reasoning shortcut, so the only defence is a small, well-chosen set held firmly, plus a habit of checking the near neighbours. September is a crowded month and its dates are easily swapped — 8 September is International Literacy Day, 15 September the International Day of Democracy, 16 September the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer, and 21 September the International Day of Peace. CDS has already set a question that turns on the ozone date being mis-stated as 16 November, so the examiner is plainly willing to test one day against another within the same fortnight. December is the other trap zone, with anti-corruption on the 9th and human rights on the 10th.

• The International Day of Democracy is observed on 15 September, established by General Assembly resolution A/RES/62/7 in 2007.
• International Anti-Corruption Day falls on 9 December, under resolution A/RES/58/4, and Human Rights Day on 10 December.
• The UN calendar has no observance on 20 January or on 1 July; the International Day of Parliamentarism is 30 June and the International Day of Cooperatives 5 July.
• Neighbouring September dates worth holding together are 8 September for literacy, 16 September for the ozone layer and 21 September for peace.
• Every genuine UN international day can be traced to a resolution, which is the quickest way to tell a UN observance from a national one.

• Sliding 15 September into 16 September, which belongs to the ozone layer.
• Reaching for 9 December because it feels like a governance date; it is anti-corruption, with human rights the day after.
• Treating any well-publicised day as a UN day. If no General Assembly or agency resolution created it, it is not on the UN calendar.

Straight date recall like this one, or in reverse — naming a date and asking what is observed on it. Occasionally as a match-the-pairs between four observances and four dates.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  International Anti-Corruption Day is observed on which one of the following dates?

  • (a)9 December
  • (b)10 December
  • (c)15 September
  • (d)24 October

  Answer(a) 9 December — set by General Assembly resolution A/RES/58/4. Human Rights Day is 10 December and United Nations Day is 24 October.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which one of the following pairs of observance and date is correctly matched?

  • (a)International Day of Peace — 15 September
  • (b)International Literacy Day — 8 September
  • (c)International Day of Democracy — 21 September
  • (d)International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer — 16 November

  Answer(b) International Literacy Day — 8 September. Peace is 21 September, Democracy 15 September and the ozone layer day 16 September.