World Kindness Day (WKD) is annually observed across the globe on November 13 to promote kindness and inspire people to engage in at least one act of kindness that aspires to unify the world as one.
- 13th November 2022 marks the observance of 25th World Kindness Day.
World Kindness Day 2022 focuses on the “#OneVoiceForKindness” Campaign.
Objective:
The aim of World Kindness Day is to encourage kindness with simple acts of kindness.
Background:
i. The idea of World Kindness Day dates back to 1997, when the World Kindness Movement, a coalition of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) focused on kindness, hosted the first conference in Tokyo, Japan to unite like-minded organizations from across the world.
ii. World Kindness Movement launched World Kindness Day as an annual observance in 1998.
- The 1st World Kindness Day was observed on 13th November 1998.
Note: 2022 marks the 25th anniversary of the World Kindness Movement (WKM).
World Kindness Movement (WKM):
i. World Kindness Movement (WKM) was formed at a conference in Tokyo on 20th September 1997
ii. The WKM’s purpose is to encourage individuals to be more kind by connecting nations to build a kinder world.
- The WKM eventually expanded to 27 countries and in 2019, WKM was registered as an NGO in Switzerland.
iii. On the 25th anniversary, WKM is rallying individuals, organisations and communities to add people’s voices and support #OneVoiceForKindness.
Countries that Observe WKD:
It is observed in many countries including the United States (US), Canada, Japan, Australia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
