World Humanitarian Day 2010

True.

"By definition, the people who are working trying to tackle humanitarian need are working in places which are often remote, usually difficult, and very often dangerous as well, because that's where the conflicts are and that’s where the natural disasters happen."

-- John Holmes
Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs

As humanitarians, we go to places of conflict and danger bearing no arms or weapons while working for peace and to alleviate hunger, poverty and suffering. Today we honor our colleagues who knowingly and willingly risk their lives in order to serve others and remember those who have lost their lives doing so. While 278 humanitarian victims in 2009 are recognized and documented, we also remember the many victims who have not been officially recognized, but who have lost their lives while attempting to live in dignity and to help others to do the same.

http://ochaonline.un.org/whd/docs/SecuritySheet/whd_2010_security_sheet_en.pdf

In 2008, World Humanitarian Day was designated in memory of those who died in the bombing in 2003, but also in memory of the many aid workers who have lost their lives in the humanitarian cause. The day is also held to emphasize current humanitarian needs and challenges worldwide, such as threats to humanitarian aid workers by conflicting parties, challenges in reaching the people we try to assist, and the increasing complexity of the humanitarian environment due to food price shocks, global market turbulence, water shortages and climate change. Particular focus will be placed on the people on whose behalf we work.

Watch a video on the 2003 Canal Hotel bombing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R54BpQalwDc

In honor of World Humanitarian Day, consider taking one or more of these actions:
+ Ensure colleagues and the general public are aware of WHD through the dissemination of the one-minute film and WHD handouts and via professional & personal networks, such as Facebook and Twitter

+ Use WHD Key Messages as points for senior political figures and officials to use in media interviews or encounters organized specifically for the day

+Lobby major international & national broadcast networks to show the version of the film that incorporates the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's statement

+ Where possible, encourage human aid workers to speak to the media regarding their work

+ Organize public events featuring humanitarian work

See http://ochaonline.un.org/whd/ for materials.

The humanitarian field relies on four primary principles:

Neutrality and Impartiality: Humanitarian actors must not take sides in hostilities or engage in controversies of a political, racial, religious or ideological nature. Humanitarian action must be carried out on the basis of need alone, giving priority to the most urgent cases of distress and making no distinctions on the basis of nationality, race, gender, religious belief, class or political opinion.

Humanity: Human suffering must be addressed wherever it is found. The purpose of humanitarian action is to protect life and health and ensure respect for human beings.

Operational Independence: Humanitarian action must be autonomous from the political, economic, military or other objectives that any actor may hold with regard to areas where humanitarian action is being implemented.

As of December 31, 2005, the country with the largest number of IDPs is Sudan with over 5 million.

Also, with 800,000 refugees and IDPs, Azerbaijan had the highest per capita IDP population in the world.

Over many years, humanitarian aid workers have relied on acceptance that they need to be protected by all parties to ensure they can work wherever they are needed. Increasingly, however, a perception is spreading that humanitarian aid is delivered exclusively by Western organizations or agencies, or somehow represents one ideological or religious world view. This is entirely wrong, yet is increasingly virulent in many regions of the world. The worst manifestation of this false perception is the increasing number of targeted attacks on humanitarian personnel, killing and injuring more humanitarian aid workers every year. This situation harms the poorest, most vulnerable people the most.

41 countries commemorated this day last year. Some examples of events from World Humanitarian Day 2009:

· The European Commission used the day to focus attention on forgotten crises.

· In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, commemorative events were held in Kinshasa, Bukava, Goma, and Bunia.

· In Ethiopia, the World Humanitarian Day film played in the main square in Addis Ababa.

· An OpEd written by the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator appeared in 41 newspapers around the world.

· In Nepal, the Minister of Home Affairs presided over a ceremony to commemorate World Humanitarian Day.

Under the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees from 1951, a refugee is a person who (according to the formal definition in article 1A of this Convention), "owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country".

The concept of a refugee was expanded by the Convention's 1967 Protocol and by regional conventions in Africa and Latin America to include persons who had fled war or other violence in their home country.


As of December 31, 2005, the largest source countries of refugees are Afghanistan, Iraq, Myanmar, Sudan, and the Palestinian Territories.

This statement is false, since the majority of humanitarian aid workers come from the countries in which they work. Strong professional and independent local partners are fully involved in all humanitarian responses. Humanitarian aid workers are national and international, male and female, and reflect all culture, ideologies and backgrounds. Their motivations for humanitarian work are diverse, but all aid workers are united by their commitment to humanitarianism.

According to UN records, 27 million persons are known to be internally displaced, although given the constant fluctuation of IDPs, it is difficult to determine accurate figures.

Internally displaced persons are persons or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes or places of habitual residence, in particular as a result of or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights or natural or human-made disasters, and who have not crossed an internationally recognized State border.

One out of every six people in the world is chronically hungry. Humanitarian aid workers strive to ensure that all those who have experienced a traumatic event and need life-saving assistance receive it, regardless of where they are in the world, and regardless of their religious or social group or nationality.

In fact, while World Humanitarian Day does celebrate all of the above values and ideas, a WHD logo intentionally does NOT exist because the day is not about individual agencies, but rather about humanitarian aid work. Humananitarian organizations have agreed that this day is an opportunity to explain why and how we do the work we do, and to talk about the principles of humanitarianism and how they are reflected in our joint endeavours.