World Humanitarian Day

As UN statistics go, the numbers are even more alarming than meets the eye: More than 4.0 million Syrians are now refugees in neighboring countries, including Turkey, Iraq and Lebanon.
 
And more troubling, at least an additional 7.6 million people have been displaced within Syria – all of them in need of humanitarian assistance — and over 220,000 have been killed in a military conflict now on its fifth year.
 
Besides Syria, Afghanistan and Yemen, the humanitarian crisis has also impacted heavily on Sudan, South Sudan, the Horn of Africa, Chad, the Central African Republic, Myanmar and Bangladesh, among others. As a consequence, the humanitarian system is overwhelmed and underfunded at a time when natural hazards are projected to increase in both frequency and severity at the same time as the world must respond to unprecedented protracted crises like the conflict in Syria.
 
According to the UN, this year’s World Humanitarian Day campaign, beginning Aug. 19, reflects a world where humanitarian needs are far outstripping the aid community’s capacity to help the millions of people affected by natural disasters, conflict, hunger and disease.
 
It’s an important opportunity to stop and honor the brave women and men who work tirelessly around the world every day to save lives in incredibly difficult circumstances.
 
Millions of people around the world depend on the global humanitarian system, and this is in no small part due to the committed and compassionate people who are struggling to make the system work despite declining resources and increasing need. These reforms will make the system more effective and better equip these dedicated humanitarians to save lives and ease suffering.
 
It’s a wake-up call. The United Nations and the greater humanitarian system needs to be reformed – and informed - to be more efficient and to better respond to needs by supporting local leadership and capacity and funding programs that help communities reduce the impact of disasters before emergencies occur.
 
It’s troubling to hear that a social media campaign – sharehumanity – is already underway to build momentum towards the first-ever World Humanitarian Summit, scheduled to take place in Istanbul next May. This is while Turkey is actually one of the main actors that created this whole mess in Syria in the first place!

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