International Day of Non-Violence
The international day of non-violence is a rather new day as it only dates back to June 15, 2007, when the UN General Assembly voted to make the birthday of Mohandas Gandhi the international day of non violence. This day, which in India is known as Gandhi Jayanti, is celebrated each year on October 2.
The work to make the day an accepted international event began to take form when Iranian Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi in 2004 brought forward the the idea, and idea which he received from a Hindi teacher to students during the world social forum in Bombay. The idea of celebrating an international day of non-violence slowly gained ground in India and started getting supporters in the Congress party.
In January of 2007, the idea got the support of Sonia Gandhi and Archbishop Desmond Tutu who together called upon the United Nations to adopt the idea. The day was as earlier mentioned voted through on June 15 that year and the first ever international day of non-violence took place October 2, 2007. All the members of UN are asked to celebrate the day in "an appropriate manner and disseminate the message of non-violence, including through education and public awareness."
United Nations Postal Administration (UNPA) in New York City uses a special cachet to recognize the day. Between October 2 and 31 each year, all outgoing mail that leaves the UNPA's New York branch carries this cachet. The cachet has become a collectors item for philatelist, especially among a subgroup that collects Gandhi stamps.