Question to political leaders, are you a humanitarian

Sacred scriptures tell us that the entire law is fulfilled by obeying one commandment—loving your neighbour as you love yourself. Neighbour means not just the people who live next door but who are in need of food, shelter, clothing, proper education in life and other essential facilities. We are also told that those who have the greatest love are those who risk or give their lives to save others. 

Canadian American physician Daniel David Palmer has said the most wonderful study of humankind is humankind. Relieving human suffering and diffusing universal knowledge is humanitarian. The popular St. Mother Teresa has put it in simple terms. She says ‘Don’t look for big things, just do small things with great love...the smaller the thing, the greater must be our love’. 

The widely respected civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. has said life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for the well-being of others?’ if the world’s political and other leaders practise these virtues to some extent at least, what a better world we would have with society being just and fair! We would like to raise this question about the deeds of Sri Lankan political and other leaders also including the medical profession and we hope they would sincerely examine their conscience in giving the answer. 

These and similar reflections come to mind as the United Nations mark World Humanitarian Day next month. In a statement, the UN says we need to focus mainly on humanitarian workers who died or were injured in the course of their work, and we need to honour aid and health workers who continue, despite the odds to provide life-saving support and protection to people most in need. This year, World Humanitarian Day comes as the world continues to fight the COVID-19 pandemic over recent months. Aid workers are overcoming unprecedented access hurdles to assist people in humanitarian crises in most countries which have been catapulted into humanitarian need by the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the UN, it is the eleventh year we mark the World Humanitarian Day paying special tribute to the real-life heroes who have committed their lives to helping others in the most extreme circumstances throughout the world. The campaign focuses on what drives humanitarians to continue to save and protect lives despite conflict, insecurity, lack of access and risks linked to COVID-19.

The UN says this year, the COVID-19 pandemic has been the biggest challenge to humanitarian operations around the world.  The lack of access and restrictions placed by Governments around the world has resulted in communities, civil society and local NGOs being the frontline of the response. Therefore, the campaign presents the inspiring personal stories of humanitarians who are treating and preventing the pandemic, providing food to vulnerable people in need, providing safe spaces for women and girls in lockdown; delivering babies; fighting locusts and running refugee camps - all amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is true that our obsession with myths and legends has been with us since the dawn of culture. Their fictional fantastic feats, embodied enemies, and arduous journeys teach us how to dream big and summon the courage needed to do what’s right. However, the heroes of our world, here and now, are just as worthy of admiration and celebration because they’re real - choosing to help in the most extreme circumstances - and their stories show that real life heroes exhibit an uncanny ability to persevere despite the odds, and to do so with humility and dedication, the UN adds. 

Highlighting the real life heroes in humanitarian operations, the UN cites the exemplary work of Umra Omar from Kenya. She is the founder of the Safari Doctors movement, a mobile doctors unit that provides free basic medical care to hundreds of people every month from more than 17 villages in Lamu. While modern healthcare is modelled on urban realities, 70% of Kenya’s population lives in remote areas. A key perspective shift was not seeing healthcare as static, but something that could actually reach out to the people in need. “I think humanitarian work needs to stop being a ‘by the way’ thing. It should be something that we are living as the norm,” Umra Omar says. 

According to the UN, more than 170 million people need humanitarian assistance and protection. This represents one in about 45 people in the world, and is the highest figure in decades. The UN and partner organisations aim to assist more than 100 million of the most vulnerable people. This requires funding of US$28.8 billion. The situation will keep getting worse unless climate change and the root causes of conflict are better addressed. On current trends, projections show that more than 200 million people could be in need of assistance by 2022, the UN says.