Caritas Internationalis says that governments must honour their commitments to allow aid agencies access to vulnerable communities on the first World Humanitarian Day.

Established by the General Assembly (GA) of the United Nations in December 2008, 19 August is World Humanitarian Day. The designation of the Day is a way to increase public understanding of humanitarian assistance activities worldwide. It is in part dedicated to the memory of all those aid workers who have lost their lives while bringing assistance to others, the majority of them from the communities they are trying to help.

Caritas says its ability to bring support to the most vulnerable people in conflicts has been severely restricted by the actions of governments over the last 18 months.

Caritas Internationalis Humanitarian Director Alistair Dutton said, “From Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, Georgia to Gaza, Sri Lanka to Sudan, we’re seeing the erosion of one of the central pillars of humanitarianism: Aid agencies must be allowed to reach the most vulnerable people in conflicts. Governments must use this first World Humanitarian Day to reassert their commitment to safeguarding this principle as part of their obligations under the Geneva Conventions.

• The Israeli government prevented access to the Gaza Strip during military operations that began in December. A Caritas medical centre was destroyed.
• Zimbabwe suspended all aid agency field operations following contested elections. Caritas members directly fed over a million people there, and their projects helped over three million people in a country where 9 out of ten families go hungry.
• In Sri Lanka, Caritas was one of only two agencies able to operate in the ‘no-fire zone’ in the conflict zone in the Vanni. Staff remained working in the area alongside the people, enduring months of daily shelling and hardship.
• In Darfur in Sudan, Caritas remains operational following the expulsion of 13 international NGOs from Sudan and closure of 3 national NGOs including SUDO, a Caritas partner.

260 humanitarians were victims of murder, kidnapping and serious injury in 2008. Compared to 1998 when 69 humanitarians were involved in security incidents. Caritas united in sorrow for the staff of its members and of partners who were killed as they sought to bring peace in 2009. These include “Raj” Anthonipillai Uthayaraj, 26, a volunteer driver killed in Sri Lanka in the no-fire zone on 8 May and Caritas France’s Ricky Agusa Sukaka, 27, who was shot dead in the Democratic Republic of Congo on 15 July. Caritas Vanni Director Rev. Fr. T.R. Vasanthaseelan and Rev. Fr. James Pathinathan seriously injured in shelling in Sri Lanka in April.

For more information, please contact Patrick Nicholson on 0039 334 359 0700 or nicholson@caritas.va