News

Today marks World Humanitarian Day, commemorating the 19 August 2003 terrorist attack on the UN compound in Baghdad that killed 22 people and injured over 100, most of whom were working tirelessly on the humanitarian relief effort in Iraq.

Ten humanitarian workers were killed in every month of 2014. In Syria, 77 humanitarians have lost their lives since the start of the conflict, in Yemen alredy 22 aid workers have been killed.

The contexts in which humanitarian workers serve around the world, and the terrible plight of the more than 100 million people in need of humanitarian assistance they seek to reach, continue to deteriorate due to the proliferation of armed conflicts, growing number of natural disasters.

This year, the Geneva World Humanitarian Day commemoration included a debate on the impact of the Sustainable Development Goals on humanitarian work and response. The discussion was more particularly focused on the importance of the Sustainable Development Goals reflecting the aspirations and rights of the most vulnerable people.

The Sérgio Vieira de Mello Award was presented to this year’s winner, the Interfaith Peace Platform from the Central African Republic. The platform actively seeks to promote dialogue, starting at the grassroots level, as a preventive measure against religious violence and to pursue peace across the C.A.R.

Lithuania has been increasing its contribution to the international humanitarian assistance every year. In 2015, Lithuania has delivered humanitarian assistance to the people of Syria, Ukraine, Malawi, Vanuatu, Nepal, Georgia and Irak. In addtion, it contributed to the CERF, UNHCR, UNICEF and WFP efforts. Since the start of this year, Lithuania‘s humanitarian assistance has already reached 441.616 EUR.