A proposal to this effect was approved at the 35th Session of the General Conference of UNESCO in Paris today.

HRD Minister Kapil Sibal, who represented India at the conference, thanked the world body for deciding to commemorate the birth anniversary of Mother Teresa who was awarded Nobel Prize for peace in 1979 and the Bharat Ratna in 1980.

UNESCO has also decided to celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore next year. India had mooted a proposal in this regard in UNESCO.

An Albanian by birth, Mother Teresa devoted her life to the poor people in Kolkata.
After setting up the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata in 1950, she took care of the poor, sick, orphaned and dying.

Her work was recognised and acclaimed throughout the world and she received a number of awards and distinctions, including the Pope John XXIII Peace Prize (1971) and the Nehru Prize for her promotion of international peace and understanding (1972). She also received the Balzan Prize (1979) and the Templeton and Magsaysay awards.

Mother Teresa died on September 5, 1997.