UNIS/SGSM/1335
18 August 2023
This year’s World Humanitarian Day marks the 20th anniversary of the deadly attack on the Canal Hotel in Baghdad.
On that dark day, we lost 22 colleagues, including Special Representative Sergio Vieira de Mello.
That tragedy marked a change in the way humanitarians operate.
Because today, although humanitarians are respected around the world, they may also be targeted by those who would do them harm.
This year, global humanitarian operations aim to get life-saving aid to 250 million people in 69 countries – ten times more than at the time of the Canal Hotel bombing.
Sadly, funding is far off track. As crises multiply, it is unacceptable that humanitarians are being forced to reduce aid to millions of people in need.
Other challenges have also multiplied over the past twenty years:
Rising geopolitical tensions;
A blatant disregard for international humanitarian and human rights law;
Deliberate assault and disinformation campaigns.
Humanitarianism itself is now under attack.
But these tests have made the global humanitarian community stronger.
Humanitarians – who are mostly national staff working in their own countries – are even closer to the people they serve.
They are finding new ways to venture deeper into disaster-stricken regions, and closer to the front lines of conflict, driven by a single purpose: to save and protect lives.
On this World Humanitarian Day, we salute the courage and dedication of humanitarian aid workers everywhere.
We reaffirm our full support for their determined and life-saving efforts across the world.
We celebrate their unwavering dedication to serve ALL people in need:
No matter who, no matter where; no matter what.
Thank you.
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Barbados signed and deposited its instrument of ratification for the United Nations Convention on the International Effects of Judicial Sales of Ships (the “Beijing Convention on the Judicial Sale of Ships”) at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on 8 May 2025.
Journalists are invited to cover the 34th session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) to be held from 19 to 23 May in Vienna, Austria.
"On this Day of Vesak, I extend my warmest wishes to Buddhists worldwide as they commemorate the birth, enlightenment, and passing of the Buddha." — António Guterres
"In a world plagued by conflict and division, World Press Freedom Day highlights a fundamental truth: Freedom for people depends on freedom of the press." — António Guterres
