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Beijing, 19 August 2015 – Inspiring action for humanity, more than half a billion social media feeds were shared with real-life stories from survivors of humanitarian crises as part of a massive digital storytelling campaign launched by the United Nations and partners. 

Every year on August 19th, the UN marks World Humanitarian Day in honour of aid workers who have lost their lives in the line of duty. “On this World Humanitarian Day, I urge everyone to show solidarity as global citizens by signing up to the #ShareHumanity campaign,” said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, at a special event on the eve of World Humanitarian Day. “By donating your social media feed, you can share moving stories of hope and resilience from around the world.” 

The global campaign, launched last week, leverages the collective power of individuals to inspire a greater sense of global citizenship using the power of social media. Users are asked to turn their social media feeds into storytelling platforms to spread awareness of humanitarian crises around the world from countries like Syria, Afghanistan and Nigeria. 

Marking the event globally, humanitarian leaders, media and celebrities joined together to generate a critical mass of support for #ShareHumanity. 

The UN Secretary-General also paid tribute to the 120 humanitarian aid workers who lost their lives in 2014 in the serving others. “Each year, on World Humanitarian Day, we honour the selfless dedication and sacrifice of those who devote themselves – often at great personal risk – to assisting the world's most vulnerable people,” he said. World Humanitarian Day also commemorates the day in 2003 when 22 UN workers were killed in a bombing of the UN offices in Baghdad. 

Today, more than 100 million people in countries across the world need urgent life-saving humanitarian aid, with nearly 60 million people now forcibly displaced. This is a crisis of forced migration on a scale not seen in the post-World War era, in which a displaced person will remain displaced, on average, for 17 years. 

Synchronizing with the main global events in Milan, Istanbul, New York, Geneva, Dubai, the World Humanitarian Day was commemorated in Beijing, featuring a high level panel discussion, hosted by the Communication University of China.  In his opening remarks at the event, the United Nations Resident Coordinator ad interim, Mr. Arie Hoekman emphasized the need to encourage and empower people to get involved in demanding and creating a more humane world. He also noted the important role of China in humanitarian response saying “I wish to take this opportunity to commend the Government of China for their partnership and strong demonstration of humanitarian spirit, particularly in recent humanitarian crises.” 

The distinguished panel elaborated on ‘Sharing Humanity', focusing on the responses to major disasters in China and internationally. Mr. Zhao Ming, Director General from China Earthquake Administration, who led the recent humanitarian mission to Nepal, said, “The relief work carried out by the Chinese International Search and Rescue Team (CISAR) in other countries have demonstrated the international solidarity of the Chinese government and people. With increasing capacity, CISAR team will continue collaboration with the United Nations, international organizations, and other humanitarian partners to enhance the effectiveness of our response.”  

For more information, please contact:

Ms. YANG Lin, UN Coordination Analyst, UN China, +8610 8532 0782, lin.yang@one.un.org

Ms. Natasha Scripture, OCHA New York, (+1) 917 367 4432, scripture@un.org

Note to editors:

About World Humanitarian Day

August 19 marks the anniversary of the 2003 United Nations Headquarters bombing in Baghdad, which claimed the lives of 22 people. In an effort to raise awareness of humanitarian assistance worldwide – and the people who risk their lives to provide it – the United Nations General Assembly in 2008 designated August 19 as World Humanitarian Day.