Dans de nombreuses régions du globe, les humanitaires travaillent,
parfois au péril de leur vie, souvent dans l'anonymat le plus total.
Même s'ils accomplissent un travail de fourmi, leurs interventions sont
indispensables et permettent souvent à des populations de retrouver un
minimum de dignité.
L'ONU a promulgué le 19 août, Journée Mondiale de l'aide humanitaire en
espérant sensibiliser l'opinion publique à l'assistance humanitaire et à
la nécessité de soutenir ces actions partout dans le monde.
Un don même minime peut représenter beaucoup s'il est bien utilisé sur le terrain.
"Les travailleurs humanitaires sont ceux que nous dépêchons sur
place pour montrer notre solidarité avec ceux qui souffrent. Ils
représentent ce qu’il y a de meilleur dans la nature humaine mais leur
travail est dangereux..."
M. Ban Ki-moon, Secrétaire général de l'ONUJournée mondiale de l'aide humanitaire 2010 (réf: http://www.journee-mondiale.com/246/journee-mondiale-de-l-aide-humanitaire.htm
 |
| In memory of Sergio Vieira de Mello (1948-2003) |
The United Nations General Assembly
has designated 19 August as “World Humanitarian
Day” to pay tribute to aid workers in humanitarian
service in difficult and often dangerous
conditions. 19 August was designated in memory of
the 19 August 2003 bombing of the UN office
building in Baghdad, Iraq in which Sergio Vieira
de Mello, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
and at the time Special Representative of the UN
Secretary General was killed along with 21 UN
staff members. Over 200 UN employees were injured.
The exact circumstances of the attack are not
known, and why USA and UN security around the
building was not tighter is still not clear. A
truck with explosives was able to dive next to the
building and then blew itself up.
Sergio de Mellow had spent
his UN career in humanitarian efforts, often with
the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees and
at other times
as Special Representative of the UN Secretary
General. As an NGO representative to the UN in
Geneva and active on human rights issues, I knew him
during his short 2002-2003 tenure as High
Commissioner for Human Rights. Many of us had high
hopes that his dynamism, relative youth (he was 54)
and wide experience in conflict resolution efforts
would provide new possibilities for human rights
efforts. His death along with the death of others
who had been Geneva-based was a stark reminder of
the risks that exist for all engaged in humanitarian
and conflict resolution work.
This year the risks and
dangers are not just memories but are daily news. On
3 May 2016, the UN Security Council unanimously
adopted Resolution 2286 calling for greater
protection for health care institutions and
personnel in light of recent attacks against
hospitals and clinics in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, South
Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, and
Afghanistan. These
attacks on medical facilities are too frequent to be
considered “collateral damage.” The attacks indicate
a dangerous trend of non-compliance with world law
by both State and non- State agents. The
protection of medical personnel and the treatment of
all the wounded − both allies and enemies − goes
back to the start of humanitarian law.
The laws of war, now more
often called humanitarian law, have two wings, one
dealing with the treatment of medical personnel in
armed conflict situations, the military wounded,
prisoners of war, and the protection of civilians.
This wing is represented by the Geneva (Red Cross)
Conventions. The second wing, often called The Hague
Conventions limit or ban outright the use of certain
categories of weapons. These efforts began
at The Hague with the 1900 peace conferences and
have continued even if the more recent limitations
on land mines, cluster weapons and chemical weapons
have been negotiated elsewhere.
The current situation
concerning refugees and internally-displaced persons
can also be considered as part of humanitarian law. Thus those
working with refugees and the displaced within their
country are also to be honored by the World
Humanitarian Day.
To prevent and alleviate human suffering, to
protect life and health and to ensure respect for
the human person − these are the core values of
humanitarian law.
There needs to be a wide
public outcry in the defense of humanitarian law so
that violations can be reduced. The time for action
is now.
*****************************
Rene Wadlow,
President, Association of World Citizens
