August 19, the World Humanitarian Day is an occasion to shed light on the aid workers everywhere, appreciate their humanitarian work and the challenges they face. This day serves as a reminder of the commitment to protect humanitarian workers and the work they do. The World Humanitarian Day brings together partners from across the humanitarian field to advocate for the survival and dignity of people affected by crises, and the safety and security of aid workers.

The International Organization for Migration is one of the largest agencies responding to crisis situations around the world, including conflict, violence, disasters, and epidemics. The organization is also part of the Humanitarian Coordination System.

In 2021, IOM’s work in crisis response reached 31.7 million people, including internally displaced persons, refugees, and migrants and host communities, either directly or as part of community-based programmes. IOM offices provided livelihoods assistance to 802,145 individuals affected by displacement, and implemented transition and recovery projects across 87 countries, reaching over 5.3 million beneficiaries. IOM also implemented cash-based interventions through activities in 119 countries, reaching nearly 1.9 million beneficiaries, with interventions in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iraq, the Syrian Arab Republic, and Yemen.

The IOM Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) reported over 84 per cent of humanitarian needs overviews and humanitarian response plans in 2021. These are some of the humanitarian achievements of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) that are documented in the recently released annual report of 2021.

The IOM Chief of Mission, Mr. Mazen AboulHosn, said “Kuwait has always been at the forefront of humanitarian and development aid around the world. The contributions and support we receive from the State of Kuwait are vital and lifesaving for many and allowed us to help hundreds of thousands of needy and conflict-affected people in various humanitarian fields. During the year 2022, Kuwait provided financial aid in support of the organization’s programs in Afghanistan and Ukraine”.  He added “We look forward to more cooperation with all donor countries, including the State of Kuwait, NGOs, and the private sector to reach the largest possible number of needy people. The slogan for the World Humanitarian Day 2022 is “It Takes A Village”, and therefore efforts must be made to confront humanitarian crises.

The Global Humanitarian Overview indicates that there are 303 million people around the world in need of humanitarian assistance and protection.