World Humanitarian Day 2024: The time is now to #ActforHumanity and #ProtectHumanity
It’s only natural that when we hear of danger — an outbreak of infectious disease, rising flood waters, a fast-moving fire or of people being injured by violence – that we instinctively want to go the other way.But there is also a natural human instinct to want to help and, if necessary, move toward the impending danger to see what we can do.Today, on World Humanitarian Day (19 August, 2024) we honor those around the world who #ActforHumanity every day by facing any number of dangers in order to bring life-saving first-aid, medical attention or other forms help to people impacted by the crisis.We also demand, via the IFRC's #ProtectHumanity campaign launched today, that all humanitarian volunteers and workers are fully protected from harm or violence as they carry out their life-saving work.Ordinary herosThese volunteers and humanitarian workers are not super-heroes. They are ordinary people, bolstered by their compulsion to help others, and equipped with the training and experience on how to respond during emergencies.These volunteers are not without fear, however. They have been trained to handle difficult situations and protect themselves as best as possible but that training cannot fully protect them if they are not given the full respect, access and support they deserve as they work urgently to save lives.They are people likeHélène Mula, a volunteer with the Red Cross of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who brings life-saving information to communities now confronted with a deadly emerging mpox outbreak.“At first I was scared about going into communities to talk about mpox and the risks,”she says. “Because I know it can spread from person to person. But it’s okay to be scared. I am a volunteer, I have no choice but to go and try to save lives.”Or it’s people like Dil Mohammed, aged 46, one of roughly 3,300 Red Cross Red Crescent volunteers who serve as the bedrock of community readiness and emergency response within the Cox’s Bazar settlements for displaced people in Bangladesh.Dil is one of the many unsung heroes of disaster preparedness and response in a place where cyclones pose a perpetual threat. "People know we will be there for them if they need us during any disaster," he says.For Hamasseo Borotia of the Cameroon Red Cross it’s about helping people in local communities avoid the dangers of deadly infectious diseases such as cholera. "I'm happy to help protect my community from contagious diseases,”says Hamasseo. “Seeing that the information I pass on is put into practice and that the community is better off fills me with pride.”Others face daily, life-treatening dangers while working in active combat zones. And they know what it's like to lose colleagues who are killed as they try to help others.Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance driver Jihad Mansour is reminded of that loss every time he opens the door of his locker at his local branch office. On that locker door, he has posted a photo of his close friend and colleague Fadi Al-Maani, killed earlier this year while on duty.“Every time I open the closet, memories of my dear friend and colleague Fadi Al-Maani come back to me,” he says, recalling other colleagues lost while on duty. “We enjoyed a lot of beautiful days and years together and losing them deeply affected us, leaving us emotionally drained. But we will continue our humanitarian mission until the very end.”Mohammed Alburai also understands that loss. And like Mansour, his passion to help his fellow human beings continues unabated. Alburai was a volunteer ambulance crew member for the Palestine Red Crescent before he and his family moved to Slovenia due to insecurity in Gaza.“Sometimes as a volunteer, you go out to do your job and you don't know if you will meet your family again or not, you don't know if you will get back home or not,”he recalls. “But the volunteers never stop helping others … They are the heroes for humanity at this time.”Now Alburai works as a Red Cross volunteer in Slovenia where he helps fellow refugees cope in their new surroundings.Time to #ActforHumanity and#ProtectHumanity All these volunteers are an example of the many different ways humanitarian volunteers and workers are making a difference and saving lives despite the multiple dangers they themselves face. Today on World Humanitarian Day, we honor such volunteers and we demand they get the support, protection and respect they deserve.Sadly, the world is now failing humanitarian workers and the people they serve. This year alone, 28 Red Cross and Red Crescent humanitarian volunteers have been killed in the line of duty — killed while simply trying to save the lives of others.This is why today we launch theProtect Humanity Campaign, which demands safety and protection for humanitarian workers and highlights the alarming number of our volunteers and staff who have been killed while performing their duties since the beginning of the year.In a joint statement announcing the campaign, IFRC President, Kate Forbes, and the IFRC Secretary General, Jagan Chapagain, said:“This period has seen some of the highest levels of global violence against our volunteers and staff. Even one life lost is far too many. We have reached a tipping point where we must demand the safety and protection of our workers."The IFRC asks you to join this campaign, launched during a 'Stand in Solidarity' event at IFRC headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland on World Humanitarian Day. This solidarity is critical because, as Mohammed Alburai knows well, volunteers will continue to work on behalf of humanity despite the dangers. And they need us standing behind them.“We will not stop what we do as Red Cross Red Crescent Movement,”he says. “We are neutral and we support all humans. But we need this to change. If we still continue acting like this, what kind of future we will be building for the future?”
