FPA Sri Lanka’s Senior Management team and head office staff for the first time commemorated World Humanitarian Day on the 20^th of August by way of an informative event organised by the Advocacy Unit in collaboration with the Disaster Management Center of Sri Lanka. On this day we honoured those who lost their lives in humanitarian service and those who still continue the work, risking their lives in service to assist victims of wars and natural disasters worldwide.

The programme was supported by the IPPF Global-Sprint Project. Our Executive Director Ms Thushara Agus addressed the staff and gave a brief history of the day which was designated by the UN General Assembly to coincide with the anniversary of the 2003 bombing of the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad, Iraq and read out the inspiring message from United Nations Secretary Ban Ki-moon which highlighted the global theme for 2015 ‘Inspiring the World's Humanity’.

Director of the HIV & Adovcacy Unit, Ms Madu Dissanayake then briefed the staff about the IPPF Global-Sprint initiative which provides humanitarian assistance and essential life-saving SRH services for women, men and children in times of crises. The MISP (Minimum Initial Service Package) is an internationally accepted minimum standard of care that delivers practical solutions for girls and women to deal with pregnancy, childbirth,  sexual &  reproductive health needs including aspects such as SGBV and HIV. The goal of the MISP is to ‘’reduce mortality, ill-health and disability through the application of a set of clinical interventions provided using an agreed approach and set of guidelines to meet SRH needs in emergencies’’.

We were happy to hear from the Assistant Director of the Disaster Management Centre Mr. Chathura Liyanarachchi who then conducted a session on the DMC's role in creating a safer Sri Lanka and spoke about the support received from the IPPF Global- Sprint initiative to strengthen the system and what needs to be done as a collective stakeholder body to address the needs that can arise in a crisis situation to minimize loss of life.

The Medical Director of FPA Sri Lanka Dr. Sumithra Tissera spoke passionately about the organisation’s excellent emergency responses in the past 10 years, especially with regard to the 2004 Tsunami, 2009 IDP camps and the more recent 2014 Koslanda-Miriyabedda landslide.

In solidarity with the United Nations #sharehumanity campaign, at the end of the event, the staff of FPA Sri Lanka voiced their ideas in form of holding up slogans to share on FPA Sri Lanka’s social media platforms to raise awareness and help to inspire humanity on these global issues. In light of this powerful campaign these words ring true.

In a world that is ever more digitally connected, each of us has the power and responsibility to inspire our fellow human beings to act to help others and create a more humane world.”

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon