WORLD HUMANITARIAN DAY: A CALL TO TAKE ACTION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE

The purpose of ‘WORLD HUMANITARIAN DAY’ is to celebrate those humanitarian workers who are in life saving professions and who toil day and night in order to serve humanity and make this world a better place to live in. This day was designated to celebrate the memory of the 22 people who were killed, including the chief humanitarian in Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello, in the Bomb attack of Canal hotel on 19th august 2003 in Baghdad, Iraq. Later in 2009, this day was officialized as World Humanitarian Day by the United Nations. Ever since, the UN assigns a particular theme to this day. This year’s official theme is surrounded around taking actions against climate change and protecting the most vulnerable ones who are being impacted most by climate change. This year, the UN is urging the world leaders to take immediate action against climate change for the vulnerable people, and for this purpose, they are highlighting the price that humans are paying for climate crisis.

This climate change is an immediate threat to humankind. In India, according to IMD data released by the statistics ministry, average temperatures have increased by 0.6 degrees Celsius (° C) between 1901-10 and 2009-18. (Source: Mint) Now, if we glance at this data, it may seem trivial at first, but if we consider the long term impact of this, the future, indeed, seems very alarming. For example, according to the World Bank, if the average temperature continues to rise like this, then the average temperature could reach up to 29.1 degree Celsius (from 25.1 degrees currently). Higher temperatures mean increase in heat waves which could result in loss of lives.

So, on this WORLD HUMANITARIAN DAY, the United Nations is urging all to join in #TheHumanRace which is a global challenge to take meaningful action against climate change in order to shield the most vulnerable ones from the wrath of nature.

We, at JAGARAN NATYA DAL, urge all of you to make everyone aware of this climate change and contribute in whatever way you can.

--- Jayati Roy Choudhury