World Humanitarian Day 2020

August 19, 2020
World Humanitarian Day 2020
World Humanitarian Day honors humanitarian workers killed and injured due to their lifesaving efforts, commemorated each year on August 19. This day was formalized by the United Nations (U.N.) General Assembly in memory of the 2003 bomb attack on the Canal Hotel in Baghdad, Iraq, that killed 22 people, including the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Sergio Vieira de Mello. Today, aid workers are overcoming barriers to access and care and providing lifesaving support to people in conflict and insecurity despite all odds, under conditions that are exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. To engage more with these stories, you can share your own or see the stories of others on the World Humanitarian Day website. To explore further, peruse the UN’s humanitarian heroes photo gallery or read the Global Humanitarian Overview 2020 report, featured in GHELI’s Resource Pack on Migration and Complex Emergencies