The World Humanitarian Day honours aid workers

JOSÉ DOMINGO GUARIGLIA

The Humanitarian Day 2011 “People Helping People” celebrates the work of all those who risk their lives to help others and it is also a way to remember those who are still in pain or struggling to live, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Valerie Amos, told in a special event with the Secretary General Friday.

She explained that this year’s celebration goes beyond the previous Humanitarian Days to focus on aid workers and their stories. “We celebrate the work of thousands of aid workers”, Amos said

The Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, supported Amos’ speech saying the World Humanitarian Day is dedicated to those who chose to save someone else’s life in spite of differences in gender, religion or race. He underlined the efforts of many aid workers in countries that are living under conflict like Afghanistan, Haiti, Japan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia.

“Wherever there are people in need, there are people who help them – men and women coming together to ease suffering and bring hope”, the Secretary-General said.

Regarding Somalia and the general situation in the Horn of Africa, both Ban and Amos remembered that humanitarian efforts have not been enough to deal with the situation and that more than 1 billion dollars are still needed to face the drought and famine that has affected more than 12 million people.

“We need to keep the attention focused on the Horn of Africa”, Amos stressed.

She also announced that the United Nations and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) started a global campaign about the situation on the Horn of Africa and that a special mini summit about the topic will be held at the UN General Assembly on September 24th.

The UN General Assembly proclaimed the World Humanitarian Day on 19 August 2008 to commemorate the killing of 22 UN staff members in 2003, after the bombing of the Canal Hotel in Baghdad, Iraq. More than 150 people were also wounded on the attack.