International Friendship Day 2023: Date, History and Significance

To mark the significance of friendship in our lives, every year, July 30 is celebrated as International Friendship Day. The day acknowledges how our friends make our lives better. This annual celebration cherishes the meaningful friendships in our lives. After all, the world would become a far more difficult place without our best friends in it.

Despite being proclaimed by the United Nations, not all countries celebrate the day on July 30. A few nations like India, Bangladesh, UAE, Malaysia, and the US observe Friendship Day on the first Sunday of August. So for them this year Friendship Day will fall on August 6.

History

It was back in 2011 that the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) recognised International Friendship Day. The day was proclaimed with the idea that friendship between people, nations and cultures can pose as an inspiration to build bridges between communities.

The resolution emphasises encouraging young people to be the future leaders in community activities, which promotes international understanding and respect for diversity, by involving different cultures.

Significance

As per the United Nations, the world continues to struggle with issues like human rights abuses, poverty, and others that challenge security, development, social harmony, and peace among the people. International Friendship Day aims to establish strong ties of trust to make sure that together we could eradicate all those factors that threaten a peaceful future.

This initiative is also significant as it walks on the proposal made by UNESCO. The proposal defines the culture of peace as a set of values, behaviours and attitudes so that it could reject violence and prevent conflicts by addressing their root causes.

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