Скачать или смотреть World Humanitarian Day 2025 - UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk

On World Humanitarian Day, I pay tribute to humanitarian workers who have perished while serving others and to my own UN Human Rights colleagues, who work around the world to protect and support people, often at great risk.

Twenty-two years ago, a bomb attack on the Canal Hotel in Baghdad killed 22 United Nations staff, including one of my predecessors, Sergio Vieira de Mello. Attacks and killings of humanitarian workers have risen sharply in many places since that day. More than 400 aid workers – including 340 of our UNRWA colleagues – have been killed in Gaza since October 2023. In Yemen, 23 United Nations staff, including eight members of my office, and five NGO workers have been detained by the de facto authorities, some for several years.

International law, the Geneva Conventions and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are not optional, and we will never stop insisting that all governments must work together to enforce the rules they have agreed:

· to protect civilians, including aid workers;
· to allow humanitarian aid to reach those in need;
· to investigate and punish those responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The sacrifice of our colleagues strengthens our resolve to continue their essential work. - UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk

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