UN General Assembly declares three new international days

The UN General Assembly has established three new international days.

At the suggestion of Kazakhstan, April 22 was designated as the International Day for Greening the Planet, and August 31 was designated as the International Day for Safe, Secure and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence, at the initiative of Tajikistan. The first resolution was supported by 140 countries, and the second by 144 countries; the United States voted against both.

In addition, without a vote, at the suggestion of Syria, December 19 was established as the International Day of Recognition for Women in Search of Missing Persons.

While some countries welcomed the new dates, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Argentina and Mexico expressed concern about the increasing number of such days, the possibility of duplication and the additional burden on the UN. The US representative also criticized these initiatives, calling the new international days "wasteful."

The list of international days, which is constantly updated by the UN General Assembly, now has 111. These days are established by resolutions of the UN General Assembly to highlight important historical events and important aspects of human life. Member States can take the initiative to declare a day, and the resolution is adopted by consensus. Therefore, new dates are added to the list almost every year.