UN agency seeks local heroes to raise humanitarian awareness

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines - - The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA) is searching for  local heroes to raise humanitarian awareness here as the organization joins the commemoration of World Humanitarian  Day next week.

Ben Pickering, UN OCHA head for Zamboanga hub, said they are looking for five heroes as a sample of people who displayed their heroism  and helped relieve the suffering of those in humanitarian crisis, and in turn raising the awareness of people to come into aid of others.

The UN OCHA has been in the city assisting the local government in the humanitarian efforts  to help more than 25,000 people who remained displaced after the September 9 siege last year of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) rebel faction of Nur Misuari.

“The campaign is part of achieving that (awareness),” Pickering told newsmen during a discussion at its local headquarters here.

He said the World Humanitarian Day,  slated on August 19,  is an opportunity to celebrate the spirit humanitarian work around the world. It is the same date when 22 aid agency workers lost their lives in the bombing of UN headquarters in Baghdad in 2008.

The UN official said that in 2012, the humanitarian community reached more than a billion worldwide through its campaign “I Was Here” and last year’s goal was to capitalize on this goodwill and turn it into action by creating a market place for action of humanitarian workers and organizations.

Pickering said this year’s campaign seeks to recognize those heroes to create awareness for volunteerism and help people whose lives are either torn apart by war or natural calamity.