Important days
Pakistan's national days and international days, month by month: the date, who observes it, and why. Search by name, month or organization (for example UNESCO or WHO).
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Practise General Knowledge MCQsPakistan's national days and international days, month by month: the date, who observes it, and why. Search by name, month or organization (for example UNESCO or WHO).
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Languages & Literature
Pakistan
World & History
82 of 82 days
4Jan
United Nations
Birthday of Louis Braille, who invented the reading system for blind people.
24Jan
United Nations / UNESCO
Celebrates the role of education in peace and development.
27Jan
United Nations
Anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp in 1945.
4Feb
Union for International Cancer Control (UICC)
Raises awareness of cancer prevention, detection and treatment.
5Feb
Government of Pakistan (public holiday)
Expresses support for the people of Indian-administered Kashmir and their right to self-determination; first observed in 1990.
11Feb
United Nations
Promotes equal access to science for women and girls.
13Feb
21Feb
UNESCO
Remembers students killed in Dhaka on 21 February 1952 during the Bengali Language Movement; promotes linguistic diversity.
8Mar
United Nations
Celebrates women's achievements and calls for gender equality.
15Mar
United Nations (2022 resolution)
Adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2022 on a resolution introduced by Pakistan on behalf of the OIC; the date marks the 2019 Christchurch mosque attacks.
20Mar
United Nations
Recognizes happiness and well-being as global goals; the World Happiness Report is released around this date.
21Mar
21Mar
United Nations
Raises awareness of the importance of all types of forests.
22Mar
United Nations
Focuses on fresh water and access to clean water and sanitation.
23Mar
Government of Pakistan (public holiday)
Marks the Lahore Resolution of 23 March 1940, which demanded separate Muslim homelands, and the adoption of the first constitution on 23 March 1956, when Pakistan became an Islamic Republic.
23Mar
World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
Marks the founding of the WMO in 1950.
24Mar
World Health Organization (WHO)
Marks the day in 1882 when Robert Koch announced he had discovered the bacterium that causes TB.
2Apr
United Nations
Promotes the rights and inclusion of autistic people.
7Apr
World Health Organization (WHO)
Anniversary of the founding of the WHO in 1948.
18Apr
ICOMOS, endorsed by UNESCO
International Day for Monuments and Sites; Pakistan's World Heritage Sites include Mohenjo-daro, Taxila and the Lahore Fort.
21Apr
Pakistan
Allama Muhammad Iqbal died in Lahore on 21 April 1938; he is buried beside the Badshahi Mosque.
22Apr
United Nations (first held in the USA in 1970)
Promotes protection of the environment; the Paris Agreement was signed on Earth Day 2016.
23Apr
UNESCO
Chosen because Shakespeare and Cervantes both died around 23 April 1616.
26Apr
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
Marks the date the WIPO Convention came into force in 1970.
Second Sunday of May
Pakistan, USA and many other countries (not a UN day)
Honours mothers; the date varies by country, and the UK marks it in March.
1May
Many countries, including Pakistan (public holiday)
Honours workers; it recalls the 1886 Haymarket events in Chicago in the struggle for an eight-hour working day.
3May
United Nations / UNESCO
Defends media freedom and honours journalists who lost their lives in their work.
8May
International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement
Birthday of Henry Dunant, founder of the Red Cross and winner of the first Nobel Peace Prize.
15May
United Nations
Highlights the importance of families in society.
17May
International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
Anniversary of the founding of the ITU in 1865, the oldest UN specialized agency.
20May
United Nations
Highlights the role of bees and other pollinators in food production.
22May
United Nations
Marks the adoption of the text of the Convention on Biological Diversity in 1992.
28May
Government of Pakistan
Marks Pakistan's nuclear tests in the Chagai Hills, Balochistan, on 28 May 1998, making it the first Muslim nuclear power and the seventh in the world.
31May
World Health Organization (WHO)
Highlights the health risks of tobacco use.
3Jun
United Nations
Promotes the bicycle as simple, affordable and clean transport.
5Jun
UN Environment Programme (UNEP)
Marks the opening of the 1972 Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment; Pakistan hosted the global celebrations in 2021.
8Jun
12Jun
International Labour Organization (ILO)
Focuses on ending child labour worldwide.
14Jun
World Health Organization (WHO)
Birthday of Karl Landsteiner, who discovered the ABO blood groups.
20Jun
United Nations / UNHCR
Honours refugees; Pakistan has hosted millions of Afghan refugees since 1979.
21Jun
United Nations (since 2015)
Proposed by India; held on the June solstice.
26Jun
United Nations / UNODC
Strengthens action against drug abuse and trafficking.
11Jul
UN Population Fund (UNFPA)
Inspired by 'Five Billion Day', 11 July 1987, when world population reached about five billion.
18Jul
United Nations
Birthday of Nelson Mandela; people are asked to spend 67 minutes helping others, one for each year of his public service.
5Aug
Government of Pakistan
Protests India's revocation of Article 370 and the special status of Jammu and Kashmir on 5 August 2019.
11Aug
Government of Pakistan (since 2009)
Recalls Quaid-e-Azam's speech to the Constituent Assembly on 11 August 1947 promising equal rights and freedom of religion to all citizens.
12Aug
14Aug
Government of Pakistan (public holiday)
Pakistan became independent from British rule on 14 August 1947.
19Aug
United Nations
Anniversary of the 2003 bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad, which killed 22 people.
6Sep
Pakistan Armed Forces
Honours the defence of Lahore and the country when India attacked across the international border on 6 September 1965.
7Sep
Pakistan Air Force
Marks the PAF's role in the 1965 war, including Squadron Leader M. M. Alam, credited by Pakistan with shooting down several Indian aircraft in under a minute.
8Sep
Pakistan Navy
Marks Operation Dwarka, the Pakistan Navy's attack on the Indian coastal town of Dwarka on 7–8 September 1965.
8Sep
UNESCO
Highlights literacy as a human right and the basis of all learning.
11Sep
Pakistan
Muhammad Ali Jinnah died in Karachi on 11 September 1948 and is buried at the Mazar-e-Quaid.
15Sep
United Nations
Reviews the state of democracy around the world.
16Sep
United Nations
Anniversary of the Montreal Protocol (1987) on protecting the ozone layer.
21Sep
United Nations
A day of ceasefire and non-violence; the UN Peace Bell is rung in New York.
27Sep
UN Tourism (World Tourism Organization)
Anniversary of the adoption of the World Tourism Organization's statutes in 1970.
1Oct
United Nations
Recognizes the contributions and rights of older people.
2Oct
4Oct
World Animal Day movement (not a UN day)
Feast day of St Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals; promotes animal welfare.
5Oct
UNESCO and ILO
Anniversary of the 1966 ILO/UNESCO Recommendation on the status of teachers.
10Oct
World Federation for Mental Health, supported by WHO
Raises awareness of mental health issues.
11Oct
United Nations
Promotes girls' rights and education; first held in 2012.
16Oct
Pakistan
Pakistan's first Prime Minister was assassinated at Company Bagh, Rawalpindi (now Liaquat Bagh), on 16 October 1951.
16Oct
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Anniversary of the founding of the FAO in 1945.
17Oct
United Nations
Promotes efforts to end poverty everywhere.
24Oct
United Nations
Anniversary of the UN Charter coming into force on 24 October 1945.
27Oct
Pakistan and Kashmiris worldwide
Protests the landing of Indian troops in Srinagar on 27 October 1947.
9Nov
Government of Pakistan (public holiday)
Birthday of Allama Muhammad Iqbal, the 'Poet of the East', born in Sialkot on 9 November 1877.
14Nov
International Diabetes Federation and WHO
Birthday of Frederick Banting, co-discoverer of insulin.
16Nov
20Nov
UNICEF
Anniversary of the UN's adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989.
29Nov
United Nations
Anniversary of UN General Assembly Resolution 181 (1947) on the partition of Palestine.
1Dec
3Dec
United Nations
Promotes the rights and well-being of people with disabilities.
9Dec
United Nations / UNODC
Marks the signing of the UN Convention against Corruption in 2003 (Mérida, Mexico).
10Dec
United Nations
Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted on 10 December 1948.
11Dec
United Nations / FAO
Highlights mountains; Pakistan is home to K2 (8,611 m), the world's second-highest peak.
16Dec
Pakistan
East Pakistan separated and became Bangladesh on 16 December 1971; on the same date in 2014, terrorists attacked the Army Public School in Peshawar, killing over 140 people, most of them children.
18Dec
UNESCO / United Nations
Arabic became an official UN language on 18 December 1973.
25Dec
Government of Pakistan (public holiday)
Birthday of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan, born in Karachi on 25 December 1876.