What’s Happening Today?

Stop Food waste Day. The United Nations has warned of famine becoming another humanitarian crisis because of lockdowns imposed by governments all over the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to stopfoodwasteday.com, 33% of all food produced globally is lost or wasted every year. This is a very high rate which we need to reduce significantly if we are to ensure food security in this trying period.

Viral Video Day. Every 29th of April, we celebrate videos that have gone viral, being eternally etched into our memories. Kony 2012, an American short documentary film about LRA leader Joseph Kony which was produced by Invisible Children, Inc, is one of the most viral videos of all time. It was viewed 34 million times in three days and received 100 million views in six days.

International Dance Day. This is a global celebration of dance, created by the dance committee of the International Theatre Institute (ITI), the main partner for the performing arts of UNESCO. It is held on 29th April because it is the anniversary of the birth of Jean-Georges Noverre, the founder of modern ballet.

In Uganda, we have many dances, which can be done indoors, with one video dance compilation of Kwata Essimu, a collaboration between Free Boy and Winnie Nwagi currently going viral.

What Happened Today?

1. In 1954, Queen Elizabeth II commissioned the Owen falls dam and Hydropower project in Jinja. The construction of the Hydroelectric dam had been recommended by English Engineer Sir Charles Redvers Westlake in 1947. The Owen Falls Dam was renamed Nalubaale dam by President Yoweri Museveni in 2001.

2. In 1945, Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun, his long-time girlfriend, got married in a short civil wedding ceremony. The couple committed suicide together a day later in a sitting room of a bunker they were hiding in after Hitler conceded defeat in World War II.

3. In 1997, the Chemical Weapons Convention, an arms control treaty prohibiting the production, storage and use of chemical weapons, came into effect. It is administered by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and has been ratified by over 190 countries worldwide.