UN Humanitarians Share Their Stories in Webinar Panel with “Real Life Heroes”
On August 27th, the United Nations Association of New York had the pleasure of bringing together four remarkable guests for a webinar panel celebrating World Humanitarian Day. Each was honored by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) as part of its #RealLifeHeroes campaign, which recognizes the work of UN humanitarians around the world. OCHA Deputy Spokesperson Jens Laerke moderated the panel which, in spite of some internet connectivity issues, proved insightful and fascinating.
“Community engagement is the cornerstone of my fieldwork. I always say to my colleagues that if you have the community fully engaged, I have the problem solved 50 percent.” If there was a core message in our opening presentation from Dr. Marie-Roseline Bélizaire, an epidemiologist with the World Health Organization (WHO), it was that successful humanitarian work never looks the same from place to place.
Dr. Bélizaire knows this from experience, having worked in an impressive variety of places. She is currently working to contain the pandemic in the Central African Republic, where an ongoing civil war has left over half of the population in need of humanitarian assistance; prior posts include the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mauritania, Angola, Spain, the Dominican Republic, and her native Haiti. In each place, she said that adapting strategies to the local context and giving stewardship to community leaders proved crucial to effective humanitarianism.
Subarna Dhar, who works as a Women’s Empowerment Officer with the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) in Bangladesh, echoed the need to work with community partners when delivering humanitarian aid. In Dhar’s case, she said this has proved essential in overcoming disbelief in the pandemic and resistance to health restrictions. Dhar works against gender-based violence in Cox’s Bazar, site of the world’s biggest refugee crisis, and circulating public health messages among tight-knit female communities necessitated empowering Rohingya women to do so themselves.
She also stressed the need to acknowledge the difficulties and pressures that humanitarian frontline workers face. During the pandemic in particular, workers such as Dhar were met with fear and suspicion by many who thought they might bring the virus from elsewhere, adding to their existing stress. She and her colleagues worked hard to provide volunteers with techniques to cope. “The most important thing this COVID has taught us… is to acknowledge the stress and also prioritize self-care during this challenging time,” Dhar told us.
Our third guest works in a profession less often associated with humanitarianism, but no less important. Dr. Mohamed Mohamud is an entomologist for the UN's Food and Agriculture Association (FAO) in Somalia, where he is helping to fight the locust infestation currently ravaging the Horn of Africa. Dr. Mohamud made clear that his field is crucial to humanitarianism because by devastating agriculture, insects like locusts can precipitate a great variety of humanitarian crises. “If there is no food,” Dr. Mohamud stressed, “there will be migration, there will be also insecurity and fights… nothing will survive without food. That’s why this desert locust is the most dangerous migrant insect.”
The importance of nutrition was similarly emphasized by our last guest, Neera Sharma. Working for the World Food Programme (WFP) in a remote region of western Nepal, Sharma oversees a school meals program which feeds many thousands of food-insecure children. With schools closed during lockdown, her life changed drastically over the past several months as her program transitioned to a take-home format. Echoing Dhar’s experience in Bangladesh, she described this shift as one of great stress and difficulty.
But despite these challenges, our four guests’ passionate dedication to their work came through clearly in each presentation. Working amid violent conflict, natural disasters, and a global pandemic, their contributions have perhaps never been more extraordinary or courageous. “The level of satisfaction I got while working as a humanitarian worker is something that I can’t explain,” Sharma told us. “Actually, my passion motivates me to seek greater challenges, and walk diligently towards creating positive changes in the lives of others.”
You can watch the full webinar here.