International Human Solidarity Day

Pariosse St. Benoit is located in the southern peninsula of rural Haiti. It is a short 59 miles from Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, but a long 5 hour drive up the mountains. The families of St. Benoit do not have electricity or running water. They walk one hour down a steep hill to collect water and one hour back up the hill to bring it home. Each elementary school child carries one gallon of water to school each day so the school can provide a hot lunch for them.

Solidarity is identified in the Millennium Declaration as one of the fundamental values of international relations in the 21st Century, wherein those who either suffer or benefit least deserve help from those who benefit most. Consequently, in the context of globalization and the challenge of growing inequality, strengthening of international solidarity is indispensable.

By resolution 57/265 the General Assembly, on 20 December 2002, established the World Solidarity Fund, which was set up in February 2003 as a trust fund of the United Nations Development Programme. Its objective is to eradicate poverty and promote human and social development in developing countries, in particular among the poorest segments of their populations.

The General Assembly, on 22 December 2005, by resolution 60/209 identified solidarity as one of the fundamental and universal values that should underlie relations between peoples in the Twenty-first century, and in that regard decided to proclaim 20 December of each year International Human Solidarity Day.

A stable social order rests on the solidarity of its people.

Source: maryqueenofpeace.org | un.org