International Day Of...?

I've often wondered what the international days are; where they come from and why; who decides what they are; and when.

So I did a little research. Some of them I knew, such as International Womens' Day (I had a boyfriend whose birthday was the same date who always said he was a 'gift' to all women). Most of the days I can understand, all except "World Television Day"????

Here is the official list according to the United Nations:

Since the early days of the United Nations system, the UN has established a set of Days and Weeks (as listed below), Years and Decades to help focus the world on the issues in which the UN has an interest and commitment.

Sometimes the promotion of a specific day is led by a specific UN agency or programme, for example the World Health Organization (WHO) leads World Health Day.

Some UN agencies also have their own international days (e.g. WHO's World TB Day and UNESCO's World Philosophy Day), established and promoted by the agency but not designated by the UN General Assembly for the full UN system. While equivalent in purpose, the following list does not include agency-specified days.

January
27 - International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust.

February
21: International Mother Language Day

March
8: International Women's Day and United Nations Day for Women's Rights and International Peace
21: International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
21-28: Week of Solidarity with the Peoples Struggling against Racism and Racial Discrimination
22: World Water Day
23: World Meteorological Day

April
4: International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action
7: World Health Day
23: World Book and Copyright Day

May
3: World Press Freedom Day
15: International Day of Families
17: World Information Society Day
21: World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development
22: International Day for Biological Diversity

June
1: Week of Solidarity with the Peoples of Non-Self-Governing Territories
29: International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers
31: World No-Tobacco Day

June
4: International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression
5: World Environment Day
17: World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought
20: World Refugee Day
23: United Nations Public Service Day
26: International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking and International Day in Support of Victims of Torture

July
First Saturday: International Day of Cooperatives
11: World Population Day

August
9: International Day of the World's Indigenous People
12: International Youth Day
23: International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition

September
8: International Literacy Day
16: International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer
21: International Day of Peace
During last Week: World Maritime Day

October
1: International Day for Older Persons
4 - 10: World Space Week
5: World Teacher's Day
First Monday: World Habitat Day
Second Wednesday: International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction
9: World Post Day
10: World Mental Health Day
16: World Food Day
17: International Day for the Eradication of Proverty
24: United Nations Day and World Development Information Day
24-30: Disarmament Week

November
6: International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict
16: International Day of Tolerance
Third Sunday: World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims
20: Universal Children's Day, and Africa Industrialization Day
21: World Television Day
25: International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women
29: International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People

December
1: World AIDS Day
2: International Day for the Abolition of Slavery
3: International Day of Disabled Persons
5: International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development
7: International Civil Aviation Day
9: International Anti-Corruption Day
10: Human Rights Day
11: International Mountain Day
18: International Migrants Day
19: United Nations Day for South-South Cooperation
20: International Human Solidarity Day