World Prepares to Celebrate Nelson Mandela Day

Mandela Day is a day to take action

On 18 July, we celebrate the legacy of a renowned human rights lawyer, activist and world leader Nelson Mandela by emulating his life’s passion of service of humanity.  His devotion to humanitarian causes has become a global movement for good.

Nelson Mandela devoted his life serving others – as a human rights lawyer, a prisoner of conscience, an international peacemaker and the first democratically elected president of a free South Africa.

“When a man has done what he considers to be his duty to his people and his country, he can rest in peace. I believe I have made that effort an that is, therefore, why I will sleep for eternity.” Nelson Mandela

How can you celebrate?

By making a difference in your communities. Everyone has the ability and the responsibility to change the world for the better! Mandela Day is an occasion for all to take action and inspire change.

No matter how small your action, Mandela Day is about changing the world for the better, just as Nelson Mandela did every day.

Positive change was the gift left to all of us by Nelson Mandela, but it can only become a living legacy if we take up his challenge.

Ways to Take Action and Inspire Change

As Mandela said: It is in your hands to make of the world a better place. And so, every year on Mandela Day, we ask people around the world to take action and inspire change by making a difference in their communities.

If you would like to donate your own time to public service, here are some things you can do to take action and inspire change:

• Make a new friend. Get to know someone from a different cultural background. Only through mutual understanding can we rid our communities of intolerance and xenophobia.
• Read to someone who can’t. Visit a local home for the blind and open up a new world for someone else.
• Help out at the local animal shelter. Dogs without homes still need a walk and a bit of love.
• Help someone get a job. Put together and print a CV for them, or help them with their interview skills.
• Many terminally ill people have no one to speak to. Take a little time to have a chat and bring some sunshine into their lives.
• Get tested for HIV and encourage your partner to do so too.
• Take someone you know, who can’t afford it, to get their eyes tested or their teeth checked.
• Donate a wheelchair or guide dog, to someone in need.
• Buy a few blankets or grab the ones you no longer need from home and give them to someone in need.
• Baby-sit for a single parent
• Donate magazines and books to an old age home
• Donate books to an under resourced school
• Donate blood
• Plant a garden and donate your harvest to a community in need

About the Day

In November 2009 - in recognition of the former South African President’s contribution to the culture of peace and freedom, UN General Assembly declares 18 July "Nelson Mandela International Day". Resolution A/RES/64/13 recognizes Mandela’s values and his dedication to the service of humanity in: conflict resolution; race relations; promotion and protection of human rights; reconciliation; gender equality and the rights of children and other vulnerable groups; the fight against poverty; the promotion of social justice. The resolution acknowledges his contribution to the struggle for democracy internationally and the promotion of a culture of peace throughout the world.