ISLAMABAD: The United Nations'(UN) World Humanitarian Day to be observed on August 19th over the world including Pakistan to increase public awareness about humanitarian assistance activities worldwide and the importance of international cooperation.
World Humanitarian Day is a day dedicated to humanitarians worldwide, as well as to increase public understanding of humanitarian assistance activities.
The 2011 theme for World Humanitarian Day is "people helping people".
The day aims to honor humanitarian workers who have lost their lives or injured themselves in the course of their work, and to acknowledge the ongoing work of humanitarian staff around the world.
Many communities and organizations try to increase the importance of humanitarians by distributing publicity and information material.
Humanitarians provide life-saving assistance to millions of people worldwide. They place their own lives at risk to help others in conflict zones and areas of natural hazards.
More than 700 humanitarian workers have died or experienced the most dangerous situations while trying to help those in need.
Humanitarians provide support for different world challenges such as hunger, gender-based violence, refugees and displaced people, help for children, as well as clean water and access to sanitation.
World Humanitarian Day was established by the General Assembly of the UN in December 2008 and was first observed in August 2009.
The date of August 19 is the anniversary date of the 2003 Canal Hotel bombing in Baghdad where twenty-two people lost their lives including, the UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General to Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello.
The total number of people affected by natural disasters has risen over the past decade, and about 211 million people are directly affected each year.
Women and children are especially affected because of their ongoing struggles with poverty, insecurity, hunger, poor health and environmental decline.
The increasing economic crisis and global challenges such as poverty, global health problems, increase prices and the rising number of people on the move, increases the need for humanitarians each year.
Copyright APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2011
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