By Ifat Gazia, American Red Cross volunteer

The list of civilian killings around the world continues to grow. At least 51 people were killed last week in Yemen when an  airstrike claimed lives of 40 school children and 11 other people. In Syria, 500,000 civilians have been killed in the last seven years and the Syrian Red Crescent has lost more than 60 of its team members to violence since the crisis began. More than 14,000 civilians lost their lives in the ongoing Kashmir conflict.

This is World Humanitarian Day,  meant to pay tribute to aid workers who risk their lives in humanitarian service and to rally support for people impacted by crises around the world. The #NotATarget movement asks world leaders to do everything in their power to protect all civilians caught in conflict zones worldwide.

Madelena Kamsur Babur is a South Sudan Red Cross volunteer in Wau. Madelena fleed her own community to seek safety in the Red Cross compound after conflict erupted in Wau in June 2016. She continues to live at the compound where she makes herself available to volunteer when the South Sudan Red Cross needs her. She has been a proud volunteer for four years, using her skills as a first aid responder in her rural village. “Where I’m from, there is no health care facilities,” Madelena explained. She is often the first responder, stabilizing villagers until they can get help from a clinic. “I am always ready for the call to respond,” she says. When asked why she volunteers for the South Sudan Red Cross, she says: “The Red Cross represents humanity to me.” (IFRC, ICRC and SSRCS Response Plan) 2017

November 2016, Across Zimbabwe, the impact of a severe El Nino-induced drought continues to drastically affect families. Soloman and Tarisai plough their field. Rains are expected in December and the fields must be ready when they come. The failure of their crops for the last two years meant not only insifficient food and money, it also meant no new seeds to plant. The Zimbabwe Red Cross have given them Sorghum seeds which are more resistant to drought but they know that if the rains are insufficient they may lose their crop again.

Although civilians are protected under International Humanitarian Law, every year, thousands of innocent people – children, young, old, men, women, physically challenged, migrants, refugees, aid workers, doctors, journalists and others who work or live in conflict zones lose their lives to the violence.

On this World Humanitarian Day, let’s take a moment and commemorate the daily struggles of these civilians who live or work in war torn areas. Armed conflict affects lives in many ways and leaves long term effects on the victims of war, especially children.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) protects the lives and dignity of victims of war, and provides them with aid.  Therefore, on this Humanitarian Day let’s campaign together and make sure that civilians are #NotATarget for political instabilities and armed conflicts. Let’s ensure organizations like the International Committee of the Red Cross—and the local Red Cross and Red Crescent societies that work alongside them—are freely allowed to operate with their aid operations in conflict-ridden areas, and that rules of war are followed, especially not to bomb hospitals and schools, kill innocent children and hamper or stop aid operations.