DUBAI // Aid workers across the world are today marking World Humanitarian Day. The day was established by the UN General Assembly to "contribute to increasing public awareness about humanitarian work and the importance of international cooperation". Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary General, called on the world to remember those in need, those who had died trying to help them and those who continued to help, undeterred by the dangers they faced.
Dane Novarlic is a Dubai-based telecommunications specialist working for the UN World Food Programme. "If we didn't love what we do, we wouldn't do it," he said by telephone from Pakistan, where he is helping flood relief efforts. "I am not happy to see all these disasters and emergencies hitting this country, I would rather see that they are fine and don't need us. But I am definitely happy to do what I am doing and give support to contribute towards improving things for these people."
This year, the day marks the seventh anniversary of the Canal Hotel bombing in Baghdad in which 22 people died, including the special representative to the UN Secretary General, Sergio Vieira de Mello.
loatway@thenational.ae
