This World Humanitarian Day, CARE Canada is calling on governments and international actors to show a renewed commitment to the protection of humanitarian aid workers everywhere.
“With the recent Ebola outbreak, the ongoing crises in Gaza, South Sudan, Syria, Ukraine and so many other places, humanitarians continue to provide crucial life-saving assistance amidst extremely challenging, sometimes dangerous, circumstances,” said Gillian Barth, president and CEO of CARE Canada.
“It is fundamental all sides respect the impartiality of aid workers so we can help those most in need.”
On August 19, World Humanitarian Day is meant to honour aid workers who have lost their lives while on assignment. Over the last decade, direct attacks on aid workers have increased in alarming frequency with an estimated 155 humanitarians having paid the ultimate sacrifice in 2013.
In early August, at least seven local aid workers were killed in South Sudan, providing yet another example that it is becoming increasingly difficult for humanitarian workers to access people in need.
CARE is proud to support the global UN World Humanitarian Day campaign honouring “Humanitarian Heroes” worldwide. For a fresh insight into the motivations and challenges local aid workers face, CARE interviewed staff in countries including South Sudan, Niger, Yemen, Kenya, Jordan and the Philippines. The result is our report “Passionate to Save Lives,” a portrait of aid workers serving their communities with grace and ingenuity despite significant obstacles.
“At CARE, and across our humanitarian partners, there are so many heroes working 24 hours a day, doing fantastic work in some of the worst conditions imaginable. We must support these people and make sure that we can do everything in our power to protect them,” said Jessie Thomson, director of CARE Canada’s Humanitarian Assistance and Emergency Team.
World Humanitarian Day was created by the UN General Assembly in 2008 in memory of UN Special Envoy to Iraq Sergio Vieira de Mello and 21 other people killed in a terrorist attack on UN headquarters in Baghdad, in 2003.