AWARENESS OF CORE HUMANITARIAN PRINCIPLES RAISED ON WORLD HUMANITARIAN DAY 2010

(Cairo, 19 August 2010) - United Nations agencies and the Red Crescent Society in Egypt today marked World Humanitarian Day 2010 by raising public awareness of the core principles of humanitarian work and commemorate aid workers who have lost their lives in the line of duty.

At a press conference in Cairo, the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Egypt a.i., Mr. Mounir Tabet, conveyed key World Humanitarian Day messages and senior-level humanitarians elaborated on topics such as the security and safety of aid workers and the principles of neutrality and impartiality that underpin all humanitarian action.

Of urgent concern to humanitarians today is the increasing number of targeted attacks on humanitarian personnel. In 2009, 102 humanitarian workers in the world were killed compared to 30 in 1999. Often attacks on aid workers are triggered by the misperception that humanitarian aid is delivered exclusively by Western organizations or agencies, or somehow represents one ideological or world view. The Head of OCHA Regional Office in Cairo, Mr. Abdul Haq Amiri, stressed that humanitarian personnel comes from various backgrounds and professions, have different nationalities and cultural and religious backgrounds, but that they are united in their commitment to address human suffering wherever it is found.

Abeer Etefa, Senior Regional Public Information Officer with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) noted that most aid workers come from the country in which they work and that "it is a common mistake that humanitarian aid workers have hidden political objectives".

Health is a key element in humanitarian response and Dr. Naeema Al-Gasseer, Assistant Regional Director from the World Health Organization Regional Office in Cairo, stressed the importance of ensuring access to health services to all without bias.

The Director General of the Egyptian Red Crescent Society (ERCS), Dr. Magda el Sherbiny, said that "humanitarian services are required not only during sudden disasters and in conflicts but also in times of peace" referring to the ERCS's work in slum areas in Cairo.

The UNHCR Regional Representative in Egypt, Mr. Mohamed Dayri, said that "humanitarian work puts us in places where we must protect displaced people and that often exposes us to risks" as the principle of aid workers' impartiality is not always understood or respected by parties to a conflict.

Man-made and natural disasters cause immense suffering for millions of people in the world every year, very often among the world's poorest, most marginalized and vulnerable individuals. In total, one in six people in the world are chronically hungry and there are at least a combined 37 million internally displaced and refugees in the world today. The World Humanitarian Day was instituted in December 2008 by the United Nations General Assembly to raise awareness of humanitarian work worldwide.

For further information: Jens Laerke, OCHA-Cairo +20 19 555 8662, laerke@un.org