CCOPAB celebrates World Humanitarian Day (19 August)
Rio de Janeiro (RJ) - On 19 August 2021, the Brazilian Peace Operations Joint Training Center (CCOPAB), a Brazilian Army Educational Organization supervised by the Department of Military Technical Education, celebrates the World Humanitarian Day (8 May).
This date makes a reference to the Baghdad attack of 2003, when a bomb blast at the Canal Hotel killed 21 UN collaborators and employees, including the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General (UN SRSG) in Iraq - Sérgio Vieira de Mello.
By means of UN GA Resolution of 2008, UN designated the day of 19 August as the World Humanitarian Day, in order to pay a tribute to those working in humanitarian assistance all over the world, and risking their lives to support people in need in conflict areas or due to natural disasters.
Currently, there are several United Nations Agencies, Funds and Programs working towards humanitarian actions, such as UNICEF, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the World Food Program (WFP), the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), UN Women, and the like.
In his 34 years of service dedicated to the UN, the Brazilian Sergio Vieira de Mello has mostly worked in humanitarian activities and towards human rights. From 1969 to 2003, his presence was decisive in several peace missions, as those carried out by UN in Bangladesh, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Croatia, Cyprus, East Timor, Iraq, Mozambique, Peru and Sudan. By means of Ordinance Nr 949, of 03 December 2008, from the Brazilian Army Commander, CCOPAB was historically named after Sérgio Vieira de Mello Center.
Translation: MAJ ISRAEL.
