July 18 is a special day for the world. It is when people from every community on our planet have been asked to celebrate Nelson Mandela International Day. It is also the South African icon's birthday.

In 2009, when the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution by consensus to mark the anti-apartheid leader's contribution to peace, it marked the first time the world body has dedicated a day to a single individual.

While talking in Hyde Park, London in 2008, Madiba, as he is known to South Africans, said, "Where there is poverty and sickness, where human beings are being oppressed there is more work to be done. Our work is for freedom for all. After 90 years of life it is time for new hands to lift the burdens."

He is acutely aware that making a positive change in the world is in the hands of ordinary people everywhere and that big change starts with small actions. It is with this in mind that the Nelson Mandela Foundation has called for people across the world to spend at least 67 minutes on July 18 doing something good for others in honor of Madiba's 67 years of service to humanity.

Whether that means helping out at an orphanage, taking food to those who are destitute or singing a song to cheer up a sick child. It's not size of the help you offer but the intention with which it is offered. It needs to come from the heart. And while the whole world has many areas where help is needed, Africa has more than its fair share. Do what you can with what you have.

Perhaps we all need to wake up to the fact that there is a Nelson Mandela inside each of us and that we need to put aside differences and work for the good of the whole. It is this that gives hope to humanity and this is what Madiba stands for.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu said that the wonderful recognition of Madiba from the international community is unprecedented and "we are all basking in his reflected glory."

"Nelson Mandela International Day is a way to carry the spirit of his lifelong work forward and to spread his message that all of us can contribute to make the world better, not only once a year on July 18, but every day. This day can be a beacon to some of us who appear to have lost our bearings," said Tutu.

Also being celebrated this month on July 31 is annual Pan-African Women's Day. This day celebrates African women and their accomplishments regarding gender equality at all levels of society and in African politics. At the same time it is a reminder that inequality continues to be a major millstone around the necks of many of Africa's women.

First launched by the African Union in 1962, Pan-African Women's Day also gels with the work done by Madiba in his ongoing promotion of a non-racial, non-sexist continent.

So in July after the euphoria of the World Cup has died down and Africa gets back to business as usual, we have something else to look forward to. We salute the women of Africa and we say happy birthday to Madiba - what could be more fitting than celebrating your birthday by helping others.

The Editor