World Bicycle Day celebrates the countless ways that bicycles have improved lives around the world, including those of families in developing communities who rely on bicycles as a primary means of transportation. Bicycles can provide a clean, affordable and environmentally friendly transport option, and also make a practical charity gift idea for those in need.
Let’s take a look at why World Bicycle Day is celebrated annually, and how you can celebrate the day and create a better world for children and families everywhere.
When is World Bicycle Day?
World Bicycle Day 2023 is on Saturday, 3 June.
Why is World Bicycle Day celebrated?
In April 2018, the United Nations General Assembly declared the 3rd of June as World Bicycle Day. The purpose of World Bicycle Day is to recognise the “uniqueness, longevity and versatility of the bicycle, which has been in use for two centuries”, with the primary message being that the bicycle belongs to and serves all of humanity.
The United Nations states that bicycles make education, health care and other social services more accessible to the most vulnerable populations. A transport system that supports bicycle use can provide economic growth, reduce inequalities and facilitate social inclusion for those who would otherwise have no means of transportation.
With sustainability and climate change being important global issues, World Bicycle Day also recognises the bicycle as a type of sustainable transport. The day of observance “conveys a positive message to foster sustainable consumption and production that has a positive impact on climate”, and aligns with ChildFund Australia’s goal of ensuring environmental sustainability in the developing communities in which we work.
How can I support World Bicycle Day 2023?
You can help to make bicycles accessible to children living in developing communities this World Bicycle day by fundraising for ChildFund Australia, or donating Gifts for Good.
Let’s take a look at these options:
Donate a bike and helmet
Many children in developing communities may not be able to continue their education because of the long distances they have to walk to school, and the potential dangers that they face along the way. You can donate a bicycle and helmet to help students get to class safer, stay in school, and spend time studying not travelling!
Create a Facebook fundraiser
Did you know that you can fundraise on Facebook for ChildFund Australia? By setting up your own fundraiser, you can invite others to donate a bicycle and helmet. Help to support World Bicycle Day by creating your fundraiser now, and get your family and friends on board with this worthy cause.
Host a morning tea
You can take the time to discuss World Bicycle Day with your co-workers, by setting up a morning tea fundraiser in the office. A gold coin donation from staff members could be suggested, with the proceeds from this going to the purchase of bicycles and helmets for children in need.
Together we can empower children all over the world to access sustainable transport this World Bicycle Day, providing them with the means to attend and stay in school.
Hunger is a widespread problem in many countries around the world. Hunger occurs not only during times of war and natural disaster, but also as a result of weather and climate change. But when does hunger become famine? What causes hunger and malnutrition? And how are we working to stop hunger and malnutrition globally? Let’s take a look.
What is hunger?
In this context, hunger is the discomfort, weakness, and pain felt due to a lack of access to food. While many people in developing countries experience temporary hunger, others may struggle with severe and long-lasting hunger that leaves them with serious health repercussions. Hunger also refers to the ongoing scarcity of food in an affected country.
What is famine?
The term famine refers to a widespread food shortage, in either a village, specific region, or much of a country. According to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, famine specifically refers to a situation where over 20% (or 1 in 5 households) have an extreme lack of food, while more than 30% of that area’s population experience acute malnutrition.
What is malnutrition?
According to the World Health Organization, malnutrition refers to deficiencies, excesses or imbalances in an intake of a person’s intake of energy and/or nutrients. You don’t have to experience an absence of food to suffer from malnutrition – calorie-wise, families may consume plenty of rice or bread every day but still develop symptoms of malnutrition. Indeed, there are people who suffer from malnutrition in some of the wealthiest countries in the world, despite having access to food. This is because malnutrition can also result from not having access to the right kind of food to fuel your body, such as fresh fruits and vegetables.
Why do hunger and malnutrition occur?
Hunger and malnutrition do often occur as a result of famine. Whether it’s caused by the conditions of war, climate change, or natural disasters such as floods, droughts or fires – famine means that it is challenging to grow, buy or access food in a nearby location.
Hunger and malnutrition can also occur, however, when people have some access to food, but either the nutrition is inadequate, or they don’t have the resources to utilise it properly. A family that is donated a large sack of rice, for example, may not be able to create meals from this donation if they don’t have access to fuel, electricity, clean water, or even the kitchen equipment to prepare it.
In other situations, food aid is put into place, but the food itself cannot be transported to rural or treacherous regions due to lack of transport. In these situations, foreign aid such as cash transfers becomes invaluable to support families in need, and prevent further hunger and malnutrition.
Why does famine occur?
Some famines have natural causes, such as the impact of natural disasters on food supply. Droughts and floods can make it difficult to grow and harvest crops for example, leading to low or no yield at harvest time. Sometimes these poor growing conditions can occur in an area naturally, while at other times, extreme weather conditions are a result of climate change.
Another major contributing factor to famine is ongoing conflict and war. Conflict takes people away from their farming and disrupts the land that cattle graze on and crops grow in. Even when the conflict ends, the soil can remain unsuitable for farming for many years.
How can we prevent hunger, famine and malnutrition?
Historically, the primary means to combat hunger has been through the provision of food aid to affected countries. By sourcing and distributing nutritious food to those most in need, we can help impoverished communities around the world to thrive.
As mentioned however, food supply is not always the most effective form of assistance in countries experiencing ongoing conflict, such as Afghanistan and Ukraine. ChildFund is currently working to support these populations through cash transfers, enabling affected families to purchase the food items most accessible to them where they are. Cash transfers also allow families to purchase the items that they may need to cook and store food.
You can support ChildFund in its mission to prevent hunger, famine and malnutrition by donating to our current appeal. Donate to the Afghanistan Food Crisis Appeal, and help to provide aid to the 1 in 2 children under the age of five in Afghanistan who are facing malnutrition. You can also calculate your potential tax benefit, allowing a greater volume of funds to go to our support programs.
