World Humanitarian Day (WHD) is annually observed across the globe on 19 August to pay tribute to humanitarian workers worldwide, who have been killed or injured while helping the most vulnerable.
- Aim: To recognise aid workers and mobilise people worldwide to advocate for the broader humanitarian cause.
- WHD 2024 marks the 21st anniversary of the tragic attack on the United Nation(UN) headquarters in Baghdad, Iraq.
WHD is a campaign by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and humanitarian partners.
2024 campaign of WHD
i.The slogan for the 2024 WHD commemoration is “#ActForHumanity” which calls for protecting civilians and humanitarian workers, addressing impunity, and striving for peace.
ii.The 2024 campaign will address the normalisation of attacks on civilians, and humanitarian workers, and impunity under the International Humanitarian Law (IHL).
- 2024 marks the 75th anniversary of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, part of the foundation of IHL.
Significance:
i.The Day raises public awareness about humanitarian assistance activities worldwide and the significance of international cooperation in this regard.
ii.The 2024 observance is particularly significant in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where attacks on civilians and humanitarian workers have escalated.
Background:
i.On 11 December 2008, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) adopted a resolution A/RES/63/139, proclaiming the 19 August of every year as World Humanitarian Day.
ii.The 1st WHD was observed on 19 August 2009.
Why 19 August?
The day 19 August commemorates the bomb attack on the UN headquarters in Baghdad, Iraq in 2003, which resulted in 22 deaths of humanitarian aid workers, including Sergio Vieira de Mello, the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) to Iraq.
Violence Against Humanitarian Workers:
i.The UN OCHA highlighted a tragic increase in violence against aid workers. In 2023, 280 aid workers were killed in 33 countries.
- 2023 marks the deadliest year on record with a 137% increase compared to 2022, which saw 118 fatalities.
ii.According to the provisional count from the Aid Worker Security Database (AWSD), as of 7 August 2024, 172 aid workers have been killed, with extreme violence in Gaza, Sudan, and South Sudan contributing significantly.
iii.Since October 2023, over 280 aid workers, the majority of them staff members of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), have been killed in Gaza alone.
- Most casualties are among national staff, with many also detained in Yemen.
iv.In 2023, global humanitarian operations provided life-saving aid to over 140 million people.
Note: AWSD was initiated by the Humanitarian Outcomes in 2005, and is a global database that records major incidents of violence against aid workers, with incident reports from 1997 through the present.
Key Facts:
i.The Humanitarian Access SCORE Report: Gaza (March 2024) estimated over 30,000 civilian deaths, including over 150 aid workers, marking an unprecedented toll in a short period.
ii.The Global Humanitarian Overview (GHO) requires USD 48.65 billion to aid 186.5 million people. By July 2024, only USD 12.26 billion was funded, 11% less than 2023.
- As per the GHO 2024, from the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) to Sudan to Myanmar, attacks on health, education, and water facilities left millions without vital services in the 1st half of 2024.
iii.Aid worker deaths surged to 261 in 2023 from 118 in 2022. The majority were national staff, with 96% of deaths among national workers.
iv.The data for 2023 in the AWSD shows that South Sudan has been the most dangerous region for aid workers for several consecutive years, and Sudan is a close 2nd.
About the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA):
Under-Secretary-General (USG)- Joyce Msuya
Headquarters– Geneva, Switzerland and New York, the United States of America (USA)
Established – 1991
