UN Remembers Slain Workers on World Humanitarian Day

The United Nations European headquarters in Geneva held a solemn ceremony on Wednesday to honor humanitarian workers who have lost their lives in the line of duty. The event, part of the World Humanitarian Day commemorations, paid special tribute to the 22 individuals killed in the 2003 terrorist bombing of the UN complex in Baghdad. Flags at UN offices in Geneva, New York, and other cities were lowered to half-mast in remembrance. At the Geneva headquarters, UN officials, diplomats, and families of the deceased lit candles and laid floral tributes near remnants of a UN flag recovered from the Baghdad bombing site. Among the victims of that attack was Sergio Vieira de Mello, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and Special Representative for Iraq. "The risks that Sergio and his colleagues faced in Baghdad have not disappeared," stated the head of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), Barham Salih, who had planned a meeting with de Mello shortly before the attack. "In too many places, humanitarian workers continue to be attacked, detained, obstructed, and killed." Tatiana Valovaya, Director-General of the UN Office at Geneva, reported that over 1,010 humanitarian workers have been killed in the past three years, nearly triple the number from the preceding three-year period. She noted that some of the most dangerous places for aid workers are precisely where they are most needed, citing Gaza and the West Bank, Sudan, South Sudan, Ukraine, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. "They not only deserve our gratitude, they demand our protection," Valovaya emphasized. Last year saw a record number of victims among UN and other humanitarian organizations, with 350 killed, 322 injured, and 235 kidnapped.

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Although unfortunately I never had the opportunity to meet him personally, I knew what he represented, he had dedicated his life to saving lives in some of the most complicated places in the world