World Humanitarian Day

Ladies and gentlemen, we are going to start this official and solemn commemoration.

If I can have your attention, please.

Sorry to remind everybody, but for the phones, if you could put them down, it's always a little bit of a, a good reminder.

Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to this solemn commemoration in which the international community in Geneva comes together like every year to commemorate World Humanitarian Day.

As you know, this is a very important day for the United Nations.

It's a day where we remember our colleagues were fallen in the letter of duty, the victims of attacks, and also the humanitarians that are working in this very moment around the world, bringing support and help to the most vulnerable populations in times of crisis.

This is also the day where 19 years ago, a terrible attack destroyed the UN headquarters in Baghdad, making so many of our colleagues and so many of the local staff lose their life or get wounded.

So I would like to start this ceremony by inviting the survivors and the families of the victims of the attack against the United Nations offices in Baghdad on 19 August 2003 to come and lay flowers at the table.

Thank you very much.

I'd like really to thank you.

You are with us every year, every year, to help us remember our colleagues whose name we see every day, every time we pass in front of this war.

And it's very important for us that we can share with you the pain and the souvenirs of your dear ones.

Thank you.

I would like now to invite the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Iraq to the United Nations office and other international organisation in Geneva to lay flowers at the Red Support Ambassador.

Thank you very much, Ambassador Hashim Mustafa, and now it's my honour to invite our Director General, Tatiana Valuvaya and the UN **** Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, to come and lay flowers.

At this hotel.

Simple.

Thank you very much.

I would like now to invite Mrs Tatiana Valovaya, Director General of the UN Office in Geneva, to deliver her remarks from the restroom.

DG dear survivors, over tax on humanitarian workers, dear families and friends of colleagues lost in humanitarian service, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues, dear friends, I invite you, all those here in Geneva and those joining us virtually from Baghdad, Algier, New York and elsewhere, to join me in a minute of silence.

Thank you.

Today on World Humanitarian Day, we pay respect to our brave colleagues.

We commemorate our lost friends, we honour the strength of the survivors and we recognise the courage of the affected families.

On this day, 19 years ago, the lives of 22 members of the United Nations family were lost in a horrific act of violence in Baghdad.

In December 2007, another ruthless terrorist act in Algiers 'cause the death of 17 UN staff members.

The memorial plaques here behind me are a symbol of our deep respect for the brave colleagues who lost their lives in the service of humanity.

Today we stay united in to honour their lives.

They are no longer with us, but their legacy lives on.

The sacrifice and commitment will stay forever in our hearts and inspire generations to come.

Eight workers across the world have been victims of attacks, which continue to grow every year.

In 2021 alone, 460 humanitarian workers were attacked and 140 killed, 203 wounded and 117 kidnapped.

This happens in South Sudan, Afghanistan, Syria, Mali and other places.

Humanitarian workers have been targeted for what they do, that is, delivering urgent healthcare, shelter, food protection and water, and supporting populations in need of humanitarian assistance.

This is unacceptable.

Today, we pledge to continue then finished mission of our fallen colleagues and uphold the principles of the United Nations humanitarian service and multilateralism on their behalf.

Today, we bow our heads to our colleagues and pay tribute to the thousands of humanitarian aid workers around the globe who are prepared to risk everything in pursuit of a better world.

I am deeply honoured and humbled to share this moment with some of the survivors and families, members of the victims who join us here in Geneva and also online.

Well, Humanitarian Day is also an opportunity to remember the many victims of terrorism, thousands of civilians attacked, injured and killed.

On Sunday, the United Nations will observe the International Day of Remembrance and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism.

the United Nations stands in solidarity with their families who have lost loved ones, the wounded survivors and those whose lives have been forever changed by act of terrorism.

Dear colleagues and friends, humanitarian workers continue their important work across the world despite many challenges.

There are hundreds of thousands of volunteers and professionals who deliver assistance to the most vulnerable.

These people allow life and hope to grow in the desert of despair.

The desert takes many faces and Ukraine is just another example of a war destroying the lives and livelihoods of millions.

The world is currently facing multiple and interconnected challenges and crises.

Violent conflicts, devastating climate change, widespread terrorism, rising tensions between nuclear armed and other states, the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing inequalities, global mistrust, digital divide and lawlessness in the cybersphere.

These and other merging challenges are only going to become more complex in the coming years.

These challenges create more humanitarian needs.

Therefore, they will require more people to help.

Today, we recognise the importance of the humanitarian community, the risks they face and the sacrifices they make.

We also advocate for the safety and security of aid workers across the world.

Thank you all for being here with us today on this very important and solemn occasion.

Thank you very much, Director General, Thank you very much for your speech and I would like to really single out the sentence that you said.

Our humanitarian colleagues, many of whom are here present and elect to recognise also the presence of the **** Commissioner for Refugees, Mr Fipo Grandi.

They allow life and hope to grow in the desert of despair, as you said, and this is exactly what we all feel.

And on this, I would like now to give the floor to the **** Commissioner for Human Right, Michelle Bachelet, for her remarks.

Dear Director General, dear families and friends of colleagues lost in their service for humanitarian work.

Colleagues and friends, it is my honour to join you today.

19 years ago, one of the darkest days in the history of the United Nations, 22 staff members, including my predecessor, Sergio Vieira Dimelo, were killed in a Canal Hotel bombing in Baghdad.

Today we come together to remember this and the many other brave colleagues whose lives we're taking in the service of human rights and humanitarian action.

Today we honour their courage and that of the many others in the quest for a safer and more equal world.

Each of them have great hardships and spend time separated from loved ones because they believed in the work of helping others and in building more fair societies.

We also paid tribute to the survivors of these tragedies and the ones left behind, the family members, the colleagues, the friends, the loved ones, some of whom are with us today.

You're strength in continuing to honour the memory of your loved ones amid the pain and the grief.

And it's a testament of the human spirit and will remain with me today.

We stand together, hand in hand in support of the children, parents, siblings, colleagues and communities of the fallen.

And we remember these colleagues continue to be part of each of us as part of the fabric of the humanitarian human rights community.

Their memory continues to live on, live on in each of us in our approach to our work and life.

Their commitment and ultimate sacrifice are no are an indelibable part of our history, present and future.

In tribute to our fallen colleagues, we continue to stand up to protect the rights of all people everywhere.

We amplify the voice of the excluded, the marginalised, and raise our own voice to denounce wrongdoing and to demand change.

We persevere because we know that to do the opposite will lead to unimaginable horrors.

For many of us, this is our life's work, a calling as eloquently stated by the late Kofi Annan.

But with this work comes a unique exposure.

The work of human rights and humanitarian action comes a unique exposure and vulnerability to harm, human suffering and unfortunately tragedies will continue to occur in many of the difficult zones around the world where we were.

And while we cannot entirely about trauma, we do need to take better care of each other and to react quicker in the face certain signs.

I urge us all to support each other along the way, which is very much this.

In the spirit of the global campaign of this year's World Humanitarian Day.

It takes a village.

Over the course of my four years as **** Commissioner, I have been dismayed by the growing polarisation and divisive rhetoric and behaviour.

This has played out not only on the world stage but also in the media and on our screens.

But I have also been encouraged by the human rights defenders, humanitarian workers and community members I have met who, despite many obstacles, have realised that by joining forces together they can make a difference.

They consistently remind me that solidarity is the very essence of our humanity.

I just came back from Bangladesh yesterday and I went to Cox Bazar.

I was telling Filippo how great the work all humanitarian workers aren't doing there.

This message is needed today more than ever, because we are stronger together, whether in times of triumph or tragedy.

Dear friends, today we pay tribute to the legacy of our fallen colleagues by living up to their example.

By continuing to work bravely and with humility, equipped with the principles and values that lie at the heart of human rights, but also of humanitarian work, justice, fairness, inclusion, accountability.

By continuing to work to tackle discrimination, hate and violence.

By pushing for accountability for justice, for changes in laws and social behaviour.

This is crucial work to create safer, more equal and more peaceful societies.

Let's remain steadfast in our own commitment to continue this important work when our courage falters.

Let the memory and courage of those we honour today help us persevere, and let's commit to supporting each other on this difficult but important journey.

As one community of humanitarian and human rights workers, I have been proud to lead the UN Human Rights Office this past four years, having met and worked with dedicated and courageous people and their families across the UN and beyond.

In their acts of courage, of defence and protection of others, they exhibit the very humanity that lies at the core of our mission as we stand In memory of our fallen colleagues, I thank you all for your service.

Thank you very much.

Hi, Commissioner Bachelet, and thank for giving us a very strong impression of your last trip of the world, of our humanitarian colleagues.

And now I would like to invite Mr Bradford Smith, who is the Executive Secretary Secretary of the Staff Union at the UN office at Geneva, to come and deliver his speech.

Dear Director General, **** Commissioner of Human Rights, Excellencies, colleagues and friends, on this World Humanitarian Day and every day, we stand in solidarity with humanitarian aid workers and all UN staff serving in **** risk environments.

We recognise their tremendous courage and sacrifice and celebrate their tireless efforts to save lives, preserve human dignity and alleviate suffering.

Their selfless commitment and actions stand as an as an example to us all.

We pay tribute to the UN staff who have made the ultimate sacrifice, advocating for and providing life saving aid and delivering on their mandates in the to the most vulnerable in society and also to their families who have had to carry on with great difficulty without their loved ones.

Attacks and intimidation or threats against UN staff are unacceptable.

We strongly condemn this violence and call on governments, regimes and all parties and conflict regions to make sure the safety of all UN staff so that life saving assistance can reach the people who depend on it and so that other mandates can be achieved for the benefit of the countries in which they serve.

We also call on the United Nations to ensure the safety and security of staff, including national staff, to the fullest extent possible in order to protect the UNS greatest asset.

The Organisation Duty of Care Obligation covers all staff in all environments.

This duty of care includes mental health and well-being and this is a fundamental importance to all staff wherever they operate.

Staff suffering from trauma must be supported to ensure their mental and social well-being and to continue their careers.

The Enoch Staff Union, in the aftermath of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, raised the issue of the safety and security of staff with the Secretary General and with other heads of entities, in particular with respect to national staff.

We also raised the issue of better contingency measures with the Under Secretary General for Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance and the Under Secretary General of the Department for Safety and Security, including through our global federation, SISWA and its staff management consultations.

We will continue to engage with senior management to ensure the safety and security of all staff.

May we never forget our brave colleagues and friends who have lost their lives in the line of duty, and let us not forget the families and friends that they have left behind.

They will always remain with us in our hearts and may their memories carry on in the work that we do.

But it's also not forget survivors who have been traumatised and are in need of our support and also currently serving staff who face challenges and risks every day.

They all deserve our support and the support of the organisation.

I thank you for your time.

Thank you very much, Mrs.

Smith, and it is now my honour to invite His Excellency Mr Abdul Karim Ashim Mustafa, Permanent Representatives of the Republic of Iraq, to the United Nations office in Geneva to come and deliver his remarks from the podium.

Ambassador.

Dear survivors of attacks on humanitarian workers.

Dear families and friends of victim victims lost in humanitarian service, Director General Mrs Tatiana Valvaya, **** Commissioner for Human Right, Mrs Michelle Bachelet.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am humbly honoured to stand here again and commemorate with you the loss of all those who served human right causes to make the world a better place.

It has been 19 years since the memory of the 19th of August 2003 bomb attack on the Canal Hotel in Baghdad, resulting in the dramatic loss of the United Nations Special Representative in Iraq, Mr Sergio Vera de Milo and number of his courageous fellows.

Four years after this horrific crime, the ward witnessed the loss of 17th United Nations staff members caused by another terrorist attack in Algeria in December 2007.

We honour those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.

We pay tribute to the courageousness and commitment of those who continue to help people around the world by promoting humanitarian values.

Also, we honour the legacy of fallen people who have perished on duty.

Ladies and gentlemen, I would also like to take advantage of this opportunity to pay tribute to the thousands of civilian who were attacked, injured or killed in terrorist acts worldwide.

On the same date after six years, 19th of August 2009, Iraq witness witnessed A genuinely national tragedy where a suicide truck bomb exploded outside the Ministry of Foreign Affair, leading to the loss of 47 of our dear colleagues and almost 600 wounded.

Here I want to stress that terrorism has never deterred survivors of the Canal Hotel bombing from continuing their noble mission with dignity and persistence, nor our colleagues in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who are still performing their duty with determination today.

Four of our colleagues in the Permanent Mission of Iraq and Geneva are also survivors of the terrorist attack.

Each one has his or her own story and memory of that tragic day.

Standing in solidarity with the families who have lost loved ones, I salute their bravery and resilience as they represent living examples, proving that the effort of terrorism to spread darkness and fear will never prevail.

We joined the United Nations and international community in commemorating the 21st of August to observe the International Day of Rememberedness and a tribute to the victim of terrorism.

Distinguished delegates, I would like to renew our commitment to support all actions for relieving suffering of victims and reaffirm Iraq's strong willingness to continue its effort to fight against terrorism.

Finally, on behalf of my Government, I would like to extend sincere thanks and the gratitude to the members of all UN missions performing their duties in Baghdad to continue the noble mission of Demilo and stressing the importance of achieving stability, prosperity and security in Iraq.

Allow me to extend warm condolences to the family of Mr Sergio Vera Demilo and families of victims, their friends, their colleagues.

Let us mourn the loss of all humanitarian workers who sacrificed their lives for an honourable cause.

We mourn the loss of our colleagues in 2009 as well as our colleagues in 2003.

Our prayers are with their families.

Peace be upon their souls.

Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr Ambassador, and I would like to invite now Mr Ramesh Rajasingam, Director of Coordination Division and Head of the Geneva Office of OCHA, to deliver his remarks.

Dear Director General, **** Commissioner for Human Rights, **** Commissioner for Refugees, Excellencies, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, today on on this on this World Humanitarian Day, I remember my colleague whose casket I had to accompany across America back to her family.

They were inconsolable as they gathered around her casket and hugged it as the same memory that's indelibly, indelibly etched in my mind.

That helps us to better understand what all the families and friends of all those colleagues who have been killed in the line of duty have had to go through, including the 141 aid workers killed in 2021.

Today, we acknowledge all these aid workers around the world who step up every day on the front lines to save and improve the lives of people affected by humanitarian crises.

Almost 20 years after that tragic day in Baghdad, their work remains indispensable and and as the world is confronted by record-breaking humanitarian needs, we in the aid community are grappling with the toll of a mega crisis.

The devastating combination of conflicts, the climate emergency, the pandemic, rising prices and poverty have caused the number of people who need humanitarian assistance to reach a record 303 million.

At the same time, aid workers are working increasingly dangerous and unstable places and I've been killed, injured, kidnapped and harassed on a daily basis.

National aid workers are indeed most at risk.

Last year more than 460 aid workers were victims of attacks and as you've heard, more than 140 of them were killed.

Of these, 98% were national aid workers.

They carry most of the risk to deliver life saving assistance.

Sadly, this marks the highest number of aid worker fatalities recorded since 2013.

This year looks just as grim.

Almost 170 aid workers have been attacked, leading to 44 fatalities so far.

All but two of them were national staff, again highlighting the perils that our national colleagues often face.

But even amid the great personal risks, in the most challenging context where people I need, there are others who step up to help them.

Excellencies and colleagues, there is a saying, it takes a village to raise a child and similarly it takes a village to support a woman, man or child in a humanitarian crisis.

And this indeed is what humanity is all about.

This village is made-up of affected communities themselves, always first to respond when the crisis strikes, backed by support of system of national emergency services, local businesses and civil society, non governmental organisations, UN agencies, the Red Cross and Red Crescent families and others.

Many are international aid workers, but the vast majority of humanitarians are from the crisis affected countries themselves.

And far from the spotlight and out of the headlines, they work day and night together to bring help and hope, delivering health care, shelter, food protection, water and emergency education and much, much more.

With their dedication, perseverance and self sacrifice, they truly represent the best of humanity.

To mark this year's World Humanity Day, we have also launched a global campaign with The Hash Tag.

It takes a village to shine a light on the hundreds of thousands of humanitarians who deliver aid to those in need and to show how they come together to make the world a better place.

We invite everyone to join the campaign via the World Humanitarian Day website and on social media.

Raising awareness indeed matters here.

And I'm pleased also to launch today, on behalf of the United Nations Postal Administration, a series of beautifully illustrated postal stamps dedicated to this year's World Humanitarian Day, which you can see on the poster.

A special thanks to the Ukrainian illustrator Olga Stonder for creating such compelling, inspiring and and exciting artwork that captures the heart of this year's campaign.

The stands are available as of Friday.

And on this special day and without campaign, we honour and thank humanitarians around the world for the enduring courage and conviction and let them be an inspiration for us to never give up.

Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr Rajasin.

Ladies and gentlemen, this brings our solemn ceremony to a conclusion.

I would like to thank very, very much all the organisers of this commemoration, also our colleagues of UNTV who has allowed us to bring the ceremony outside the Palais.

I would like to thank you all very much, participants, the families who are with us.

And to close this event, I would like to recall the words of the Secretary General in his message to this day.

The Secretary General said on World Humanitarian Day we celebrate humanitarians everywhere, He said.

They represent the best of humanity.

But the Secretary General, who is now in Odessa in Ukraine, where he has visited the facilities where the sheep ships are living in the framework of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, he has made a very strong appeal.

On the occasion of World Humanitarian Day, which I would like to bring to you, he said let us spare no effort to work for peace.

He continued, saying peace in line with the United Nations Charter and international law.

And he concluded by saying this is the best way to mark World Humanitarian Day and help set the course for a more just and peaceful world for all.

Thank you very much.