Honoring Front-Line Workers for World Humanitarian Day

This year’s World Humanitarian Day honors our front-line workers — all the real-life heroes who have committed their lives to helping others in the most extreme circumstances throughout the world — now including the global pandemic.

The 2020 global campaign focuses on what drives Humanitarian Workers to continue to save and protect lives despite armed conflict, insecurity, lack of access and risks linked to COVID-19, the biggest challenge to Humanitarian Operations around the world. The lack of access and restrictions placed by Governments around the world has resulted in communities, civil societies and local non-governmental organizations being the frontline of the response.

This year’s campaign presents the inspiring Individual personal stories of some of the #RealLifeHeroes, the Humanitarian aids who are treating and preventing COVID-19, providing food to vulnerable people in need, providing safe spaces for women and girls in lockdown; delivering babies; fighting locusts and running Refugee camps, all amid the pandemic. You can read their stories at  www.worldhumanitarianday.org

“To humanitarian workers everywhere doing important, courageous work on the front lines we say Thank You. You are saving lives every day, and as new challenges and crises are piling on to existing ones, your perseverance is an inspiration…,” — Mark Lowcock, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator

This is the eleventh World Humanitarian Day designated by the UN General Assembly. It falls on the day of the attack on the UN compound in Baghdad on August 19, 2003, which claimed the lives of 22 people including the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello. Since then, nearly 5,000 humanitarians have been killed, wounded or abducted, and the 2010-2019 decade experienced a 117 per cent increase in attacks compared to 2000-2009.

Humanitarian workers have Socially Sparked® our lives in the most selfless and courageous manner. At a time where the world continues to face a global pandemic on top of its most pressing concerns, these #RealLifeHeroes deserve to be honored forever. Join the global conversation today by using the hashtag #RealLifeHeroes. – Forever #SociallySparked  Tweet us @sosparkednews & @asparks01