World Egg Day

 

World Egg Day

World Egg Day is celebrated every year on the second Friday in October. On World Egg Day, events are held across the world celebrating the egg.

The first World Egg Day was celebrated in 1996 and since then we have seen a variety of wonderful events taking place internationally, with people enjoying and celebrating the wonderful versatility of the egg.
There is so much to celebrate – Eggs have the potential to feed the world
Eggs have a vital role to play in feeding people around the world, in both developed and developing countries.  They are an excellent, affordable source of high quality protein, with the potential to feed the world.

This year World Egg Day is Friday 14th October

Whether you celebrate World Egg Day every year, or this will be your first time, make sure that this year on Friday 14th October, you get cracking and help to make this World Egg Day the biggest and the best ever. To help to get you in the mood, and start making plans, here are some examples of things that have been done in the past …

• Cook-off to find the region’s or nation’s fastest omelette maker.
• Family festivals – festivals have been held around the world, putting on eggciting fun and games for the whole family. Past festivals have included egg drawing competitions, egg throwing challenges, recipe contests and cooking competitions, as well as music and entertainment to bring people of all ages together to enjoy eggs.
• Recipe books containing a selection of delicious recipes using eggs.
• Shopping Centre cooking demonstrations and cook-offs.
• Tasty, nutritional seminars explaining the benefits of eggs.

Or, why not try …..

• Organising events for school and pre-school children. Encourage children to have fun with eggs, while teaching them about the nutritional benefits. Perhaps organise a sponsored egg and spoon race, with the money being donated to a national or international food project, or local community projects.
• School/community cooking competitions; who can create the best recipe incorporating eggs, or cook the tastiest dish?

These are just a few of our ideas, and some examples of things that have been done in the past. We hope that they help to inspire you, and we are sure you will have many more exciting ideas about how to celebrate the egg. Go on, get cracking!

World Sight Day 2016

World Sight Day

World Sight Day is a global event that focuses on bringing attention on blindness and vision impairment. It is observed on the second Thursday of October each year. 

What Do People Do?

The World Health Organization (WHO), which is the UN’s directing and coordinating authority for health, and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) are actively involved in coordinating events and activities for World Sight Day. Associations such as Lions Clubs International have also been actively involved in promoting the day on an annual basis for many years.
Many communities, associations, and non-government organizations work together with WHO and IAPB to promote the day for the following purposes:

• To raise public awareness of blindness and vision impairment as major international public health issues.
• To influence governments, particularly health ministers, to participate in and designate funds for national blindness prevention programs.
• To educate target audiences about blindness prevention, about VISION 2020 and its activities, and to generate support for VISION 2020 program activities.

Some people plant trees to commemorate World Sight Day and while others submit a photo for an international photo montage that focuses on the theme of blindness. Other activities include taking part in awareness-raising walks or distributing and displaying posters, bookmarks, booklets and other forms of information the raise awareness about preventable blindness.

Background

The world's population is ageing and people are living longer but blindness from chronic conditions is also rising, according to WHO. About 80 percent of the world's 45 million blind people are aged over 50 years. About 90 percent of blind people live in low-income countries, where older people, especially older women, face barriers to getting the necessary eye health care. Yet, many age-related conditions leading to blindness – such as cataract, refractive error and glaucoma – can be easily and cheaply treated or cured. Timely intervention can often delay or reduce their effects on vision.

Lions Clubs International partnered with blindness prevention organizations worldwide to commemorate the first World Sight Day on October 8, 1998. This event was later integrated into VISION 2020, a global initiative that the IAPB coordinates. This initiative is a joint program between WHO and the IAPB. It involves non-government organizations, and professional associations, as well as eye care institutions and corporations.