The 39th Session of the UNESCO General Conference proclaimed the date of May 16th every year as the International Day of Light.
The International Day of Light was introduced to UNESCO by Ghana, Mexico, New Zealand and the Russian Federation, as sponsors and supported at the UNESCO Executive Board and the General Conference by 27 countries: Argentina, Colombia, Czech Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Finland, Iran, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Lebanon, Madagascar, Malaysia, Morocco, Nicaragua, Serbia, South Africa, Sudan, Sweden, Nigeria, Paraguay, Qatar, Togo, Vietnam, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
The proclamation of this annual International Day is to enable global appreciation of the central role that light and light-based technologies play in the lives of the citizens of the world in areas of science, technology, culture, education, and sustainable development.
The International Day of Light is an enduring follow-up to UNESCO’s highly successful International Year of Light in 2015 that reached over 100 million people in over 140 countries.
2021 Commemoration
This year, the Ghana Commission for UNESCO, the Laser and Fibre Optics Centre (LAFOC) of the University of Cape Coast and the Head of State Award Scheme (HOSA) are jointly organising, , a symposium (in both presentia and virtual mode) and an exhibition on light and the contribution of the technologies of light to life at the University of Cape Coast. Participants will have the opportunity to see modern science equipment used for cutting-edge research in the various fields of light.
The event is expected to be held on Wednesday, 19th May, 2021 at LAFOC, University of Cape Coast.
The theme for this year’s celebration is ‘Light is Life’.
For more information contact lafoc@ucc.edu.gh / info@unescoghana.org
