World Humanitarian Day
Tomorrow is World Humanitarian Day, designated by the United Nations as a day to honor those who provide life-saving assistance to others and those who have lost their lives in the cause of duty. The UN chose August 19 for this purpose, as it is the anniversary date of the 2003 Canal Hotel bombing in Baghdad where twenty-two people lost their lives including the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General to Iraq Sergio Vieira de Mello. In recent years, the UN has used this date to draw attention to the humanitarian crises caused by natural disasters. The number of people directly affected by natural disasters has risen each year over the past decade, with about 211 million people directly affected last year. Hazards related to extreme weather present new and difficult challenges that demand more flexible solutions and adaptable humanitarian work. I will not be blogging tomorrow, but I wanted to draw attention to this day. Many businesses will acknowledge World Humanitarian Day on their social networking platforms (the hashtag is #SHAREHUMANITY) by recognizing a humanitarian who has made a difference in the world or committing to support specific humanitarian work.