The World Needs More #__________
What do you think the world need more of ...?
Today is World Humanitarian Day.
The day was established by the UN in 2008 to honour those who have lost their lives in humanitarian service and those who continue to bring assistance and relief to others.
The date designated for the day, 19th August, was chosen as it was on that day in 2003 (ten years ago today) when a terrorist attack was launched on the UN hadquarters in Baghdad, killing 22 people including the UN envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello.
It also aims to draw attention to the humanitarian needs of people around the world and the importance of international cooperation in helping to meet those needs.
Now, to be honest … I didn’t really know anything about this day – and remember thinking to myself when I saw it on the list of UN Commemorative days, that it seemed odd to have a day which commemorated an ethic of kindness.
I didn’t really know about the attack in Baghdad, either. It’s one of the disadvantages I have found of being an expat … things happen in the world and you don’t always manage to keep up with the news as you might at home because its all in a different language and requires greater concentration and effort to absorb the details of various news reports.
It’s a lot easier these days – thanks to the internet … and the 15 or 20 minutes that I spend at the beginning of each day scouring the webpages of different news organizations, helps me to keep in touch with what is happening in the wider world.
It’s probably just a sign of my advancing age – but I can’t help thinking that there is more and more coverage of people in need – victims of disasters – be they natural or man-made: the result of an earthquake, Tsunami, floods, drought, famine, war, riot, civil strife, terrorism … and the like. I doubt if there really are more earthquakes, tornadoes, wars and atrocities than their used to be – but there is more news of them being made readily available to us – wall-to-wall or blanket coverage in the media … until the next big story breaks.
News of each disaster seems to be followed by an appeal for help … with dramatic and graphic displays of the suffering felt and experienced by those affected, (usually the world’s poorest, most marginalized and vulnerable individuals).
Sometimes, the media draw attention to the people who are striving to bring assistance, both saving lives and helping people to cope with the aftermath of the disaster – the long term rehabilitation of disaster-affected communities. Some of these “aid workers” may well be “strangers in a foreign land”, most of them actually come from the country in which they work. They reflect all cultures, ideologies and backgrounds and are united by their commitment to humanitarianism – a desire to help those in need, who are worse off than themselves … oh, and yes … the fact that they often find themselves “in harm’s way” in order to do so.
Humanitarian aid is based on principles such as humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence … One of the principles of humanitarianism is to see a human being as just that – another human being … a person in need regardless of age, caste, gender, nationality. religion,sexual orientation, tribe, or any other distinguishing factor.
Those who are working to bring aid to those suffering and in need deserve to be respected, … and to be able to “get on with their job”.
Responding to emergencies such as a disaster, however, is only one aspect of humanitarian work. Humanitarian workers also support communities to rebuild their lives after disasters, “to become more resilient to future crises, to advocate for their voices to be heard, and to build lasting and sustainable peace in areas of conflict.”
As is the case with other UN designated commemorative days, each year a theme is chosen to help local communities focus their efforts and activities.
This year, the organizers of the World Humanitarian Day have come up with an intriguing and innovative idea … suitable for the modern world of social media, a “marketplace for words”. The first of its kind – to turn words into aid.
Words, they say, are a powerful currency; “the most powerful currency we have.” We use them to express ourselves as a path to diplomacy, peace and understanding.
They have sought sponsors, (organizations like Barclays Bank, Gucci, intel, the Sergio Vieira de Mello Foundation and Western Union … or simply individuals), for different words to complete the sentence: The World Needs More __________ . Then they ask people to think about the sentence and share their word in a tweet on twitter using the hashtag #the world needs more … or to “share the word on their website, and the sponsors will donate $1 for use by different organizations in different parts of the world each time their word is shared.
Words like:
#acceptance. #action, #aid, #altruism, #appreciation, #assistance, #bravery, #change, #choices, #community, #coordination, #development, #disarmament, #equality, #food, #giving, #good, #greatness, #happiness, #healthcare, #healthy families, #homes, #human development, #heroes, #humanity, #inclusion, #justice, #laughter, #love, #mental health care, #nutrition, #passion, #peace, #pioneers, #possibilities, #protection, #reconciliation, #reconstruction, #rights, #safety, #sanitation, #school meals, #shelter, #smiles, #strength, #sustainability, #teamwork, #understanding, #voices, #volunteers, #water, #wonder, and #zeal
What word would you choice? … the trouble is I think that they all, (well, maybe with one or two exceptions), all valid choices … and there are some possible good candidates that are missing from that list … but it’s not like an election where you can only “vote” once.
At the time of writing this, they’ve raised almost a quarter of a million dollars which will be spread among over 600 organizations that are helping something like 73 million people in 24 countries. That may not seem like a lot or that will go very far – but it’s a good start and an imaginative idea.
Bishkek