World Humanitarian Day
This year World Humanitarian Day is being celebrated with a global campaign aimed at reaching one billion people and setting new records of positive public engagement through a social media and online campaign that asks people to do something good, somewhere for someone else.
The World Humanitarian Day website (www.whd-iwashere.org) has been officially launched along with video messages from Beyoncé http://youtu.be/yPPBKyIceWY and the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki Moon (http://buzz.mw/-8zF_Z)
19 August was designated World Humanitarian Day (WHD) by the United Nations General Assembly in 2008, with the founding resolution calling on all Member States, international and non-governmental organizations to commemorate the day annually.
In 2012, the annual commemoration will continue with the theme originally adopted in 2011, People Helping People, with global celebrations to feature a new music video featuring Beyoncé, who has donated her song I Was Here to World Humanitarian Day, and a social mobilization campaign that aims to reach 1 billion people around the world. The music video will be recorded live in the United Nations General Assembly Hall as part of a three dimensional projection, animation and lighting spectacle highlighting humanitarian work around the world. Social media participants will be have the opportunity to register for this event live; names of participants will be reflected on the walls of the General Assembly Hall.
We need everyone's support and in this context, I am writing to ask for your help in supporting this campaign and sharing it with your respective networks, so they can take a number of simple actions:
1. Visit the www.whd-iwashere.org and register at the website.
2. Support World Humanitarian Day via Twitter, Facebook—or both—and get the word out to friends and followers.
3. Continue tweeting (#WHD2012 #IWASHERE) and posting in the lead-up to 19 August.
4. On 19 August, make your mark by registering your World Humanitarian Day action.
Please find attached the WHD2012 one-pager on Global Events & Campaign Material. I very much hope that you can support this campaign which aims to raise awareness of the day and humanitarianism.
With warm thanks and very best wishes,
Peter Muller
Regional Disaster Response Adviser - Pacific
United Nations
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
Tel: +679-3316760 (office)
Tel: +679-3316761 (direct)
Mob: +679-9991664
Fax: +679-3309762
Skype: pmuller345 or ocha_pacific
Level 5, Kadavu House
414 Victoria Parade, Suva, Fiji
C/o UNDP Private Mail Bag
Suva, Fiji
www.reliefweb.int
www.unocha.org
www.phtpacific.org