August 19th is World Humanitarian Aid Day. Never like this year, the anniversary falls amidst deep uncertainty and new challenges for the humanitarian system, facing an unprecedented pandemic, with record needs in terms of people to be assisted and funds to be raised to guarantee the necessary levels of aid, and with increasing volatility and insecurity in the areas of intervention.
In order to express its support for all humanitarian workers engaged on the front line in the most serious emergencies, INTERSOS supports the global campaign launched by OCHA, the UN Agency for Humanitarian Affairs and dedicated to #RealLifeHeroes, not superheroes, but ordinary people, engaged in extraordinary situations to help to the most vulnerable.
Last year, 483 aid workers suffered violent attacks, another record number. Of these, 125 were killed, 234 injured and 124 kidnapped. “It is often a matter of premeditated violence – underlines the Secretary General of INTERSOS Kostas Moschochoritis – Violence perpetrated by armed groups and militias, as well as by military forces of sovereign states. Attacks that have a clear objective: the inviolable principles of humanitarian action, independent, neutral and impartial “.
For the first time, Syria, with 36 victims in the last year, is the country with the highest number of attacks against aid workers, most of them caused by aerial bombardments and explosions. A sad record that, for many years, belonged to South Sudan, still engaged in a very fragile transition process from the civil conflict that broke out in 2013.
Other record numbers: between 2019 and 2020, people in need of humanitarian assistance increased from 131.7 to 167.6 million, thirty-five million more than the previous year; the number of displaced people and refugees has exceeded 70 million. Numbers never seen before. While the funds needed to guarantee the interventions have grown from 21.9 to 28.8 billion dollars.
“Just keep in mind that “funds needed” doesn’t mean actually available – underlines Alda Cappelletti, Director of Programs of INTERSOS – and this was true already before the Covid-19 pandemic, which furtherly peaked humanitarian needs. World Food Program predicts that people facing acute food insecurity can double, reaching 265 million, with the risk of multiple and widespread famines in different areas of the world. We are very concerned about a reduction in funds for emergency response, precisely at the moment when support for humanitarian action at a global level should be stronger “.