2005: Year of Love or of Microcredit?

Just as the French Revolution instituted its own calendar, the UN is about to do the same. The only difference is that the numbers are replaced by important themes. 2002 was the International Year of Mountains and Ecotourism, 2003 the Year of Freshwater, 2004 the International Year of Rice (by the way, don’t forget to send your recipes to UNSpecial unspecial@unece.org) and 2005 is going to be the International Year of Microcredit. As for the UN « Saints’ Days », they bear very poetic names such as: International Mother Language Day; United Nations Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace; World Book and Copyright Day; World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development; United Nations Public Service Day; World Teachers’ Day or World Post Day and … many others.

The only thing missing from this endless list is “love”. I know you are going to tell me that I am awfully naive and my ideas reminiscent of the « Peace and Love » generation, which has long been forgotten. And you are so right! Love will never have a place in a magazine like UN Special and even less so in a serious organization such as the United Nations.

That is why the international day of love, Valentine’s Day, is taken care of by the private sector, which has time to waste on such trivialities. Here we are serious. Love? We don’t know what it is…

Just imagine what a UN document on the World Year of Love would look like. It would start with a definition of the word “love”: [love] a[n] [intense] [feeling] of [deep affection] between [two] [persons] of the [opposite] [same] sex, including [deep] [sexual] [attraction] (the terms between brackets have not been accepted by all parties). And just imagine what a workshop on this topic would be like, with all the delegates sharing their national experiences and — who knows — even drawing up recommendations or guidelines.

Or what about an administrative circular asking the heads of department to include love in all the activities of the Secretariat? No, it couldn’t happen! Love is a private “feeling” which cannot be debated in public. It’s not like hatred or violence, which are collective “feelings” that merit documents, seminars and additional surveys.

However, if despite all this, Mr. Secretary-General, the General Assembly decides in its wisdom to declare 2005 the International Year of Love instead of Microcredit, UN Special is ready to help you intellectually as well as physically (!) to ensure its success.

Happy New Year!

Editor-in-Chief, Jean Michel Jakobowicz