Not a target

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The Humanitarian Coalition calls on Canadians to honour humanitarians, protect civilians by signing UN petition

Tomorrow marks World Humanitarian Day, established by the United Nations to acknowledge the work and immense sacrifices of humanitarian workers around the world who bring assistance and relief to people and communities affected by disasters, and to honour the lives of workers who have died in the line of duty.

To mark this day, the Humanitarian Coalition supports the United Nations #NotATarget campaign and calls on the international community to pursue peaceful solutions to these conflicts and ensure the protection of civilians and humanitarian workers is always a priority.

We encourage Canadians to sign the UN’s petition and make their voices heard to leaders around the world.

There are millions of civilians – men, women and children – suffering because of humanitarian crises and armed conflict. Civilians and humanitarian aid workers are “Not A Target”.

We take this time to thank and honour humanitarian aid workers everywhere for their efforts to save lives and preserve human dignity.

According to the partnership Humanitarian Outcomes, since the beginning of 2017, 144 humanitarian aid workers were attacked in 54 incidents, with 80 killed, 28 wounded and 46 kidnapped. The majority those, 132, were national aid workers, with the most attacks taking place in Syria (18) and South Sudan (12). In 2016, 288 aid workers were attacked and in 2015, the number was 287.

In one of the latest incidents, seven members of Syria’s White Helmets were killed on August 12.

World Humanitarian Day was created by the UN General Assembly in 2008 in memory of the 22 people killed in a terrorist attack on UN headquarters in Baghdad, in 2003.