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World Humanitarian Day Observed in Almaty
Written by Olga Chuprakova, UPF - Kazakhstan
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Almaty, Kazakhstan - UPF-Kazakhstan and the Family Federation for World Peace, in cooperation with the African Union in Kazakhstan, organized a three-hour event on World Humanitarian Day in Almaty on August 20. The program featured films about humanitarian needs in Africa and the humanitarian work being carried out in Kazakhstan by Africans and people of various nationalities living there.
Celebrated annually on August 19 since its proclamation by the UN General Assembly in 2009 in order to raise public awareness about humanitarian work around the world, it is an occasion to honor the memory of those humanitarian workers who gave their lives while seeking to save the lives of others.
The event gathered 30 people. Participants included local Ambassadors for Peace, members of the African Union, the Vice President and Press Secretary of the Red Crescent Society of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and ecologists from Kazakhstan and France.
Welcoming remarks by the UPF representative, Olga Chuprakova, were followed by reading the UN Secretary-General's message on the occasion of the World Humanitarian Day 2011.
After listening the history of World Humanitarian Day, participants watched four short videos:
- Real story of humanitarian workers in Haiti (2 min.)
- Real story of a humanitarian worker, trauma surgeon, in Somalia (2 min.)
- Promotional video about UN humanitarian workers around the world (4 min.)
- UPF introductory video (6 min.)
The program continued with a report about the crisis in the countries of the Horn of Africa such as Somalia, Kenya, Djibouti, and Ethiopia that are suffering from extreme drought.
Three representatives from the African Union of Kazakhstan, which has 90 adult members plus their children, gave very inspirational talks about the positive sides of African countries and their people and the investment of African Union members in development of Kazakhstan. Mr. Lamin D. Bangura (President of the African Union in Kazakhstan), Dr. James Bwai, and Mr. Bob Usoroh were those speakers. All of them are residents of Kazakhstan. They settled here and are raising their families here. In particular, they shared about their important key national values, their nostalgia for Africa, and the contributions of African people to prosperity around the world and Kazakhstan. The audience was quite amazed of the real face and value of African people as well as their potential and global achievements.
We had the opportunity to listen to the detailed report of the Vice President of the Kazakhstan Red Crescent Society, Dr. Kadyrbayev Vadim Vladimirovich, on the projects and activities of their organization within Kazakhstan.
Our two guests from France, who came to Kazakhstan with the Eco Project, introduced their activities and projects in Kazakhstan.
The program followed with African drums and lively entertainment.
The culmination of the evening was the appointment of six new Ambassadors for Peace.
This event gave us the opportunity to make friends with new contacts and to gather people of good will who devote their life to living for the sake of others and the well being of our society and world.
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