Mumbai: The United Nations should declare Mother Teresa’s birth anniversary, which is on August 26, as the International Day of Compassion, in the light of her selfless service towards the downtrodden and the unwanted in society, activists have said.

In a letter to UN Secretary General Antonio Gutierrez, Dr Abraham Mathai, head of Harmony Foundation, a Mumbai-based NGO, has said that, with terrorism being unleashed across the world every nation has been impacted adversely by it.

“This has created an urgent need for collectively identifying and collaborating for humanitarian relief solutions,” Mathai said in the letter.

“Developing on this urgent need and taking forward our last year’s theme, Harmony Foundation has finalised this year’s theme — “Compassion in the face of Disaster and Terror” — to carry forward the virtues, values and principles Mother Teresa lived by and her legacy continues to live on through the transforming, compassionate work of Missionaries of Charity.”

The Harmony Foundation honours those who have excelled in humanitarian endeavours with Mother Teresa Memorial Awards.

Mathai hopes his fervent plea to the UN to honour and commemorate the selfless service of Mother Teresa would be accepted.

He has also informed the UN chief that this year, “Harmony Foundation is gathering members of the student community — schools and colleges — from the business heartland of India, the city of Mumbai, to partner with us so that each student can prepare a ‘Care Package’ for Syrian and Sudanese refugee children.”

The package would contain a small soft toy, school stationery, dental care items and watches.

“We have identified NGOs in Jordan and South Sudan and are in the process of reaching out to other governments, aid agencies and the UNHCR to help us with the logistics. Long-term sustainable solutions for refugee children for their education and health are also on the anvil.”

The efforts to enlist Mumbai’s students is to “mould these impressionable minds to be compassionate human beings through acts of kindness.”

At a time when there is a dearth of compassion and humanity, where children are uprooted from their homes, he writes, “Our Foundation wants to ignite hope and compassion.

“Compassion is the need of the hour and what better way to have the world observe a Day of Compassion than by celebrating on the birth anniversary of Mother Teresa whose life symbolised compassion and hope.

“We are seeking United Nations’ endorsement as we believe this would provide a platform for NGOs ad corporates to step up and step in to provide sustainable solutions.”

The Award was first instituted in 2005 ad until now the recipients include Malala Yousafzai, Dalai Lama, former prime minister of Malaysia Dr Mahathir Mohammed aid groups like Medecins Sans Frontieres and White Helmets, which is providing aid to war-ravaged Syria.