KARACHI: United Nations observes 3rd of June as World Bicycle Day.

This scribe has a hunch that people often seen cycling at sea-view area do not do it for the sake of attaining health or to contribute to the betterment of environment, but only to look chique.

Nevertheless, it’s time we encourage people to cycle en masse and World Bicycle Day provides an occasion to do so:

According to UN, World Bicycle Day encourages people to use and promote bicycle as a means of fostering sustainable development, strengthening education, including physical education, for children and young people, promoting health, preventing disease, promoting tolerance, mutual understanding and respect and facilitating social inclusion and a culture of peace.

World Health Organization (WHO), maintains that safe infrastructure for walking and cycling is also a pathway for achieving greater health equity. For the poorest urban sector, who often cannot afford private vehicles, walking and cycling can provide a form of transport while reducing the risk of heart disease, stroke, certain cancers, diabetes, and even death. Accordingly, improved active transport is not only healthy; it is also equitable and cost-effective.

On World Bicycle Day UN expects its members to devote particular attention to the bicycle in cross-cutting development strategies and to include the bicycle in international, regional, national and sub-national development policies and programs.

UN encourages member states to improve road safety and integrate it into sustainable mobility and transport infrastructure planning and design, in particular through policies and measures to actively protect and promote pedestrian safety and cycling mobility, with a view to broader health outcomes, particularly the prevention of injuries and non-communicable diseases.

The Day encourages stakeholders to emphasize and advance the use of the bicycle as a means of fostering sustainable development, strengthening education, including physical education, for children and young people, promoting health, preventing disease, promoting tolerance, mutual understanding and respect and facilitating social inclusion and a culture of peace.

World Bicycle Day provides an incentive to UN’s Member States to adopt best practices and means to promote the bicycle among all members of society, and in this regard welcomes initiatives to organize bicycle rides at the national and local levels as a means of strengthening physical and mental health.

World Bicycle Day: Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 12 April 2018

Recognizing the contribution of sport to the realization of the Millennium
Development Goals, as declared in its resolutions 60/1 of 16 September 2005 and
65/1 of 22 September 2010,
Recalling that, in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, 1 inter alia,
sport was recognized as an important enabler of sustainable development,
Recognizing the need to strengthen and further coordinate efforts, including
multi-stakeholder partnerships, at all levels to maximize the potential of the bicycle
to contribute to the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals,
including the Sustainable Development Goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda, and a
culture of peace,
Reaffirming its resolutions 53/199 of 15 December 1998 and 61/185 of
20 December 2006 on the proclamation of international years, and Economic and
Social Council resolution 1980/67 of 25 July 1980 on international years and
anniversaries, in particular paragraphs 1 to 10 of the annex thereto on the agreed
criteria for the proclamation of international years, as well as paragraphs 13 and 14,
in which it is stated that an international day or year should not be proclaimed before
the basic arrangements for its organization and financing have been made,
Recalling the New Urban Agenda, adopted at the United Nations Conference on
Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III), held in Quito from 17 to
20 October 2016,2
Acknowledging the uniqueness, longevity and versatility of the bicycle, which
has been in use for two centuries, and that it is a simple, affordable, reliable, clean
and environmentally fit sustainable means of transportation, fostering environmental
stewardship and health,
Recognizing that the synergy between the bicycle and the user fosters creativity
and social engagement and gives the user an immediate awareness of the local
environment, and recognizing also that the bicycle can serve as a tool for development
and as a means not just of transportation but also of access to education, health care
and sport,
Emphasizing that the bicycle is a symbol of sustainable transportation and
conveys a positive message to foster sustainable consumption and production, and
has a positive impact on climate,
Acknowledging the role of the United Nations system and its country
programmes in supporting Member States, upon request, in promoting social
development through sport and physical education, including cycling,
Emphasizing the extremely important role of productive public-private
partnerships in financing programmes for organizing bicycle rallies to promote peace
and development, preservation of the environment, institutional development and
physical and social infrastructure,
Noting that major international and local cycling competitions should be
organized in the spirit of peace, mutual understanding, friendship, tolerance and
inadmissibility of discrimination of any kind and that the unifying and conciliative
nature of such events should be respected,
1. Decides to declare 3 June World Bicycle Day;
2. Invites all Member States, organizations of the United Nations system and
other relevant international organizations, international, regional and national sports
organizations, civil society, including non-governmental organizations and the private
sector, and all other relevant stakeholders to cooperate in observing World Bicycle
Day, to celebrate the Day and to promote awareness of it;
3. Encourages Member States to devote particular attention to the bicycle in
cross-cutting development strategies and to include the bicycle in international,
regional, national and subnational development policies and programmes, as
appropriate;
4. Also encourages Member States to improve road safety and integrate it
into sustainable mobility and transport infrastructure planning and design, in
particular through policies and measures to actively protect and promote pedestrian
safety and cycling mobility, with a view to broader health outcomes, particularly the
prevention of injuries and non-communicable diseases;
5. Encourages stakeholders to emphasize and advance the use of the bicycle
as a means of fostering sustainable development, strengthening education, including
physical education, for children and young people, promoting health, preventing
disease, promoting tolerance, mutual understanding and respect and facilitating social
inclusion and a culture of peace;
6. Encourages Member States to adopt best practices and means to promote
the bicycle among all members of society, and in this regard welcomes initiatives to
organize bicycle rides at the national and local levels as a means of strengthening
physical and mental health and well-being and developing a culture of cycling in
society;
7. Requests the Secretary-General to bring the present resolution to the
attention of Member States and the organizations of the United Nations system;
8. Stresses that the cost of all activities that may arise from the
implementation of the present resolution should be met from voluntary contributions.
82nd plenary meeting
12 April 2018

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