Today is World Humanitarian Day. It is the day the world commemorates humanitarian workers killed and injured in the course of their work, and the honouring of all aid and health workers who continue, despite the odds, to provide life-saving support and protection to people most in need.
The day was designated in memory of the 19 August 2003 bomb attack on the Canal Hotel in Baghdad, Iraq, killing 22 people, including the chief humanitarian in Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello. In 2009, the United Nations General Assembly formalized the day as World Humanitarian Day.
Human Rights at Sea recognises the exceptional work undertaken in defence of fundamental human rights globally, and specifically in the maritime environment which includes directly and swiftly challenging all abuses towards seafarers, fishers, migrants and refugees and all who live, work and transit coastal areas and global maritime routes.
