19 August will from now on be dedicated to all humanitarians, commemorating those that have lost their lives doing their jobs. The day is very symbolic, as it coincides with the day that a bomb hit the UN compound in Iraq in 2003, leaving 22 deaths among the present UN personnel, including Sergio Vieira de Mello.
As a tribute to all humanitarians, there is now World Humanitarian Day. The family of de Mello also created a Sergio Vieira de Mello foundation to honour those people that have contributed in a special way to the humanitarian cause and to peace and conflict resolution.
It has also been a day to think about humanitarian action in the world of today. Many news sites have reported on the humanitarian space necessary to operate in safety honouring the humanitarian principles (IRIN/AlertNet), the growing lack of this space and the need for higher security measures for humanitarians in Afghanistan (IRIN, Mediapoint Press). Neil Barry, humanitarian specialist at ODI, has put up an interesting post reflecting on his two decades of experience as a humanitarian and humanitarianism in general.
No comments:
Post a Comment