19th August 2012-World Humanitarian Day

The United Nations’ (UN) World Humanitarian Day is held on August 19 each year. This day is dedicated to all humanitarians who have worked to promote the humanitarian cause and those of them who have lost their lives at the time of the duty. August 19  also celebrates the  spirit of people helping people regardless dangers and obstacles. 

Humanitarian work is among the most dangerous professions in the world, as humanitarians usually are assigned to go to the most  precarious places. Humanitarian workers are the first  to save lives  and provide material or logistic support in a response to severe crisis: floods, droughts or other disasters.  Today the total number of humanitarian workers worldwide is  more than 200000. They are working in  NGOs, Red Cross/Red Crescent organization or UN system.

Humanitarian work is increasingly important as natural or man-made disasters are common all over the world.  Affected people often  may not have enough resources to deal with the crisis, therefore humanitarian assistance is crucial to help them. However, governments and  international aid organizations should not forget that many  crisis, especially  those man-made,  could and should be stopped  before humanitarian aid needs  to be send.

Sources:

http://ec.europa.eu/echo/news/2012/whd2012_en.htm

http://www.un.org/en/events/humanitarianday/

Author: Loreta, UNV Online Volunteer

UNV Volunteer
For: Initiative Nepal