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August 19, 2009

Opinion: Honor Relief Workers on World Humanitarian Day

On the sixth anniversary of his father’s death while serving needy Iraqis, Laurent Vieira de Mello asks in a Washington Post commentary that readers observe the first World Humanitarian Day, created in his father’s memory, and reflect on the thankless chores relief workers do.

World Humanitarian Day — created by the United Nations to honor the late Mr. Vieira de Mello on August 19, the anniversary of his death in an attack in Baghdad during his stint heading a U.N. relief team — is intended also to honor the thousands of others who perform humanitarian work in the world’s hot spots, he writes.

“Last year was the worst in 12 years, with 260 humanitarian aid workers killed, kidnapped, or seriously injured in violent attacks,” according to the Overseas Development Institute, writes Mr. Vieira de Mello, who is president of the Sergio Vieira de Mello Foundation. “This toll exceeds the number of victims among U.N. peacekeeping troops.”

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