This year 2021, as the unpredictable situation in Afghanistan continues to unfold, while another disastrous
has hit Haiti, there is an incredibly tragic relevance to World Humanitarian Day. These desperate humanitarian crises are taking place against the backdrop of the
, which continues to wreak havoc everywhere. The UN secretary general has said that 2021 is the world’s “make-or-break year”.
World Humanitarian Day was designated in memory of the 19 August 2003 bomb attack on the Canal Hotel in Baghdad, Iraq, killing 22 people, including the chief humanitarian in Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello.
The United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution to observe this day in 2008, and it was first officially celebrated in 2009.
Over 130 million people worldwide are currently in crisis, either through war or natural disaster and need humanitarian aid.
Each year a different theme is chosen for World Humanitarian Day. Organizations worldwide get involved to honor this day in a range of ways, from fundraisers to lectures and other events aimed at raising awareness.
In 2020, 475 aid workers were attacked: 108 killed, 242 wounded and 125 kidnapped. The proportion of national aid worker victims in 2020 was even higher than usual (95%) due to COVID-19 restricted travel movement.
New Challenge
This year will highlight the immediate human cost of the climate crisis by pressuring world leaders to take meaningful climate action for the world’s most vulnerable people.
The climate emergency is punishing people across the world at a scale that people on the front lines and in the humanitarian community cannot manage.
Time is already running out for the world’s most vulnerable people, those who have contributed least to the global climate emergency yet are hit the hardest. Millions of others are already losing their homes, their livelihoods, and their lives.
As most climate campaigns focused on slowing climate change and securing the planet’s future, World Humanitarian Day celebrated on August 19 will set the stage for a global race challenge against the climate crisis clock.
Join #theHumanRace
Everyone is invited to join #TheHumanRace, the united global challenge for climate action which puts the needs of climate-vulnerable people front. The challenge will be hosted on Strava, the world’s leading exercise platform.
Participants can run, roll, ride, walk, swim, kick or hit a ball, for a cumulative 100 minutes between August 16 and August 31. Each action will count towards helping us carry our message to world leaders when they meet at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in November.
Whether or not they break a sweat, participants will be prompted to share the campaign and the Call to Action to global leaders on their social media using #TheHumanRace.
They expect developed countries to deliver on their decade-old pledge of $100 billion annually for climate mitigation and adaptation in developing countries.
References:
- World Humanitarian Day
19 August – (https://www.un.org/en/observances/humanitarian-day) - WORLD HUMANITARIAN DAY – (https://www.usaid.gov/world-humanitarian-day)
- World Humanitarian Day 2021
– (https://www.unocha.org/world-humanitarian-day-2021) - World Humanitarian Day
– (https://globaldimension.org.uk/events/world-humanitarian-day/2021-08-19/)
Source: Medindia
