Daily Times

The Punjab Emergency Service (Rescue 1122) on Saturday paid homage to rescuers and all aid workers on the eve of World Humanitarian Day.

In a statement, Punjab Emergency Service Director General Dr Rizwan Naseer said, “Humanitarian workers are real heroes of any society as they sacrifice their time, efforts and even risk their lives to provide support to the people affected by any accident, emergency or disaster in any country.”

All human beings deserve respect, dignity and right to timely emergency care without any discrimination in case of any emergency or disaster, he said, adding humanitarianism drives people to save lives of others.

He said that the Punjab Emergency Service had provided life-saving assistance to over six million helpless victims of accidents, emergencies and disasters without discrimination, making it the leading emergency humanitarian organisation of Pakistan. “Now The Rescue 1122 through its Community Safety Programme has so far trained over 150,000 volunteers to work as humanitarian workers in every union council to promote safety culture and provide timely emergency response in case of any untoward incident.”

He acknowledged the services of rescuers, scouts and humanitarian organisations for their countless efforts for the well-being of fellow human beings. He said that all humanitarian organisations needed to put collective efforts to serve the humanity.

In his message on World Humanitarian Day, interim Punjab Chief Minister Dr Hasan Askari said that the purpose of celebrating the day was to create awareness about the civic sense. “We should praise the services of individuals and institutions working for the welfare of fellow human beings at individual and collective level.”

He added, “Humanitarianism demands that we discharge the responsibility of serving fellow human beings without any personal benefit and advantage. It is a responsibility of every individual of the society to serve fellow human beings. On this day, we should renew our resolve that we will encourage all those who are serving the humanity.”

World Humanitarian Day is a day dedicated to recognise humanitarian personnel and those who have lost their lives working for humanitarian causes. The day is celebrated across the world every year on August 19.

Published in Daily Times, August 19^th 2018.