TWO aid workers are being celebrated for the help they provide to vulnerable refugees and people in warzones to commemorate World Humanitarian Day.
Andrew Wilson, 30, and Charlotte Allan, 37, are humanitarian workers from Brighton who are delivering lifesaving aid on behalf of the Department for International Development (DFID) and The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
With World Humanitarian Day taking place today, they are raising awareness of the type of work they do on the ground.
Mr Wilson is currently based in Iraq, working with DFID to manage programmes that deliver food, shelter and water to people who have fled their homes in Mosul.
The former BHASVIC pupil said: “We are making a real difference to people’s lives through UKaid.
“I would also want people to be aware of the incredible bravery of humanitarian workers who risk their lives on a daily basis to support people when they are most in need.
“We visited a UK-funded Child Friendly Space delivered through the Iraq Humanitarian Pooled Fund.
“These children had faced three years living under Daesh/ISIL control and faced untold trauma.
“Through UK funding we were able to provide them a safe space where they could learn to play again, receive support, and be kids again.
“I was exceptionally proud that the UK could support these children.”
Ms Allan works with the UNHCR in Greece providing refugees living in the camps there with legal information and support.
She said: “This is my third mission with UNHCR. Many refugees find themselves lost in a system that they don’t understand and rely upon Facebook pages that often provide inaccurate, and sometimes wilfully misleading, information.
“I love my job but it is definitely not for the faint hearted.
“I’m mostly in the camps in Central Greece operating in intense heat and situations of high stress, trying my hardest to keep a calm head on my shoulders.”
World Humanitarian Day honours humanitarians worldwide, aiming to increase understanding of their activities.
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