The United Nations Office at Geneva
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OCHA: WHD Stand in solidarity - 19 August 2024
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The UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, organised “stand in solidarity” events around the world to mark World Humanitarian Day on Monday 19 August 2024. The gatherings aimed to spotlight the toll of armed conflicts on aid workers, recognize their courageous efforts on the front lines and reject the normalization of civilian suffering and the targeting of humanitarians.
In Geneva, Ramesh Rajasingham, Head and Representative of OCHA Geneva, addressed UN staff who came together in support of the 'Act For Humanity' campaign.
Teleprompter
right
last year was the deadliest.
And we don't need to remind you the
year that we've ever faced as humanitarians.
280 of us were killed
in 33 countries,
and so far this year,
in August after August,
172 of our colleagues have been killed in the line of duty.
And unfortunately, throughout this whole process, impunity reigns.
So there's little to no justice for all these attacks and these killings,
this level of violence is unacceptable.
It's unconscionable
and enormously harmful for our work.
And the most outrageous example of all of this
is in Gaza
the largest number of UN staff ever killed in any any single operation,
simply unconscionable.
And we So we pay tribute to our colleagues at UNRWA
and we stand firm with you and we stand behind you.
But also places like Sudan,
south Sudan and others
are also equally deadly.
And we want to be seen and our message heard
so that we have and and in that case,
we would have these photographs from this event shared around the world.
Our message is urgent.
The world is ready to protect us
and the people we serve, and we demand that those in power and those responsible
act to end these violations and impunity.
And this message that we have with all of you here
will let us have be circulated around.