The United Nations’ (UN) World Humanitarian Day is held on August 19 each year. World Humanitarian Day is a day dedicated to humanitarians worldwide, as well as to increase public understanding of humanitarian assistance activities. The day aims to honor humanitarian workers who have lost their lives or injured themselves in the course of their work, and to acknowledge the ongoing work of humanitarian staff around the world.

World Humanitarian Day was established by the General Assembly of the UN in December 2008 and was first observed in August 2009. The date of August 19 is the anniversary date of the 2003 Canal Hotel bombing in Baghdad where twenty-two people lost their lives including, the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General to Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello.

Also, it offers the opportunity:

• For the public to learn more about the humanitarian community, what aid workers do and the challenges they face
• For nongovernmental and international bodies and UN agencies, to demonstrate their humanitarian activities
• To pay respect to those who have died or been injured in the course of their humanitarian work.

www.worldhumanitarianday.org