World information society day/Telecommnication day

World Information Society Day (World Telecommunication Day) takes place on 17 May to commemorate the founding of the International Telecommunication Union in 17 May 1865 by the Plenipotentiary Conference in Malaga-Torremolinos. It was introduced by a United Nations General Assembly resolution, after the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Tunis called upon the United Nations General Assembly to declare May 17th as World Information Society Day. The Main Objective of World Information Society Day is to focus on the importance of Computerised Information Technology, to raise global awareness of changes brought about by the Internet and new computerised Technologies, to raise awareness concerning other issues relating to the Information Society and to help reduce the digital divide. In March 2006 The General Assembly adopted a resolution (A/RES/60/252) stipulating that World Information Society Day shall be celebrated every year on 17 May and The first World Information Society Day took place on Wednesday, 17 May 2006.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU; French: Union Internationale des Télécommunications (UIT)), originally the International Telegraph Union (French: Union Télégraphique Internationale), is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) that is responsible for issues that concern information and communication technologies. The ITU coordinates the shared global use of the radio spectrum, promotes international cooperation in assigning satellite orbits, works to improve telecommunication infrastructure in the developing world, and assists in the development and coordination of worldwide technical standards. The ITU is active in areas including broadband Internet, latest-generation wireless technologies, aeronautical and maritime navigation, radio astronomy, satellite-based meteorology, convergence in fixed-mobile phone, Internet access, data, voice, TV broadcasting, and next-generation networks. The agency also organizes worldwide and regional exhibitions and forums, such as ITU Telecom World, bringing together representatives of government and the telecommunications and ICT industry to exchange ideas, knowledge and technology.

The ITU, is based in Geneva, Switzerland, and is a member of the United Nations Development Group, and has 12 regional and area offices in the world. ITU has been an intergovernmental public–private partnership organization since its inception. Its membership includes 193 Member States and around 800 public and private sector companies, and academic institutions as well as international and regional telecommunication entities, known as Sector Members and Associates, which undertake most of the work of each Sector.

international day against homophobia, biphobia and Transphobia

The International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT) is observed on May 17aims to coordinate international events that raise awareness of LGBT rights violations and stimulate interest in LGBT rights work worldwide. By 2016 the commemorations had taken place in over 130 countries. The founders of the International Day Against Homophobia, as it was originally known, established the IDAHO Committee to coordinate grass-roots actions in different countries, to promote the day and to lobby for official recognition on May 17. That date was chosen to commemorate the decision to remove homosexuality from the International Classification of Diseases of the World Health Organization(WHO) in 1990

The main purpose  is to raise awareness of violence, discrimination, and repression of LGBT communities worldwide, which in turn provides an opportunity to take action and engage in dialogue with the media, policymakers, public opinion, and wider civil society and to create an event that can be visible at a global level without needing to conform to a specific type of action. This decentralized approach is needed due to the diversity of social, religious, cultural, and political contexts in which rights violations occur. As such, this leads to a variety of events and approaches towards celebrating the International Day Against Homophobia. Despite the three principal issues mentioned in the name of the celebration, this day is widely regarded as an initiative that is “working to advance the rights of people with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities or expressions, and sex characteristics.” This allows for a widespread amalgamation of different self-identified expressions coming together to share pride in oneself, happiness, and love with others as participants take charge against different rampant forms of hate in the world.

in Europe and Latin America, it is commemorated with public events in almost all countries. With 32 of the 76 countries in the world taking part In Sweden, government bodies have observed the day. Common actions include large-scale street marches, parades and festivals. In Cuba, for example, Mariela Castro has led out a huge street parade in honor of May 17 for the past three years. In Chile in 2013, 50,000 people took to the streets to mark May 17, and the VIII Santiago Equality march. Arts and culture-based events are also common. For example, Bangladeshi activists organised the music festival “Love Music Hate Homophobia” in 2013. Albanian LGBT activists have, in 2012 and 2013 been organising an annual Bike (P) Ride for May 17 through the streets of the capital Tirana. In 2013, the day’s Committee called for international actions for a Global Rainbow Flashmob to mark May 17. Activists in 100 cities, in 50 countries participated with diverse public events spanning coloured balloon releases, dance flashmobs, musical events, and performance and street art. On May 17, 2019, Taiwan became the first country in Asia to legally recognize same-sex marriage while In Nepal, this day is celebrated as International Day Against Queer / MOGAI -phobia’ as well as IDAHOT.

UN International day of families

The International Day of Families is observed by the United Nations annually on the 15th of May. It Was introduced by the UN General Assembly on 15 May 1993. Families are the foundation of society and Some of the most formative years of our lives are spent growing up with our families. So The purpose of the International Day of Families is to highlight the importance of families both traditional and non-traditional, in society, to remind people that not all families look alike, Every family is different—family can be defined many different ways, and International Day of Families recognizes that. Some families consist of children; some do not. Some consist of one parent; others more than one. International Day of Families is about more than just celebrating those who share DNA with you—it’s about celebrating all of the people you love.

Each year International Day of Families has a different family focussed them (past themes have included “Building Families Based on Partnership” and “Families, education and well-being”). If there are stronger families, there will be stronger schools and stronger communities. A strong family unit can help each member feel more fulfilled and better about themselves and the world. It also provides a real-life example of how the human family can work together to create a better world. International Day of Families also provides an opportunity to have critical conversation concerning the challenges faced by many families, and to celebrate the importance of families, people, societies and cultures around the world.

Lewis and Clark day

Lewis and Clark Day takes place annually on 14 May To commemorate the date of 14 May 1804 when Meriwether Lewis & William Clark’s expedition (also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition) set out from St Louis Missouri. The expedition was commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson shortly after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. One of Thomas Jefferson’s goals was to to explore and to map the newly acquired territory, and find “the most direct and practicable water communication across the western half of the continent, for the purposes of commerce.” He also placed special importance on declaring US sovereignty over the land occupied by the many different Indian tribes along the Missouri River, and getting an accurate sense of the resources in the recently completed Louisiana Purchase and to establish an American presence in this territory before Britain and other European powers tried to claim it. The campaign’s secondary objectives were scientific and economic: to study the area’s plants, animal life, and geography, and to establish trade with local American Indian tribes and the expedition also made notable contributions to science.

It was the first American expedition to cross the western portion of the United States. It began in Pittsburgh, Pa, made its way westward, and passed through the Continental Divide of the Americas to reach the Pacific coast. The Corps of Discovery was a selected group of US Army volunteers under the command of Captain Meriwether Lewis and his close friend Second Lieutenant William Clark. The expedition finally returned to St. Louis in September 1806 to report its findings to Jefferson, with maps, sketches, and journals in hand.

During the 19th century, references to Lewis and Clark “scarcely appeared” in history books, even during the United States Centennial in 1876, and the expedition was largely forgotten. However Lewis and Clark began to gain attention around the start of the 20th century. Both the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis and the 1905 Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition in Portland, Oregon showcased them as American pioneers. Although the story remained relatively shallow until mid-century as a celebration of US conquest and personal adventures, recently the expedition has been more thoroughly researched. In 2004, a complete and reliable set of the expedition’s journals was compiled by Gary E. Moulton. In the 2000s, the bicentennial of the expedition further elevated popular interest in Lewis and Clark.

BAFTA 2024

The TV BAFTA award ceremony take place on May 12. 2024. Hosted by Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan at the London’s Royal Festival Hall. The sixth series of royal drama The Crown has received eight nominations across the board, after the concluding series focused on the death of Princess Diana. Black Mirror has been awarded seven nominations for its episode Demon 79, Meanwhile, Happy Valley, Slow Horses and The Sixth Commandment have all received six nods each. tars in the running for the Leading Actress gong include Anjana Vasan for Black Mirror, Anne Reid in the Sixth Commandment, Bella Ramsey for The Last Of Us, Helena Bonham Carter for Nolly, Sarah Lancashire for Happy Valley and Sharon Horgan for her role in Best Interests. In the Leading Actor category, Brian Cox has been nominated for Succession, Dominic West for The Crown, Kane Robinson for Top Boy, Paapa Essiedu for The Lazarus, Steve Coogan for The Reckoning and Timothy Spall in The Sixth Commandment. Meanwhile Amit Shaah (Happy Valley) Eanna Hardwicke (The Sixth Commandment), Harris Dickinson (A Murder at the End of the World, Jack Lowden (Slow Horses), Matthew Macfadyen (Succession), Salim Daw (The Crown) have all been nominated for best supporting actor

Leading actress

Anjana Vasan, Demon 79 (Black Mirror) – Netflix

Anne Reid, The Sixth Commandment – BBC One

Bella Ramsey, The Last of Us – Sky Atlantic

Helena Bonham Carter, Nolly – ITVX

Sarah Lancashire, Happy Valley – BBC One

Sharon Horgan, Best Interests – BBC One

Leading actor

Brian Cox, Succession – Sky Atlantic

Dominic West, The Crown – Netflix

Kane Robinson, Top Boy – Netflix

Paapa Essiedu, The Lazarus Project – Sky Max

Steve Coogan, The Reckoning – BBC One

Timothy Spall, The Sixth Commandment – BBC One

Supporting actress

Elizabeth Debicki, The Crown – Netflix

Harriet Walter, Succession – Sky Atlantic

Jasmine Jobson, Top Boy – Netflix

Lesley Manville, The Crown – Netflix

Nico Parker, The Last of Us – Sky Atlantic

Siobhan Finneran, Happy Valley – BBC One

Supporting actor

Amit Shah, Happy Valley – BBC One

Éanna Hardwicke, The Sixth Commandment – BBC One

Harris Dickinson, A Murder at the End of the World – Disney+

Jack Lowden, Slow Horses – Apple TV+

Matthew Macfadyen, Succession – Sky Atlantic

Salim Daw, The Crown – Netflix

Female performance in a comedy

Bridget Christie, The Change – Channel 4

Gbemisola Ikumelo, Black Ops – BBC One

Máiréad Tyers, Extraordinary – Disney+

Roisin Gallagher, The Lovers – Sky Atlantic

Sofia Oxenham, Extraordinary – Disney+

Taj Atwal, Hullraisers – Channel 4

Male performance in a comedy

Adjani Salmon, Dreaming Whilst Black – BBC Three

David Tennant, Good Omens – Prime Video

Hammed Animashaun, Black Ops – BBC One

Jamie Demetriou, A Whole Lifetime with Jamie Demetriou – Netflix

Joseph Gilgun, Brassic – Sky Max

Mawaan Rizwan, Juice – BBC Three

Drama series

The Gold – BBC One

Happy Valley – BBC One

Slow Horses – Apple TV+

Top Boy – Netflix

Limited drama

Best Interests – BBC One

Demon 79 (Black Mirror) – Netflix

The Long Shadow – ITV1

The Sixth Commandment – BBC One

Scripted comedy

Big Boys – Channel 4

Dreaming Whilst Black – BBC Three

Extraordinary – Disney+

Such Brave Girls – BBC Three

Soap

Casualty – BBC One

EastEnders – BBC One

Emmerdale – ITV1

Entertainment programme

Hannah Waddingham: Home For Christmas – Apple TV+

Later… With Jools Holland – BBC Two

Michael McIntyre’s Big Show – BBC One

Strictly Come Dancing – BBC One

Entertainment performance

Anthony McPartlin & Declan Donnelly, I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! – ITV1

Big Zuu, Big Zuu’s Big Eats – Dave

Graham Norton, The Graham Norton Show – BBC One

Hannah Waddingham, Eurovision Song Contest 2023 – BBC One

Joe Lycett, Late Night Lycett – Channel 4

Rob Beckett & Romesh Ranganathan, Rob & Romesh Vs – Sky Max

Comedy entertainment programme

The Graham Norton Show – BBC One

Late Night Lycett – Channel 4

Rob & Romesh Vs – Sky Max

Would I Lie To You? – BBC One

Factual entertainment

Celebrity Race Across The World – BBC One

The Dog House – Channel 4

Endurance: Race To The Pole – Channel 5

Portrait Artist of the Year – Sky Arts

Reality

Banged Up – Channel 4

Married At First Sight UK – E4

My Mum, Your Dad – ITV1

Squid Game: The Challenge – Netflix

Daytime

Loose Women and Men – ITV1

Lorraine – ITV1

Make It At Market – BBC One

Scam Interceptors – BBC One

International

The Bear – Disney+

Beef – Netflix

Class Act – Netflix

The Last of Us – Sky Atlantic

Love & Death – ITVX

Succession – Sky Atlantic

Live event coverage

The Coronation Concert – BBC One

Eurovision Song Contest 2023 – BBC One

Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance – BBC One

Current affairs

Inside Russia: Traitors And Heroes (Storyville) – BBC Four

Putin Vs The West – BBC Two

Russell Brand: In Plain Sight (Dispatches) – Channel 4

The Shamima Begum Story (This World) – BBC Two

Single documentary

David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived – Sky Documentaries

Ellie Simmonds: Finding My Secret Family – ITV1

Hatton – Sky Crime

Vjeran Tomic: The Spider-Man of Paris – Netflix

Factual series

Dublin Narcos – Sky Documentaries

Evacuation – Channel 4

Lockerbie – Sky Documentaries

Once Upon A Time In Northern Ireland – BBC Two

Specialist factual

Chimp Empire – Netflix

The Enfield Poltergeist – Apple TV+

Forced Out – Sky Documentaries

White Nanny, Black Child – Channel 5

News coverage

Inside Gaza: Israel And Hamas At War – Channel 4 News

Inside Myanmar – The Hidden War – Sky News

Israel-Hamas War – Sky News

Sports coverage

Cheltenham Festival Day One – ITV1

MOTD Live: Fifa Women’s World Cup 2023 – BBC One

Wimbledon 2023 Men’s Final – BBC One

Memorable moment

Beckham, David teases Victoria about her ‘working class’ upbringing – Netflix

Doctor Who, Ncuti Gatwa revealed as the 15th Doctor – BBC One

Happy Valley, Catherine Cawood and Tommy Lee Royce’s final kitchen showdown – BBC One

The Last of Us, Bill and Frank’s Story – Sky Atlantic

The Piano, 13-year-old Lucy stuns commuters with jaw dropping piano performance – Channel 4

Succession, Logan Roy’s death – Sky Atlantic

Short form

Mobility – BBC Three

The Skewer: Three Twisted Years – BBC iPlayer

Stealing Ukraine’s Children: Inside Russia’s Camps – Vice News

Where It Ends – BBC Three

Writer: Comedy

Jack Rooke, Big Boys – Channel 4

Jamie Demetriou, A Whole Lifetime with Jamie Demetriou – Netflix

Kat Sadler, Such Brave Girls – BBC Three

Mawaan Rizwan, Juice – BBC Three

Writer: Drama

Charlie Brooker & Bisha K Ali, Demon 79 (Black Mirror) – Netflix

Jesse Armstrong, Succession – Sky Atlantic

Sally Wainwright, Happy Valley – BBC One

Sarah Phelps, The Sixth Commandment – BBC One

V.E.Day

VE (Victory in Europe) Day takes place anually on 8 May. It Commemorates the Anniversary of the formal unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany’s Armed Forces following the signing of the act of military surrender on 7 May in Reims, France and on 8 May in Berlin, Germany by Hitler’s successor, Reichspräsident Karl Dönitz of the Flensburg Government following the suicide of Nazi Leader Adolf Hitler on 30 April 1945 during the Battle of Berlin.

It marked the end of World War II in Europe and Upon the defeat of the Nazis, celebrations erupted throughout the world. From Moscow to Los Angeles, people celebrated. In the United Kingdom, more than one million people celebrated in the streets to mark the end of the European part of the war. In London, crowds massed in Trafalgar Square and up the Mall to Buckingham Palace, where King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, accompanied by Prime Minister Winston Churchill, appeared on the balcony of the palace before the cheering crowds. Princess Elizabeth (the future Queen Elizabeth II) and her sister Princess Margaret were allowed to wander incognito among the crowds and take part in the celebrations.

In the United States, the victory happened on President Harry Truman’s 61st birthday. He dedicated the victory to the memory of his predecessor, Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had died of a cerebral hemorrhage less than a month earlier, on 12 April. Flags remained at half-mast for the remainder of the 30-day mourning period. Truman said of dedicating the victory to Roosevelt’s memory and keeping the flags at half-mast that his only wish was “that Franklin D. Roosevelt had lived to witness this day.”Massive celebrations also took place in Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami and especially in New York’s Times Square.

Meanwhile in Russia As the Soviet representative in Reims had no authority to sign the German instrument of surrender, the Soviet leadership proposed to consider Reims surrender as a “preliminary” act. The surrender ceremony was repeated in Berlin on 8 May, where the instrument of surrender was signed by supreme German military commander Wilhelm Keitel, by Georgy Zhukov and Allied representatives. Since the Soviet Union was to the east of Germany, it was 9 May Moscow time when the German military surrender became effective, which is why Russia and most of the former Soviet republics commemorate Victory Day on 9 May instead of 8 May 1945.

Commemorative public holidays are also held in many other countries including Italy on (25 April where it is known as “Festa della Liberazione” (Liberation Holiday). Denmark on 5 May known as “Befrielsen” (The Liberation) in the Netherlands on 5 May where it is known as “Bevrijdingsdag” (Liberation Day). In East Germany it was originally known as Tag der Befreiung (Day of Liberation), a public holiday from 1950 to 1966 and between 1975 and 1990, as Tag des Sieges (Victory Day which was celebrated on 9 May. In Slovakia it is known as Deň víťazstva nad fašizmom (Victory over Fascism Day) and in the Czech Republic it is known as Den vítězství (Day of Victory) or Den osvobození (Day of Liberation). In Poland it is known as “Dzień Zwycięstwa” (Day of Victory and Soviet occupation in Poland). In Norway it is known as “Frigjøringsdagen” (Liberation Day),  in Ukraine it is known as “День пам’яті та примирення” (Memorial Day or День перемоги над нацизмом у Другій світовій війні” (Victory Day over Nazism in World War II. In Georgia 9 May is known as “ფაშიზმზე გამარჯვების დღე” (Victory over Fascism Day, While in Belarus 9 May is called) “Дзень Перамогі” (Victory Day) In Russia 9 May is celebrated as “День победы” (Victory Day and in Kazakhstan 9 May is celebrated as “Жеңіс күні” or “День победы” (Victory Day) while On the British Channel Islands Liberation Day takes place 9 May on Jersey and Guernsey and 10 May on Sark.

Eurovision song contest Semi final 1

The first Semi final of the Eurovision Song contest takes place 7 May 2024 opened by former participants Eleni Foureira, Eric Saade and Chanel, who will perform their respective competing songs – “Fuego” (Cyprus 2018), “Popular” (Sweden 2011) and “SloMo” (Spain 2022) and featuring fifteen competing countries. Contries participating will vote in this semi final, plus Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom, as well as non-participating countries under an aggregated “Rest of the World” vote. the United Kingdom, Germany and Sweden will also perform their entries during the show, During the Interval, three-time winner for Ireland Johnny Logan will perform the 2012 Swedish winning entry “Euphoria”, and 2018 Swedish entrant Benjamin Ingrosso performing a medley of his songs “Who’s Laughing Now”, “Kite” and “Honey Boy. TheTen songs with the most votes will be chosen from the fifteen competing to go through to the final on Saturday in Malmo.

• Cyprus – Sila Kapsis – Liar
• Serbia- Teya Dora – Ramonda
• Lithuania-Silvester Bolt-Luktelk
• Ireland – Bambie Thug-Doomsday Blue
• Ukraine-Alyona alyona & Jerry Hell-Theresa&Maria
• Poland-Luna-The Tower
• Croatia -Baby Lasagne-The Tower
• Iceland -Herald Björk-Scared of heights
• Slovenia-Raiven- Veronika
• Finland -95 Man- No rules
• Moldova-Natalie Barbu -In the middle
• Azerbaijan – Fahree/Ilkin Dovlatov – ozunle apar
• Australia – Electric field – one milkali (one blood)
• Portugal – Iolanda – Grito
• Luxemburg – Tali – Fighter

Radio day

Radio Day is celebrated in the Russian Federation and some Eastern European countries on 7 May. Radio Day commemorates the pioneering work of Russian physicist Alexander Stepanovich Popov who presented a paper on a self built wireless lightning detector on 7 May 1895.

Russian physicist Alexander Stepanovich Popov (sometimes spelled Popoff; Russian: Алекса́ндр Степа́нович Попо́в; was Born in Krasnoturinsk, Sverdlovsk Oblast in the Urals on March 16 [O.S. March 4] 1859. He was the son of a priest and became interested in natural sciences when he was a child. His father wanted Alexander to join the priesthood and sent him to the Seminary School at Yekaterinburg. However he developed an interest in science and mathematics and instead of going on to Theology School in 1877 he enrolled at St. Petersburg university where he studied physics. After graduation with honors in 1882, he stayed on as a laboratory assistant at the university. However the salary at the university was inadequate to support his family, and in 1883 he took a post as teacher and head of laboratory at the Russian Navy’s Torpedo School in Kronstadt on Kotlin Island.

Popov’s work as a teacher at a Russian naval school led him to explore high frequency electrical phenomena. Along with his teaching duties at the naval school Popov pursued related areas of research. Trying to solve a problem with the failure in the electrical wire insulation on steel ships (which turned out to be a problem with electrical resonance) led him to further explore oscillations of high frequency electrical current His interest in this area of study (including the new field of “Hertzian” or radio waves) was intensified by his trip in 1893 to the Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition in the United States where he was able to confer with other researchers in the field.

Popov also read an 1894 article about British physicist Oliver Lodge’s experiments related to the discovery of radio waves by German physicist Heinrich Hertz 6 years earlier. On 1 June 1894, after the death of Hertz, British physicist Oliver Lodge gave a memorial lecture on Hertz experiments. He set up a demonstration on the quasi optical nature of Hertzian waves (radio waves) and demonstrated their transmission at distances up to 50 meters. Lodge used a detector called a coherer, a glass tube containing metal filings between two electrodes. When received waves from an antenna were applied to the electrodes, the coherer became conductive allowing the current from a battery to pass through it, with the impulse being picked up by a mirror galvanometer. After receiving a signal, the metal filings in the coherer had to be reset by a manually operated vibrator or by the vibrations of a bell placed on the table nearby that rang every time a transmission was received. Popov designed a more sensitive radio wave receiver that could be used as a lightning detector, to warn of thunderstorms by detecting the electromagnetic pulses of lightning strikes using a coherer receiver.

On May 7, 1895, he presented a paper “On the Relation of Metallic Powders to Electric Oscillations”, which described his lightning detector, to the Russian Physical and Chemical Society in St. Petersburg which demonstrated the principal of the wireless lightning detector he had built that worked via using a coherer to detect radio noise from lightning strikes. This day is celebrated in the Russian Federation as Radio Day. In a March 24, 1896, demonstration, he used radio waves to transmit a message between different campus buildings in St. Petersburg. His work was based on that of another physicist – Oliver Lodge, and contemporaneous with the work of Guglielmo Marconi. Marconi had just registered a patent with the description of the device two months after first transmission of radio signals made by Popov.

In 1900 a radio station was established under Popov’s instructions on Hogland island (Suursaari) to provide two-way communication by wireless telegraphy between the Russian naval base and the crew of the battleship General-Admiral Apraksin which had run aground on Hogland island in the Gulf of Finland in November 1899. Although The crew of the Apraksin were not in immediate danger, the water in the Gulf began to freeze. However help did not arrive until January 1900 although By February 5 messages were being received reliably and the Apraksin was freed from the rocks by the icebreaker Yermak. Then Over 50 Finnish fishermen, who were stranded on a piece of drift ice in the Gulf of Finland, were also saved by the icebreaker Yermak following distress telegrams sent by wireless telegraphy. In 1901 Alexander Popov was appointed as professor at the Electrotechnical Institute, which now bears his name. In 1905 he was elected director of the institution.

Sadly In 1905 Popov became seriously ill and died of a brain hemorrhage on January 13, 1906. However his valuable contributions have been remembered: A minor planet, 3074 Popov, discovered by Soviet astronomer Lyudmila Zhuravlyova in 1979, is named after him. At ITU Telecom World 2011, Igor Shchyogolev, Minister of Telecom and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation alongside Hamadoun Touré, Secretary General of the ITU, inaugurated the “Alexander Stepanovich Popov” conference room at ITU’s headquarters in Geneva.

international day of the midwife

International Day of the Midwife takes place annually on 5 May. It was first celebrated In 1991, and has since been observed in over 50 nations around the world. The idea of having a day to recognize and honor midwives came out of the 1987 International Confederation of Midwives conference in the Netherlands. In 2014 it was celebrated in Iran and New Zealand among many other places.

A midwife is a professional in midwifery, specializing in pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum, women’s sexual and reproductive health (including annual gynecological exams, family planning, menopausal care and others), and newborn care. They are also educated and trained to recognise the variations of normal progress of labor, and how to deal with deviations from normal to discern what, and may intervene in high risk situations, such as breech births, twin births and births where the baby is in a posterior position, using non-invasive techniques. When a pregnant woman requires care beyond the midwife’s scope of practice, they refer women to obstetricians or perinatologists who are medical specialists in complications related to pregnancy and birth, including surgical and instrumental deliveries. In many parts of the world, these professions work in tandem to provide care to childbearing women. In others, only the midwife is available to provide care, and in yet other countries many women elect to utilize obstetricians primarily over midwives.

Many developing countries are investing money and training for midwives as these services are needed all over the world. Some primary care services are currently lacking due to the shortage of money being funded for these resources. A study performed by Melissa Cheyney and colleagues followed approximately 17,000 planned home births with the assistance of midwives. 93.6% of these families had a normal physiological birth and only 5% were Cesarean sections. In 2013, the rate of Cesarean sections in hospitals in the United States was 32.7%, which is double the rate that World Health Organization recommends.

According to the definition of the International Confederation of Midwives, which has also been adopted by the World Health Organization and the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics, A midwife is a person who has successfully completed a midwifery education programme that is recognised in the country where it is located and that is based on the ICM Essential Competencies for Basic Midwifery Practice. and the framework of the ICM Global Standards for Midwifery Education; who has acquired the requisite qualifications to be registered and/or legally licensed to practice midwifery and use the title ‘midwife’; and who demonstrates competency in the practice of midwifery. The word derives from Old English mid, “with” and wif, “woman”, and thus originally meant “with-woman”, that is, the woman who is with the mother at childbirth. The word is used to refer to both male and female midwives.

The midwife is recognised as a responsible and accountable professional who works in partnership with women to give the necessary support, care and advice during pregnancy, labour and the postpartum period, to conduct births on the midwife’s own responsibility and to provide care for the newborn and the infant. This care includes preventative measures, the promotion of normal birth, the detection of complications in mother and child, the accessing of medical care or other appropriate assistance and the carrying out of emergency measures.

The midwife has an important task in health counselling and education, not only for the woman, but also within the family and the community. This work should involve antenatal education and preparation for parenthood and may extend to women’s health, sexual or reproductive health and child care. A midwife may practise in any setting including the home, community, hospitals, clinics or health units.

Europe day

Europe Day is an annual celebration of peace and unity in Europe. There are two separate designations of Europe Day: 5 May for the Council of Europe, and 9 May for the European Union. The latter is the EU’s flag day and has a greater visibility. The Council of Europe’s day reflects its own establishment in 1949, while the European Union’s day is also known as Schuman Day and celebrates the historical declaration by French foreign minister Robert Schuman in 1950. Europe Day is designed to foster unity among Europeans.

The Council of Europe was founded on 5 May 1949, and hence it chose that day for its celebrations when it established the holiday in 1964. In 1985, the European Communities (which later became the European Union) adopted the European symbols of the Council of Europe such as the Flag of Europe. However, the Community leaders decided to hold their Europe Day in commemoration of the Schuman Declaration of 9 May 1950. The declaration proposed the pooling of French and West German coal and steel industries, leading to the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community, the first European Community, and hence is considered a principal founding moment. Hence, at the 1985 Milan European Council, 29 September was adopted as the EU’s flag day. The European Constitution would have legally enshrined all the European symbols in the EU treaties, however the treaty failed The Constitution’s replacement, the Treaty of Lisbon, contains a declaration by sixteen members supporting the symbols. The European Parliament formally recognised the 9 May holiday in October 2008.

Nowadays 9 May is celebrated in various forms in most member states of the European Union and EU candidate countries such as Turkey. people are taught about the European Union and speaking in support of European integration.The flag as another symbol plays a major role in general celebrations. Despite a preference for 9 May, with the European Union’s greater visibility, 5 May is still observed by some Europeans due to the Council’s role in seeking to defend human rights, parliamentary democracy, and the rule of law. In contrast, the Schuman declaration was merely proposing the pooling of French and West German coal and steel. Since 2003, Ukraine has celebrated Europe Day on the third Saturday of May.