The United Nations has released an app, created by three volunteers, to keep track of the United Nations observances such as World AIDS Day on December 1, or the International Day of Happiness on March 20th.

UN Calendar of Observances: Making a Difference allows users to import observances into the iPhone calendar and includes sharing options for email and social media.

Unapp

The app is the electronic version of the print United Nations Making a Difference 2013 Calendar, which highlights areas of UN achievements through high-resolution photos and text bullets. The electronic version was developed — at no cost to the United Nations — by United Nations Online volunteers Christopher Bell (New Zealand), Aveline Sodji (Canada) and Andrew Thornton (United Kingdom), working with the UN Department of Public Information (DPI). DPI staff and interns created app-specific icons and provided development support.

"Working for the United Nations in any capacity is an honour, but doing so on a voluntary basis—even in this small way—seems to be the purest way to give back to an organization committed to world peace, development and human rights", said Mr. Thornton, the coordinator of the volunteers.

UN Calendar of Observances: Making a Difference is a free download on the App Store. [Direct Link]

Top Rated Comments

whooleytoo Avatar
164 months ago
International Day of Happiness on March 20th.

Weird.. pretty sure we celebrate that on the 17th here in Ireland.. ;) Followed by the International Day of Headaches on the 18th.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
andythornton Avatar
164 months ago
Thanks!

2nd paragraph: "UN Calendar of Observances: Making a Difference allows users to import observances into the iPhone calendar and includes sharing options for email and social media.”

(Import is all I’d need too—I doubt I’d use the app itself much.)


I am one of the three volunteers that worked on this application. It is nice to see people being nice about it (I had been reluctant to even look at the comments out of fear of it getting slammed). All three of us were working regular jobs and just spent our free time working on this application over the past few months (well, we started early September with the requirements). The sponsor at the United Nations is keen to hear how the application could be improved, I am not sure I understand the points above regarding ICS files ... but if someone would like to explain a little more I can make sure that the requirement makes it to the sponsor. I think they may be putting together another team of volunteers in 2013 to either extend it/replace it or something - or at the very least pull in 2014 data (we didnt have time to implement a server-side component that holds the data, but that might be something in a future version).

If you think you'd like to do some online volunteering yourself, please consider the UN

http://onlinevolunteering.org/en/index.html
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
RoboCop001 Avatar
164 months ago
Nice. It would be cool if they also added the option to import or subscribe to the calendar, so you can have the days right in the Calendar app.

EDIT: Looks like there's an option to import :)
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nagromme Avatar
164 months ago
Nice. It would be cool if they also added the option to import or subscribe to the calendar, so you can have the days right in the Calendar app.
How about an ICS file that I can subscribe to.
I was thinking the same thing. It's not like it's hard to create a file to import into your Google Calendar or iCal or anything else. Plus, events can be added/edited automagically with that too.

PS: This is a sweet app.
2nd paragraph: "UN Calendar of Observances: Making a Difference allows users to import observances into the iPhone calendar and includes sharing options for email and social media.”

(Import is all I’d need too—I doubt I’d use the app itself much.)
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
andythornton Avatar
164 months ago
In response to the first request above for an ICS file, I posted a link to a calendar of UN observances. I have been subscribing to that calendar for some considerable time, and use the calendar on both my computer and tablet. I have no idea who is responsible for maintaining that ICS calendar, but there should be no need to duplicate effort. I suggest that the UN people responsible for the new iOS application cooperate with those behind the multi-platform ICS calendar, and work to keep it complete and up-to-date.


Thanks FFransis
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mactmaster Avatar
164 months ago
How about an ICS file that I can subscribe to.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features

Saturday June 14, 2025 5:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro have a...
iPadOS 26 App Windowing

Apple Explains Why iPads Don't Just Run macOS

Friday June 13, 2025 7:46 am PDT by
iPadOS 26 allows iPads to function much more like Macs, with a new app windowing system, a swipe-down menu bar at the top of the screen, and more. However, Apple has stopped short of allowing iPads to run macOS, and it has now explained why. In an interview this week with Swiss tech journalist Rafael Zeier, Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi said that iPadOS 26's new Mac-like ...
Logitech Logo Feature

Logitech Announces Two New Accessories for WWDC

Friday June 13, 2025 7:22 am PDT by
Alongside WWDC this week, Logitech announced notable new accessories for the iPad and Apple Vision Pro. The Logitech Muse is a spatially-tracked stylus developed for use with the Apple Vision Pro. Introduced during the WWDC 2025 keynote address, Muse is intended to support the next generation of spatial computing workflows enabled by visionOS 26. The device incorporates six degrees of...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday June 12, 2025 8:58 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
iOS 26 Feature

Apple Seeds Revised iOS 26 Developer Beta to Fix Battery Issue

Friday June 13, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple today provided developers with a revised version of the first iOS 26 beta for testing purposes. The update is only available for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 models, so if you're running iOS 26 on an iPhone 14 or earlier, you won't see the revised beta. Registered developers can download the new beta software through the Settings app on each device. The revised beta addresses an...
Mac Studio Feature

Apple Begins Selling Refurbished Mac Studio With M4 Max and M3 Ultra Chips at a Discount

Thursday June 12, 2025 10:14 am PDT by
Apple today added Mac Studio models with M4 Max and M3 Ultra chips to its online certified refurbished store in the United States, Canada, Japan, Singapore, and many European countries, for the first time since they were released in March. As usual for refurbished Macs, prices are discounted by approximately 15% compared to the equivalent new models on Apple's online store. Note that Apple's ...
m4 macbook air pink

Apple Now Selling Refurbished M4 MacBook Air Models

Friday June 13, 2025 3:34 pm PDT by
Apple today added M4 MacBook Air models to its refurbished store in the United States, making the latest MacBook Air devices available at a discounted price for the first time since they launched earlier this year. Both 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air models are available, with Apple offering multiple capacities and configurations. The refurbished devices are discounted by approximately 15...