Nelson Mandela Day is an annual celebration that remembers the late South African president each year on his birthday.
This year marks what would have been the civil rights activist’s 106th birthday, with the event remembering his lifelong campaigning for equal rights.
Mandela, also known as Madiba, is recognised as a hero among most South Africans for his work to end apartheid and efforts to support peace and harmony following its end.
Mandela died in 2013, but his legacy has remained a powerful force of inspiration to millions around the world to this day.
This year, the Nelson Mandela Foundation is encouraging people to try to make a difference to those around them.
“On #MandelaDay2024, we urge you to identify those in need around you and do what you can to make a difference for them,” the organisation wrote on its website.
“In South Africa, the Nelson Mandela Foundation is focusing its 2024 Mandela Day work on its priority social justice areas – early childhood development, food security and just cities. Join us. It is still in our hands to combat poverty and inequity.”
A lot of events take place around the world to recognise Mandela Day, including the 67 Minutes of Service movement, which encourages people to volunteer in community projects to remember the 67 years of Mandela’s public service.
Here’s everything you need to know about Nelson Mandela International Day.
When is Nelson Mandela International Day?
Nelson Mandela International Day is an annual recognition of civil rights leader Nelson Mandela, celebrated each year on July 18, Mandela’s birthday.
The day was officially declared by the United Nations in November 2009, with the first UN Mandela Day held on July 18, 2010. However, other groups began celebrating Mandela Day on July 18, 2009.
What is Nelson Mandela International Day and why is it celebrated?
Nelson Mandela International Day is celebrated each year to shine a light on the legacy of a man who changed the 20th century and helped shape the 21st.
The core principles of Mandela’s work were a profound belief in the equality and dignity of every woman and man, with a relentless engagement for dialogue and solidarity across all lines and divisions. Mandela was a great statesman, a fierce advocate for equality, and the founding father of peace in South Africa.
To mark the first global celebration of Mandela Day on July 18, 2009, Mandela’s 91st birthday, there were a series of educational, art exhibit, fund-raising, and volunteer events leading up to a concert at Radio City Music Hall.
What is the theme for Nelson Mandela International Day 2024?
The theme for this year’s event is, ‘It is still in our hands to combat poverty and inequity’.
Those who want to celebrate this year’s event are encouraged to use #ItsInYourHands while sharing their events and efforts on social media.
Nelson Mandela Day is described as a call to action, encouraging people, communities and businesses to pause and reflect on the values that Mandela cared about. This year, his foundation is predominantly focusing on areas of social justice, including childhood development and food security.
According to UN secretary-general António Guterres: “Nelson Mandela showed us the extraordinary difference one person can make in building a better world.
He added: “And as the theme of this year’s Nelson Mandela International Day reminds us – combatting poverty and inequity is in our hands.”
Who was Nelson Mandela?
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was a South African anti-apartheid activist who served as the first democratically elected president of the Republic of South Africa from 1994 to 1999.
He was the country’s first black head of state and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election, and his government focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid (segregation) by fostering racial reconciliation.
Ideologically an African nationalist and socialist, he served as the president of the African National Congress (ANC) party from 1991 to 1997.
Although initially committed to non-violent protest, in association with the SACP, he co-founded the militant uMkhonto we Sizwe in 1961 and led a sabotage campaign against the government. He was arrested and imprisoned in 1962 and, following the Rivonia Trial, was sentenced to life imprisonment for conspiring to overthrow the state.
Mandela served 27 years in prison, split between Robben Island, Pollsmoor Prison, and Victor Verster Prison. A controversial figure for much of his life, he gained international acclaim for his activism and became globally regarded as an icon of democracy and social justice, receiving more than 250 honours, including the Nobel Peace Prize.
He died on December 5, 2013, of natural causes, after narrowly escaping a death sentence in the Sixties.
What are Nelson Mandela’s best quotes?
- “It is easy to break down and destroy. The heroes are those who make peace and build.”
- “Education is the most powerful weapon that you can use to change the world.”
- “It is in your hands, to make a better world for all who live in it.”
- “A winner is a dreamer who never gives up.”
- “Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity, it is an act of justice.”
- “What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others.”
- “For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”
- “I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”
