Fiinovation - World Humanitarian Day, 19th Aug 2013 - What The World Needs More Of..

By Author: Anand Kumar
Total Articles: 22
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If we ask 7.1 billion people what the world needs more of, many will come up with similar words like love, peace, tolerance, growth, strength, resilience, empowerment, equality, empathy, happiness, hope, faith etc. Therefore the United Nations this year on the occasion of World Humanitarian Day is calling on people to answer a question: "What do you think the world needs more of?" and asking everyone to sponsor a word and make that word a reality.

The World Humanitarian Day is dedicated on 19th August as it marks on which the then Special Representative of the Secretary-General to Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello and 21 of his colleagues were killed in the bombing of the UN Headquarters in Baghdad. This day is the outcome of the relentless efforts of him who worked closely with the Ambassadors of France, Switzerland, Japan and Brazil in both Geneva and New York to table the draft resolution and steer it through General Assembly.

This day was first commemorated on 19th August 2009, since then every year focus has remained on particular themes. In 2010 the theme was "We are Humanitarian Workers" to recognize the actual ...
... work and achievements of humanitarian workers in the field. In 2011, the theme was "People Helping People" which was about inspiring the spirit of aid work in everyone. The 2012 theme, “I Was Here” was about making your mark by doing something good, somewhere, for someone else. The campaign had a social reach of more than 1 billion people around the world. It was supported by the American singer Beyonce, whose music video for the song “I Was Here” has been viewed more than 22 million times. In 2013, the aim is to turn words into aid for people affected by Humanitarian causes.

The donations collected through this campaign will first accumulate in the United Nations Foundation and then distributed through UN agencies and Humanitarian Organizations to help those who are affected by disasters. This campaign is being run in 50 countries.

Every year Humanitarian workers, from doctors to army men from different countries have been serving in different insurgencies and natural disasters trying to help the needy. Currently there are 15 peacekeeping missions deployed in four continents of the world, they are serving so that the world becomes a peaceful place to live in. It's a time when the world should come together and salute these real life heroes. There have been 68 peacekeeping missions since the first mission in the middle-east in 1948.

The Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's message on World Humanitarian Day is “Every year on August 19th we mark World Humanitarian Day in honour of aid workers, who have lost their lives in the line of duty. We commemorate their sacrifice and reaffirm our commitment to the lifesaving work that humanitarians carry out around the world every day, often in difficult and dangerous circumstances, where others cannot or do not want to go. This year our World Humanitarian Day campaign is calling on people to answer a question: ‘What do you think the world needs more of?’”

We hope that Humanity prevails against all odds.

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