Days Until International Day of Charity

About International Day of Charity

September 5 marks the anniversary of the 1997 death of Mother Teresa, the Catholic nun and missionary known for her charitable work with the poor in Kolkata, India; General Assembly member states adopted the observance in 2012.

The observance promotes charitable giving and volunteerism worldwide, encouraging both individual acts of charity and institutional philanthropic activity timed around the date.

Mother Teresa was canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church in 2016, nearly two decades after her death and after the UN had already tied this observance to her legacy.

The UN specifically chose the anniversary of Mother Teresa's death rather than her birth, a deliberate framing intended to honor the culmination of a life of charitable service rather than simply her birthday.

The day's UN resolution specifically encourages both individual charitable giving and broader institutional philanthropic partnerships, framing charity as a complement to, rather than a replacement for, government-led development aid.