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18 November: what is celebrated today
On 18 November, the world opens like a mosaic of cultures, knowledge and commitments. It is a day when art joins science, health joins childhood and sustainability joins the future. From sacred geometries in Islamic art to medical campaigns that save lives, the planet seems to pause to remember that beauty and responsibility can—and must—coexist.
International Day of Islamic Art
Islamic art is a prayer made form, a geometry that breathes spirituality. Declared by UNESCO in 2019, this day celebrates the cultural and artistic heritage of the Islamic world: its calligraphy that is prayer, its mosaics that look like stars, its domes that reflect the sky.
From the Alhambra to the Blue Mosque, Islamic art does not depict human figures, but the infinite perfection of the divine. This day invites us to contemplate faceless beauty, the harmony of forms, the light multiplying in an arabesque. A day to admire and understand: that art can unite what words separate.
World Day for the Prevention of and Healing from Child Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Violence
Humanity’s deepest wound is the one that touches childhood. This day, established by the UN, demands that we look without averting our eyes: millions of children around the world are victims of abuse and exploitation. But it is also a day to sow hope, to speak, educate and heal.
Prevention begins with listening and affection. In every home, school and community, the idea must resound that no silence is worth more than a life. Monuments are illuminated and social networks fill with messages, reminding us that protecting a child is protecting the future.
World Anticoagulated Patient Day
Not all battles are fought in plain sight. Thousands of people around the world live under treatment with anticoagulants, medicines that keep their blood flowing and their hearts beating to the rhythm of hope. This day seeks to make their reality visible, promote medical follow-up and responsible information.
Modern medicine has made it possible for those once condemned to risk to live fully today. Caring for blood — that invisible current that sustains us — is also an act of self-love and trust in science.
European Day for the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation
Since 2015, the Council of Europe has recalled on this date that childhood must not be a violated territory. Under slogans such as “Listening to victims to inspire change”, this day invites governments, schools and families to keep their eyes and hearts open.
Breaking silence is the first step towards justice. Speaking, reporting, accompanying: three verbs that can save lives. In the digital age, where threats also inhabit screens, protecting children is a collective and urgent responsibility.
European Antibiotic Awareness Day
Antibiotics saved millions of lives, but their misuse threatens to take us back to the past. This day, promoted by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, calls for these medicines to be used intelligently.
The 2024 slogan — “Antimicrobial resistance is invisible, I am not” — sums up the urgency of acting before bacteria get the better of us. Antimicrobial resistance is not a problem of the future: it is already among us. And only education, science and international cooperation can contain it.
World Antimicrobial Resistance Awareness Week (AMR)
From 18 to 24 November, the World Health Organization calls on the whole planet to reflect on the responsible use of antimicrobials. The 2024 slogan, “Educate. Advocate. Act now.”, underlines that knowledge saves more lives than any medicine.
The misuse of antibiotics not only puts human health at risk, but animal and environmental health as well. This week reminds us that every unnecessary dose is a crack in the wall of modern medicine. Protecting the effectiveness of medicines is protecting the right to be cured.
European Week for Waste Reduction
Amid all these commemorations, European Week for Waste Reduction continues, focused in 2024 on food waste. On a continent where millions of tonnes of food are discarded every year, the message is clear: sustainability begins on the plate.
Every gesture — reusing, donating, recycling — is a form of respect for the planet and for those who do not have enough. Reducing waste is not only an environmental issue: it is an ethical one.
Sugar Awareness Week
During the same week, World Action on Salt, Sugar and Health launches its global campaign to reduce sugar consumption, under the slogan “Less sugar in food eaten out of the home”. Sweetness, in excess, can turn bitter: it lies behind chronic diseases affecting millions.
The challenge is to balance pleasure and health, without giving up the flavour of life. This week invites us to rethink our habits, read labels and choose consciously. Change begins with every teaspoonful.
Global Entrepreneurship Week
And as an inspiring finale, from 18 to 24 November the world celebrates Global Entrepreneurship Week. More than 170 countries connect ideas, talent and dreams. From garages to laboratories, from cafés to universities, entrepreneurs rewrite the rules of the economy and creativity.
This global event reminds us that the most powerful engine remains the human imagination. Innovating is also a way of caring for the world: creating solutions, generating employment, inspiring the future.