The Olympics And World Humanitarian Day Should Remind Us Of The Same Universal Ideals
As we near the closing of the first ever Olympics in South America, the Summer Olympic Games of Rio 2016, the world also celebrates, on August 19, the values of humanitarian action. How can we link the Olympic spirit and World Humanitarian Day?
Thirteen years ago, in 2003, a suicide attack against the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad during the Iraq War resulted in 22 deaths and numerous seriously injured. As a United Nations civil servant, I suffered the attack in my own skin, since I was working at the building that was targeted. Even while I survived the building's explosion and collapse, the horror of the wounded and the dead will be with me forever. Among the fatal victims was my partner, Sergio Vieira de Mello, head of the United Nations (UN) mission, with a career dedicated to the displaced and refugees, and a native of Rio de Janeiro. The brutality and scale of the attack prompted the UN to consecrate August 19 as World Humanitarian Day. The weight of this experience compels me to ponder on the bond between the celebration of Rio 2016 and humanitarian values.
More...
Thirteen years ago, in 2003, a suicide attack against the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad during the Iraq War resulted in 22 deaths and numerous seriously injured. As a United Nations civil servant, I suffered the attack in my own skin, since I was working at the building that was targeted. Even while I survived the building's explosion and collapse, the horror of the wounded and the dead will be with me forever. Among the fatal victims was my partner, Sergio Vieira de Mello, head of the United Nations (UN) mission, with a career dedicated to the displaced and refugees, and a native of Rio de Janeiro. The brutality and scale of the attack prompted the UN to consecrate August 19 as World Humanitarian Day. The weight of this experience compels me to ponder on the bond between the celebration of Rio 2016 and humanitarian values.
More...