World Humanitarian Day 2017 - Panel Discussion

Part I: Panel discussion: “Violence against health care and its
implications for affected populations, humanitarian workers
and aid”:

Dear survivors of attacks on humanitarian workers,
Dear families and friends of colleagues lost in humanitarian
service,
Distinguished panellists and moderator,
Dear Annie, Laurent and Adrien Vieira de Mello,
Distinguished laureate,
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen:

A warm welcome to today’s ceremony marking World Humanitarian Day. Every year, this day brings us together to rally support for those affected by humanitarian crisis to pay tribute to the aid workers who help them, and to remember our fallen colleagues who paid the ultimate price for serving their fellow human beings.

This year’s event in Geneva focuses on “Violence against health care and its implications for affected populations, humanitarian workers and aid” and I thank our partners, the International Committee of the Red Cross, Médecins Sans Frontières and OCHA (United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) for their support in organizing today’s panel discussion on this topic.

During armed conflicts, international humanitarian law protects health-care workers and health facilities, the wounded and the sick, civilians and combatants alike. These binding rules were first codified more than 150 years ago, with the first Geneva Convention. Today, the four existing Geneva Conventions have been ratified by 196 countries and the body of relevant humanitarian law has become much more sophisticated.

However, in recent conflicts, health and aid workers, those who care for people affected by violence, are increasingly being targeted. Hospitals and ambulances are bombed, medicine and relief supplies are looted, and humanitarian aid workers are killed, detained or denied access to people in desperate need.

Although the media sometimes report on attacks on hospitals and other health facilities, many incidents never make it into the headlines. WHO recorded 302 attacks on health facilities, ambulances and health workers in 20 countries in 2016 alone. In the first quarter this year, there were 88 attacks on health care facilities and workers in 14 countries and territories, claiming 80 lives.

And attacks on health workers don’t only happen in conflict zones. Violence also marked the Ebola response, for example: In Guinea, in the second half of 2014, an average of ten attacks per month against Red Cross volunteers were noted. Violent protestors were convinced that Ebola was a lie, or that the disease was brought in on purpose by foreigners to make a profit. The experience with Ebola reminds us that we need to involve the communities into our humanitarian responses and that we need to communicate better in order to build trust.

But, whatever the context and reasoning, attacks on humanitarian delivery of health services are simply unacceptable.

The protection of humanitarian and medical missions is one of the priority areas of our Secretary-General, as indicated in his report on the protection of civilians in armed conflict of May 2017.

In December 2016, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution recognizing that investment in health workers “essentially constitutes the first line of defense against international health crises” and called on its Member States to develop more effective preventive measures for the protection of health workers.

The Security Council, on its part, adopted resolution 2286 in May 2016, calling on all parties to armed conflict to fully comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law, in particular their obligations under the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of 1977 and 2005. The resolution also urges all parties to armed conflicts to facilitate safe and unimpeded passage for medical and humanitarian personnel.

These powerful calls for action build upon the commitments made by world leaders at the World Humanitarian Summit last year, commitments to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, to enable humanitarian and medical missions, and to speak out against violations.

And yet, much more needs to be done.

In late 2016, one year after the bombing of a trauma centre operated by Médecins Sans Frontières in Northern Afghanistan, MSF launched a campaign with the hashtag #NotATarget, as a daily reminder and as an act of protest against the bombings of health facilities in conflict areas. The campaign calls for all parties to armed conflicts to stop attacks on healthcare workers, facilities and patients.

This year’s World Humanitarian Day subscribes to this motto. We have come together today, to reaffirm that patients, health workers, and hospitals are #NotATarget. We have come together to demand global action to protect them.

To reinforce our reflection on this topic, we have gathered experts with first-hand experience of this issue for today’s panel discussion. They will be sharing their stories and the lessons learnt from their work on the front lines. Following the introductory remarks by the Director-General of the World Health Organization, we will first be hearing a testimony from Dr. Baldan, ICRC’s war surgeon in the Middle East. In the following panel discussion, we will hear from:

- Mr. Bruno Jochum, General Director of Médecins Sans Frontières Switzerland,
- Ms. Christine Beerli, Vice President of the International Committee of the Red Cross,
- Dr. Facely Diawara, Member of the Guinea Red Cross and
- Her Excellency Rosemary McCarney, Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva. I welcome them all warmly, just as I welcome our moderator, Dr. Renée Van de Weerdt, Chief of Emergency Management & Support at the World Health Organization.

The panel discussion will be followed by the award ceremony organized by the Sergio Vieira de Mello Foundation and a solemn commemoration to acknowledge humanitarian workers who gave their lives to help others.

I thank the Permanent Mission of Switzerland for helping us with the live-webcast of the proceedings and OCHA for the reception following the solemn commemoration in front of this Room, to which you are all invited.

I would also like to draw your attention to two exhibitions. The ambulance next to door 40 is a model of an ambulance that was ambushed. We are grateful to the ICRC for this contribution. Outside of room XX you will find a virtual reality exhibition with goggles that will take you to a destroyed hospital room. This exhibition is brought to us by MSF and I thank you for that.

It is now my great pleasure to give the floor to Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization for introductory remarks. We will be hearing the testimony of Dr. Marco Baldan immediately afterwards.

Thank you very much for being here with us today.