World Humanitarian Day: A Day To Cherish The Bonds Of Humanity

Bhubaneswar: The United Nations’ World Humanitarian Day is held on August 19 every year. The day seeks to honour all humanitarians who have worked in the promotion of the humanitarian cause, and also those who have lost their lives in the cause of duty. It was established by the UN General Assembly in December 2008 and was first observed in August 2009. The date of August 19 is the anniversary date of the 2003 Canal Hotel bombing in Baghdad where twenty-two people had 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.

Every year on 19 August, World Humanitarian Day brings citizens of the world together to rally support for people living in crises and to pay tribute to the aid workers who are engaged in the task of helping them day and night.

This year the South-Indian state of Kerala, popularly known as God’s Own Country, faced nature’s wrath. The coastal state was hit by heavy monsoon rainfall, which led to the worst floods in nearly a century. Over 330 people died while at least 6,61,000 were reportedly displaced. As per official estimates, property worth Rs 20,000 crore has been damaged in the floods.

People living in the interior pockets of the state were the worst hit. Their dwelling houses and farmlands had submerged under water and they were left stranded at various places, desperately waiting for help from rescue teams.

At this juncture, showing exemplary courage and humanitarian zeal, the rescue teams consisting of armed forces, NGOs and other civil bodies came together to evacuate people from flooded areas to safety, risking their own lives in the process. As a result, 52 teams of central forces including units of the Indian Army and the Indian Navy were dispatched to assist the civilian administration in rescue work and restoration. In addition to this,10 teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) were also sent to Kerala to rescue marooned people.

Besides this, celebrities, media houses, MNCs and even common masses came together in a show of solidarity and humanism for Kerala by making donations in lakhs and crores of rupees, besides other essential commodities like foodgrains, clothes, medicines to help out the flood-hit state in its time of need. It is only because of such selfless efforts that more than 20,000 people have been evacuated so far and the rescue operation has reached its final stage.

These humanitarian aid workers strived hard to provide life-saving assistance and long term rehabilitation to disaster-affected communities of Kerala, without any discrimination based on language, social group, religion, sex, race or any other factor. Their selfless service depicts that humanism is all about an affirmative philosophy where a person devotes his life to one’s own improvement and service of all mankind.

Therefore, on this World Humanitarian Day, let us all remember the spirit of humanitarian assistance that has helped save countless of lives in times of crisis and try to promulgate new ways of implementing the ideals of humanism in the rest of the world to meet continuing and future needs.

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