Our unsung heroes of global humanitarianism

According to reports, in mid-November, the world’s population will hit 8 billion. This shows that our world is growing quite fast.

Unfortunately, about 303 million of this population are in bad humanitarian situations. Take the case of South Sudan.  Many of its people find themselves born into a prolonged war for many years. In Afghanistan, peace is a rare occurrence. Syria, Yemen, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and now Ethiopia are also in the same box of violence and war.  This is why we now have a growing population of displaced people.

People are running away from home in search of peace, security and safety. War is known to be the single major driver of humanitarian crises in the world. So, the events that are taking place in these countries show how the humanitarian world has played out its game.

War has destroyed humanity. The beautiful nature and peaceful existence of humanity would have done better by avoiding these wars. Besides war, there is a humanitarian vulnerability caused by drought. In Somalia, drought has caused the death of people and livestock. Additionally, hunger and famine are ravaging the Karamoja sub-region and many parts of the world, leading to the death of people.

We have only come out and are dusting ourselves from a battering caused by a terrible pandemic that has altered the normal business of the world.

We also see vulnerability in the recent earthquakes that left people dead. The world today is very vulnerable. We now find ourselves falling into various traps of humanitarian disasters, and if we do not do things to prevent various occurrences, then the worse days are ahead of us.

This is why every August 19, is commemorated as World Humanitarian Day (WHD). The WHD honours humanitarian aid workers all over the world. It recognises the dedication by this group of friends of humanity for volunteering to put their bodies on the frontline of humanitarian crises.

Against the perils that they face on duty, they are always there to persevere, hoping that vulnerable communities get the much-needed assistance.

While we support humanitarian activities, we do not forget the ordinary, brave local community humanitarians that always respond to the needs of the needy people.

 These put aside their needs even when they too are vulnerable, to respond when disasters strike. Community humanitarians are usually very far from the spotlight, yet they are always ready to join hands to help ease the pain of vulnerable people. Even when community humanitarians face the risk of getting killed while trying to save people, they continue to go to the hardest-to-reach places to save humanity.

Recently, we saw the work of community humanitarians who were involved in emergency response during the Mbale flooding.

The humanitarian system is successful mainly because of their hard work. We thus, celebrate their commitment to doing good and encourage their continued perseverance in adversity.

They best understand the local situation, and since vulnerability happens within communities, there is an added need to help.

So, community humanitarians, are the unsung heroes in humanitarian events. They remain on the frontline even without compensation. They are a very important group of people that are contributing a big deal to the humanitarian system.

Simon J. Mone is a Civil Engineer.

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