Campaigns

Olena, 85, is comforted by a humanitarian worker outside her damaged home in Kharkiv, Ukraine. A May 2024 attack claimed her neighbours' lives and shattered nearby windows. With humanitarian aid, including cash assistance, Olena replaced her windows and stayed warm through the winter. Photo: OCHA/Yurii Veres
OCHA campaigns for the rights of people affected by humanitarian crises. We amplify their voices and ensure the humanitarian system is accountable to them. We advocate at the highest levels for effective and principled humanitarian action by all, for all.
World Humanitarian Day: August 19
On 19 August 2003, a bomb attack on the Canal Hotel in Baghdad, Iraq, killed 22 humanitarian aid workers, including the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello. Five years later, the General Assembly adopted a resolution designating 19 August as World Humanitarian Day.