August 19, is celebrated as a world Humanitarian day (WHO) all over the world. The day is celebrated to pay tribute to human workers and those who lost their lives due to human causes. World Humanitarian Day is also an occasion to celebrate the spirit that inspires human action in the world.

This day is also seen as an opportunity to encourage humanitarian work around the world. The aim of Humanitarian Day is to identify those who are facing adversity in helping others.

Every year, millions of people, especially the world’s poorest, most marginalized and vulnerable people, face immense grief due to disasters. Humanitarian aid workers seek to help disaster-affected communities save lives and provide long-term rehabilitation without discrimination on the basis of nationality, social group, religion, gender, race or any other factor.

The theme of 2019 is ‘Women Humanitarians’. The Humanitarians day campaign aims to celebrate the unsung women humanitarian who have been working on the front lines for survival, well –being and dignity of people affected by crises in their own communities.

Women make up a large number of people who endanger their own lives to save others. Women humanitarians are often known to be the first to respond to a crisis and last to leave. Hence, such women deserve a mention and celebration. Women Humanitarians are crucial for today’s time to strengthen the global humanitarian response.

The world Humanitarian Day was instituted by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). The world humanitarian day is observed annually on August 19 the same day in 2003, a terrorist attack at the UN headquarters in Baghdad led to the killing of UN’s top representative to Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello and 21 of his colleagues.

Humanitarian aid personnel should be respected, and should be able to reach out to them to provide critical assistance. They reflect all cultures, ideologies, and backgrounds and united by their commitment to humanism.

Shivani Jha

  human development, United Nations, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)