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World Humanitarian Day highlights disaster and sacrifice made by Humanitarian 
workers  

The profound impact which disasters can have on the lives of Pacific Islanders will be 
brought into focus this Wednesday 19 August, which has been designated the inaugural 
World Humanitarian Day by the United Nations General Assembly. 

Wed, 19 Aug 2009
SUVA, Fiji- The profound impact which disasters can have on the lives of Pacific 
Islanders will be brought into focus this Wednesday 19 August, which has been 
designated the inaugural World Humanitarian Day by the United Nations General 
Assembly.  

The Day is intended to help increase public understanding of humanitarian assistance 
activities worldwide and to honour humanitarian workers who have lost their lives or 
been injured in the course of their work. 

Dr Isiye Ndombi, Representative for UNICEF’s Pacific Office, believes that World 
Humanitarian Day is particularly relevant in the Pacific, which is one of the world’s most 
susceptible regions to natural disaster.  

“Small, vulnerable island states are isolated by a vast expanse of ocean and experience 
frequent and intense disasters with disproportionately high economic, social and 
environmental consequences”, Dr Ndombi explained. 

“Recent examples of disaster in the Pacific include the 2009 Fiji Floods, in which 11 
people were killed and many thousands of people were forced to temporarily relocate to 
evacuation centres, the 2007 Solomon Islands Tsunami, which killed 52 people and two 
years later still sees thousands of people displaced and living in temporary shelter, and of 
course the recent ferry disaster in Tonga where 95 people lost their lives.” 

According to Peter Muller, UNOCHA’s Regional Disaster Response Advisor for the 
Pacific, the humanitarian community’s ability to respond rapidly, effectively and 
predictably to crises, natural or man made, has improved beyond all recognition in the 
last 20 years 
“This is due largely to the dedication of the many thousands of aid workers, both local 
and international, who have devoted their lives to humanitarian work, matching idealism 
with action, and principles with practice”, he said.  “World Humanitarian Day is in part 
dedicated to the memory of aid workers who have lost their lives while bringing 
assistance to others, the majority of them from the communities they are trying to help.” 
Despite the improvements in Humanitarian Response over the last decade, Mr Muller 
remains far from complacent.  “While much has been achieved, the challenges faced by 
many millions of people around the world and particularly in the Pacific are still 
formidable”, he said. 

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“The need for principled and effective humanitarian action is greater than ever.  Natural 
hazards are becoming increasingly severe and frequent and vulnerable communities face 
new threats generated by the combined effects of global mega-trends: climate change, 
chronic poverty, the food and financial crises, water and energy scarcity, migration, 
population growth, urbanization and pandemics.” ….PNS (ENDS) 

For further information please contact:                                   

                        

UNOCHA                                   UNICEF 
Peter Muller                                Donna Hoerder 
 +679 331 6761                        +679 330 0439  

peter.muller@undp.org

dhoerder@unicef.org