Safety Of Health Workers Eminent, Says Caritas Ghana On Humanitarian Day

As the World marked Humanitarian Day, Caritas Ghana, the Development and Relief Agency of the Catholic Church in Ghana has noted with concern that there was the urgent need to ensure the safety and security of health workers in the country who are making frantic efforts in containing the coronavirus pandemic.

The world celebrates and honors all humanitarian workers, health workers, Civil Society Organisations and all those engaged in the battle against COVID-19 which has plagued the world as well as to provide life-saving support and protection to people most in need.

In a statement to mark the Day on August 19, 2020, the Executive Secretary of Caritas Ghana, Zan Samuel Akologo said “there is the need now more than ever, to provide safety and security for health workers and to ensure the survival, well-being, and dignity of displaced women and children, persons with disability, and the vulnerable affected by the crises.”

“The plight of displaced and stranded female head porters, also called Kayayee, in our cities remain a serious concern to Caritas Ghana,” he noted, stating that “COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the existing inadequacies in our communities and increased the population of crisis-affected persons.”

Zan Akologo added “Today is a reminder of our call to serve, our resolve to overcoming difficulties and our commitment to helping people in humanitarian crises all over the world.”

“We at Caritas Ghana are resolute in our call to serve and we will continue to provide aid to poor and vulnerable women and children, a person with a disability and all crisis-affected persons by guaranteeing access to basic livelihood security services (food, shelter, medicine), technical and logistics support for health facilities and coordinating authentic, verifiable COVID-19 information using WHO-approved guidelines and in accordance with Ghana Health Service protocols,” he added.

On World Humanitarian Day marked on August 19, the world commemorates humanitarian workers killed and injured in the course of their work. This day was designated in memory of the 19 August 2003 bomb attack on the Canal Hotel in Baghdad, Iraq, killing 22 people, including the chief humanitarian in Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello. In 2009, the United Nations General Assembly formalized the day as World Humanitarian Day.

This year’s World Humanitarian Day came as the world continues to fight the COVID-19 pandemic over recent months. Aid workers are overcoming unprecedented access hurdles to assist people in humanitarian crises in 54 countries, as well as in a further nine countries which have been catapulted into humanitarian need by the COVID-19 pandemic.