August 19 of every year is set aside as World Humanitarian Day by the United Nations and this year was not an exception as it was commemorated at the United Nations Headquarters with series of programmes which climaxed with the launch of the #NotATarget campaign.
The campaign according to Secretary-General António Guterres highlights the need to protect civilians caught in conflict, including humanitarian and medical workers from attacks while carrying out their humanitarian mission in war torn zones.
He said “For the millions of people caught in conflict, struggling to find food, water, and safe shelter; who have been driven from their homes with little hope of return; whose schools have been bombed; and who await life-saving medical care – we cannot afford to fail,”
The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’Brien who spoke on the challenges confronting aid workers around the globe said, “Last year, 288 aid workers were targeted in 158 attacks. In the past three months alone, relief workers have been shelled and shot at, kidnapped and killed in Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan and Syria,” a situation he describes as unacceptable.
The #NotATarget hashtag originally coined by Médecins Sans Frontières in 2015, is being used in the World Humanitarian Day digital campaign this year to call for action on behalf of all civilians trapped in conflicts.
