On 19 August 2003, a bomb attack on the United Nations office in Baghdad, Iraq, killed 22 humanitarian aid workers. Five years later, the General Assembly adopted a resolution designating 19 August as World Humanitarian Day to express solidarity with people affected by conflicts or natural disasters and pay tribute to the humanitarian workers who help them.
Each year, World Humanitarian Day brings together partners from across the humanitarian system to raise public awareness of humanitarian work; to advocate for the survival, well-being and dignity of people affected by crises; and to call for the safety and security of aid workers.
This year, on 19 August, UNPA will issue three stamp sheets for World Humanitarian Day, featuring beautiful artwork by award-winning illustrator Olga Shtonda from Kharkiv, Ukraine, to raise awareness and funding for humanitarian action. A surcharge will be added to the stamps, which will go directly to the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to help people in need.
Managed by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), donating to CERF is one of the fastest ways to get urgent aid to the world’s most vulnerable people whenever and wherever crises hit.
From Ukraine to Yemen and beyond, CERF funding reaches millions of people trapped in disasters and conflict, allowing humanitarian partners to save lives by providing urgently needed food, water, health care and much more.
Find out more about World Humanitarian Day at https://about. worldhumanitarianday.org.
Donate to CERF: https://crisisrelief.un.org/cerf.
About the Artist
Olga Shtonda is an illustrator and artist from Ukraine. She studied Graphic Arts at Kharkiv Design and Arts Academy (2009–2015), where she fell in love with printmaking techniques and textures, which greatly influenced her style.
Olga has received awards at many international illustration competitions. In 2019 she won the Ars in Fabula Grant Award and it gave her the opportunity to study in Italy and get the master’s degree in editorial illustration. She is constantly learning and loves to apply her knowledge of illustration in a wider range of fields, for example, animation. Her illustrations adorned children’s books, book covers, board games, music posters, etc. Olga enjoys working with textures and vibrant colours, but most of all she appreciates humor in her illustrations. In between illustrating, she loves traveling, riding her bicycle and observing people. It always helps Olga to collect materials, stories and ideas as inspiration for her next artworks. Her works are highly inspired by humans and nature. They are fun and cheerful because she likes to make people smile.
Souvenir Card
UNPA will also issue a souvenir card for the World Humanitarian Day stamp issue, which carries a statement by the Secretary-General António Guterres and Under- Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths. A quantity of 10,000 cards were printed. The souvenir card is available in either mint or cancelled condition.
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