Dubai Humanitarian leads tribute in honour of killed aid workers

Dubai Humanitarian on Tuesday convened a community gathering alongside some UN offices to honour the "sacrifices of humanitarian workers" and to reaffirm that aid workers must never be a target, as the globe marked World Humanitarian Day.

The gathering served as a moment of collective reflection on the "courage of those who serve on the frontlines of crises, while also underscoring the growing need for global solidarity and principled humanitarian action."

Bérangère Boëll, UN Resident Coordinator for the UAE, said: “On this World Humanitarian Day, we honour those we have lost and the courage of those who continue to serve. But remembrance must be matched by resolve, to protect civilians, to defend international humanitarian law, and to ensure that aid is never blocked, never politicised, and never forgotten.”

Rashed Alhemeri, Executive Director of Operations at UAE Aid, said, “The humanitarian aid is in the DNA of the UAE and the guidance and directives of our leaders have pushed the UAE’s global humanitarian response to higher levels. The UAE allocated 40 per cent of its total foreign assistance during the last two years to the humanitarian response."

In the closing remarks, Sajeda Shawa, Head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) UAE Office, said, “Today, after more than two decades since the horrific explosion in 2003 (referring to a truck bomb in front of UN offices in Baghdad that killed 22 people), the dangers have only grown. In 2024 alone, 383 humanitarian workers were killed – the highest number ever recorded. This year, we are already counting devastating losses. 

"We face unprecedented challenges - 300 million people are in urgent need of assistance this year, yet humanitarian operations are only 18 per cent funded. Millions will go without food, medicine, or protection. These are the steepest cuts we have ever faced – and the cost will be measured in lives. That is why OCHA’s Humanitarian Reset is about more than reform, it is about renewal. We are putting people, not systems, at the center. We are shifting power to local communities. We are cutting through inefficiency. We are recommitting to the essence of humanitarianism: protecting life with dignity,” Shawa added.

World Humanitarian Day, observed every year on 19th August, was designated by the United Nations General Assembly in 2008. The day commemorates the 2003 bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad, honours the sacrifices of humanitarian workers, and underscores the importance of protecting civilians and those serving in humanitarian settings