Recognising those who work in the service of humanity

By Delia Chatoor

At its meeting on December 11, 2008, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) agreed to the annual recognition of August 19, as World Humanitarian Day.

This annual event has been granted that recognition in order to pay tribute to humanitarian workers who “risk their lives” to assist those in need and to formulate programmes calling for a more humane world.

In 2016, world leaders met in Istanbul for the World Humanitarian Summit at which decisions were adopted to support calls for the New Agenda for Humanity and to commit to the adoption of definitive action “to reduce suffering and deliver better care for the millions of people in need of humanitarian assistance.”

The lofty recommendations were meant to demonstrate the reality that we are all indeed members of the global family with the responsibility to ensure that the vulnerable would be cared for and that no one would be left behind.

The international community  has had to face the ever-growing impact of climate change, ongoing and new threats to international peace and security, socio-economic challenges. Humanitarian workers are being overwhelmed with the reduction in financial resources to facilitate the realistic implementation of programmes.

National budgets are also under serious strains as funds must be allocated to emergency response, disaster preparedness and mitigation.

It has also become obvious that humanitarian crises place additional burdens on processes which engender respect for and implementation of various facets of International Law and can range from alleged breaches of International Humanitarian Law, Human Rights Law, refugee law, and environmental law, to identify a few.

For any form of humanitarian assistance to be achievable, international co-operation is critical and essential. The saying that “no man is an island” is relevant with the role of the United Nations and its supporting specialised agencies, commissions, committees, bodies being pivotal.

To this must be added the strengthening of partnerships with civil society and other international bodies such as ecclesial agencies.

The World Humanitarian Day, therefore, is meant to increase public awareness of the necessity to facilitate assistance to bodies and staff involved in their work. Special honour must be extended to the millions of humanitarian actors who give of their time, talent, and treasure and at times their lives. The co-ordination of good-neighbourliness must be accorded pride of place.

In the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Lk 10:25–37), a lawyer asked Jesus, “who is my neighbour?”. Through the Parable, Jesus showed the importance to love and care for each other. This goes beyond the religious persuasion, nationality, ethnicity, or the social status of those in need.

The commitments made at the World Humanitarian Summit must continue to be implemented so that the most vulnerable and the millions at risk would be able to survive.

The 2022 United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) Report, Global Trend Report, noted that “at the end of 2022,108.4 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced as a result of persecution, conflict, violence, human rights abuses and events seriously disturbing public order.”

Humanitarian support at such times must, therefore, be guided by the principles of neutrality, humanity, impartiality, and independence.

As the international community once again commemorates World Humanitarian Day, we are called upon to recognise the global challenges and pay tribute to all humanitarian personnel who offer themselves to the service of humanity.

Delia Chatoor is a retired foreign service officer and a Lay Minister of the Our Lady of Perpetual Help, San Fernando Parish.