What happens when a violence or disaster takes place leaving thousands of people in humanitarian crises? In case of such emergencies, we find some humanitarian activists always extending their cooperation and support with a great deal of dedication and devotion to minimize the plights of the people hit by the misfortunes. While rendering hazardous services with the intent of protecting these vulnerable people, they are more likely to embrace the risk of injury or death. The ‘Global Humanitarian Overview 2020’ report says that in 2018, 400 attacks carried out against the aid workers claimed 131 lives while in the first nine months of 2019, 171 deaths were registered against 825 attacks on health workers.
To pay homage to the humanitarian activists including those who were killed or injured during their work, the UN General Assembly declared 19th August as ‘World Humanitarian Day’ to be observed worldwide in the memory of the martyrs who were killed in a bomb attack on the Canal Hotel in Bagdad on this day in 2003.
This year the pandemic COVID-19 has thrown a big challenge to the accessibility of the health and aid workers to the people in humanitarian crises. Due to lockdowns and restrictions on movements imposed by governments across the world the health and aid workers are facing hurdles in providing treatments and foods for the destitute, safe spaces for women and girls, delivering babies, fighting locusts, running refugee camps etc. Therefore, WHD of this year (to be observed on Wednesday) is dedicated to those real life frontline heroes who are showing a great commitment to save and protect the people in need of humanitarian assistance defying all odds hurled by the pandemic.
Globally the number of people requiring humanitarian assistance is increasing in proportion to human-induced disasters like conflicts and violence and natural disasters like climate change and infectious diseases. In some cases, human-induced disasters coupled with natural disasters are intensifying the crises several times.
Armed conflicts are ousting people from their homes, taking students out of schools, putting women and girls at risk of sexual or gender-based violence, early or forced marriage and human trafficking, and limiting the access of the humanitarian workers to the people in need of aid. They are taking a heavy toll on the civilians and children with a record casualty rate. In 2018 more than 12000 children were killed or maimed because of armed conflicts (Global Humanitarian Overview 2020 report). The people who survive the conflicts often undergo mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, post-traumatic disorder, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. In the conflicting areas the health workers are being threatened, injured or killed and healthcare facilities like hospitals, clinics and ambulances are being vandalized with grenades, improvised explosive devices and heavy weapons. The attacks on the healthcare system as well as health and aid workers are denying millions of people the care and aid they badly need.
Due to climate change some countries are experiencing long standing floods, extreme rainfalls, protracted droughts, unexpected cyclones etc. that severely affect the lives and properties of the people and put their food security at risk.
People in some parts of the world are already grappling with infectious and contagious diseases and malnutrition problems. The armed conflicts and climate change are displacing and dislocating them from their homestead and making them refugees. People with disabilities and old age infirmities are becoming the worst sufferers amidst the crises. Economic shocks and rising debts are further adding insults to their injuries. In 2019, 56 million of people who were in need of humanitarian assistance were living in countries laden with debt.
No matter what the causes of their sufferings are, we witnessed some international organizations, government agencies, NGOs and volunteer groups always standing by their side when they are in dire need of humanitarian responses. Very often they have to work for the people with great risks especially in conflicting areas where they are likely to receive attacks from any of the groups.
During this period of Covid-19 pandemic, doctors and health workers are fighting with an unseen virus as frontline soldiers under constraint of protective gears and other medical resources. As such a significant number of healthcare professionals are getting infected by the virus and consequently many of them succumbed to their infection. The pandemic has not only created a medical emergency but also held the reins of the economy impacting the livelihood of the masses. Businesses stopped and many people became jobless following lockdowns declared by the governments across the world. This situation required of humanitarian response to the vulnerable people who could not meet their both ends meet. To save them from starvation, government officials, police and military forces, public representatives, politicians and volunteers worked collaboratively for distributing reliefs from door to door. They also took responsibilities of ensuring the proper burial of the hapless people died of the viral infection, whom their near and dear ones abandoned out of panic. In doing so, many of these humanitarian workers came in direct contact with the virus and some of them even lost their lives.
In this trying time we see a huge number of humanitarian workers dedicate themselves to the cause of the people in dire need of humanitarian assistance. Even the death threat of the Covid-19 could not tilt their indomitable spirit and deviate them from the path of humanitarian activities.World Humanitarian Day will be a perfect occasion to pay homage to these stalwarts of humanity who are showing the excellence of altruism. It is also an opportunity to encourage people around the world to work for humanitarian cause.
(Quazi Saleh Mustanzir, Additional District Magistrate, Pirojpur. Email: [email protected])
