In response to a speech made by the Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on 10 November 1961, the General Assembly designated 1965, the twentieth year of the United Nations, as International Co-operation Year.
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| Click to read the full speech that launched the International Co-operation Year |
One reason was the conviction that increased public awareness of the extent and significance of existing everyday co-operation would lead to a better appreciation of the true nature of the world community and of the common interests of mankind.
Also the thought was that devoting a year to international co-operation would help to bring about increased world understanding and co-operation, and thereby facilitate the settlement of major international problems.
Countries around the world celebrated the occasion issuing stamps, as was the case of the below stamps by Kuwait. As can be seen, the handshake was a common theme in most version of the stamps.
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The faces on the Qatar stamps are of John F. Kennedy (President of United States of America), Dag Hammarskjold (the Second Secretary General of the United Nations) and Jawaharlal Nehru.
Interesting to point out that none of the three prominent politicians on the stamps were alive at the time of the stamp issuance:
- Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold death (in an airplane crash) on the 18th September 1961, is still to this date under investigation;
- President J.F. Kennedy was assassinated on the 22nd November 1963; while
- Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru died of a possible heart Attack on the 27th May 1964.
Qatar issued the below stamps on the occasion. The same sheets were later in the year re-value to the new Qatar Dubai Riyal. They were also used with an overprint to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the United Nations.
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Later in 1966 Dubai also released a set of stamps to commemorate the International Cooperation Year. Like the Qatar stamps, they too were issued in the old and overprinted in the new Qatar Dubai Riyal. To simplify the image, I have used the old currency version on the left column and the new currency on the column on the right.
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Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and Oman did not issue stamps for the occasion.
Overall a beautiful set of stamps.
Below find a few more examples from other regional powers. Please feel free to post any additional related stamps.
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