KOICA, Online Campaign Commemorating World Humanitarian Day... Online Talk Concert Held

Campaign for the 7th World Humanitarian Day with International Organizations and Korean NGOs

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] KOICA announced on the 19th that it conducted an online campaign to mark ‘World Humanitarian Day.’ To prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), the talk concert was broadcast live online.

World Humanitarian Day was established by a UN General Assembly resolution in 2008 to honor the 22 humanitarian workers who lost their lives in a bombing attack at the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad, Iraq, on August 19, 2003. Since then, various events promoting the spirit of humanitarianism have been held around the globe every year on this day.

Since 2014, KOICA has held an annual campaign to reflect on the significance of the establishment of World Humanitarian Day and to share the meaning of humanitarianism and the value of solidarity. This year, KOICA is collaborating with 12 organizations including the Korea Civil Society Organization for International Development Cooperation (KCOC), UN agencies, and international development cooperation and humanitarian NGOs to conduct various campaigns under the theme ‘Gather Together for Humanity.’ To maintain social distancing, the campaign is held online and consists of a talk concert, an online photo exhibition, and relay videos of campaigns from each organization.

The talk concert, held under the theme ‘Begin Again, A New Start Amid Crisis,’ took place at the KOICA headquarters auditorium in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, and was broadcast live in real time via KOICA’s official Facebook, YouTube, and other social media channels. Former announcer Moon Ji-ae hosted the event, where field workers from six organizations including KOICA, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), ADI, World Vision, and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) shared vivid experiences from the field and discussed the meaning of humanitarianism and the value of solidarity.

KOICA is also conducting an online photo exhibition titled ‘2020 World Humanitarian Day’ through the Daum Kakao Gallery. The exhibition features a total of 100 photos across five themes: refugees, emergency relief and aftermath, COVID-19 response and health field, water and sanitation, and education. This photo exhibition, involving all 12 organizations, will run for about two months until October 15.

Song Woong-yeop, Director of KOICA’s Global Partnership Division, said, “This year, as the world faces an unprecedented humanitarian crisis due to the spread of the COVID-19 virus and abnormal weather caused by climate change, the meaning conveyed by this campaign is more special than ever,” adding, “We hope that through this campaign, the meaning and importance of solidarity in complex humanitarian crisis situations will be widely recognized.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.