High Commissioner's remarks at the World Humanitarian Day 2026 Commemoration

Excellencies, colleagues, friends,

Let me begin by acknowledging the survivors of the Canal Hotel attack who are with us today, and the families of those we lost. Your presence makes this commemoration especially meaningful, and I am deeply, deeply honoured to be here with you today.

For me, 19 August 2003 also carries a very personal memory. A few days before, I spoke to my good friend Ghassan Salamé. We scheduled a meeting with Sergio de Mello for the week after. This meeting was not meant to be.

I remember that day, and the profound sense of loss that followed. Iraq was emerging from conflict and entering a deeply uncertain period. There was so much that needed to be done, and so much hope invested in what might still be possible.

Sergio had come to Baghdad to help.

And on 19 August, he and 21 of his colleagues were killed for doing precisely that.

Unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to meet him in person. But like so many others, I knew what he represented.

He had spent his life serving in some of the world's most difficult places. He believed in the United Nations, in its responsibility to be present when people needed it most, and the ability of international service to make a difference.

He embodied the very best of international civil service and leadership: principled, courageous, and committed to people above all.

His loss was devastating. And for the United Nations, that day changed something profound.

It exposed, in the most terrible way, the vulnerability of those who go into the most difficult places not to fight a conflict, but to help people caught within it.

Twenty-three years later, I think about Sergio and those we lost that day, and about all those who continue to do the same service in that very spirit.

As High Commissioner for Refugees, I see every day what the courage of humanitarian workers makes possible. I see colleagues on the front lines, often far from the world's attention, protecting families forced from their homes, delivering assistance, and helping people find a path towards safety and solutions.

Humanitarian workers who leave their families each morning not knowing what that day will bring. Overwhelmingly, they are national colleagues, serving their own communities, often while they and their families are living through the same conflict, insecurity, and uncertainty as the people they help.

People who remain when circumstances become dangerous because others are depending on them.

Some never come home.

The risks Sergio and his colleagues faced in Baghdad have not disappeared. In too many places, humanitarian workers continue to be attacked, detained, obstructed, and killed.

Humanitarian workers must be protected. International humanitarian law must be respected. And when they are attacked, there must be accountability.

Today, we remember Sergio and the 21 others killed at the Canal Hotel. We remember every humanitarian worker who has lost their life in the service of others. And we stand with the survivors, and with the families and colleagues who continue to carry that loss.

I never had that meeting with Sergio in Baghdad. But 23 years later, what he represented remains as important as ever: a belief in service, in principled leadership, and in the responsibility to be present when people need us most.

Humanitarian workers around the world continue that work every day.

Our responsibility is to ensure that they do not pay for it with their lives.

Thank you.