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UNPO Celebrates Earth Day 2006 |
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Sunday, 23 April 2006 |
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“The Earth as Home to All of Us”
UNPO, along with other organizations and corporations in the Netherlands, participated in the Earth Day festival held in Rhenen, the Netherlands, between 21 and 23 April 2006. UNPO put its activities on display and informed visitors about Member nations and peoples in the context of cultural diversity, the environment and human rights issues.
The first Earth Day festival was held in the United States on 22 April 1970. Since then the Earth Day has evolved into a global manifestation, as a special day in which people worldwide are urged to focus attention on the current problems facing our planet. Earth Day signifies a day to remind every person of his/her and fellow human beings’ equal right to the earth as a global home, whilst simultaneously emphasizing the equal responsibility of each person to preserve and improve the Earth and the quality of life thereon.
The 2006 Dutch Festival covered three days and was held to raise awareness and concern for the earth and the environment. In The Netherlands, it is organized by Stichting Dag van de Aarde, a non-profit NGO, which has as its main goals to bring together separate initiatives by different organizations and groups to; promote initiatives; disseminate information; and foster cooperation. This year the Earth Day festival had as its theme: “The Earth as Home to All of Us”.
For next year, Stichting Dag van de Aarde plans to decentralize the event, i.e. to host it on three or four different locations throughout The Netherlands. For this 2007 event, UNPO has been invited to be part of the “Kerngroep” (Core Group) of organizing organizations. As UNPO has accepted this offer, UNPO expects to be able to contribute significantly to the establishment of a big annually recurring event in The Netherlands.
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