The World Humanitarian Day is being observed every year on which date ?
- (a)24 October
- (b)19 August
- (c)10 December
- (d)8 March
Correct — B, 19 August. World Humanitarian Day is observed on 19 August because of what happened on that date in 2003, when an attack on the Canal Hotel in Baghdad killed 22 aid workers, among them Sergio Vieira de Mello, the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Iraq. Five years later the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution 63/139 designating the day, and it is now used each year to honour humanitarian workers and to press for the protection of people caught in crises.
- (a)24 October — 24 October is United Nations Day, marking the date in 1945 on which the United Nations Charter came into force. It celebrates the organisation itself, not the aid workers who serve in the field.
- (c)10 December — 10 December is Human Rights Day, marking the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. Rights and humanitarian relief are related themes, which is exactly why this option is placed here.
- (d)8 March — 8 March is International Women's Day. It has no connection with the origin of World Humanitarian Day.
The United Nations designates observance days by resolutions of the General Assembly or by decisions of its specialised agencies, and each one is tied to a specific historical event or cause. World Humanitarian Day belongs to the humanitarian pillar of the organisation's work, the same pillar that runs the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the World Food Programme and the refugee agency.
Almost every year NDA asks the date of one international day, and the four options are always other real observances, so guessing is expensive. The efficient method is to keep a month-wise calendar of the important days rather than trying to recall them one at a time — August has World Humanitarian Day on the 19th, October has United Nations Day on the 24th, December has Human Rights Day on the 10th and March has International Women's Day on the 8th. The date has not changed since the exam.
- World Humanitarian Day falls on 19 August each year.
- It marks the 2003 attack on the Canal Hotel in Baghdad in which 22 humanitarian workers lost their lives.
- The United Nations General Assembly designated the day by resolution 63/139.
- United Nations Day is 24 October, Human Rights Day is 10 December and International Women's Day is 8 March.
- Mixing up United Nations Day with World Humanitarian Day; one honours the organisation, the other its field workers.
- Assuming a day must have been declared by the United Nations — several well-known observances come from specialised agencies such as UNESCO or the World Health Organization.
NDA asks either for the date of a named day or for the day that falls on a named date, so learn the calendar in both directions.
Consider the following statements: 1. 21st February is declared to be the International Mother Language Day by UNICEF. 2. The demand that Bangla has to be one of the national languages was raised in the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan. Which of the above statements is/are correct?
- (a) 1 only
- (b) 2 only
- (c) Both 1 and 2
- (d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer(b) 2 only
An international day tested by naming the wrong parent body — the mother language day comes from UNESCO, not UNICEF. Learn each observance with both its date and the body that declared it.
Which one of the following is the theme of the International Day of Yoga 2021?
- (a) Yoga at home and yoga with family
- (b) Yoga for climate action
- (c) Yoga for well-being
- (d) Yoga for peace
Answer(c) Yoga for well-being
The same observance-day territory four years later, this time asking for a theme rather than a date. NDA works both angles, so note the theme of the current year alongside the date.
The United Nations Charter was signed by 51 original members of the United Nations in 1945 at the
- (a) Hague Conference
- (b) London Conference
- (c) San Francisco Conference
- (d) Berlin Conference
Answer(c) San Francisco Conference
The founding of the organisation whose General Assembly declared this day. The Charter's signature at San Francisco in 1945 and its entry into force on 24 October are the two dates worth fixing together.
- practice — not a real PYQ
United Nations Day, marking the coming into force of the United Nations Charter, is observed on
- (a)19 August
- (b)24 October
- (c)10 December
- (d)21 June
Answer(b) 24 October — the Charter came into force on that date in 1945.
- practice — not a real PYQ
World Humanitarian Day was designated by which organ of the United Nations?
- (a)Security Council
- (b)General Assembly
- (c)Economic and Social Council
- (d)International Court of Justice
Answer(b) General Assembly — through resolution 63/139.