International Day of Peace 2024
20.09.2024
Reading time
4 minutes
September 21 marks the International Day of Peace. Over the years, millions of people have lost their lives due to armed conflicts worldwide. Many could have been saved if help had arrived in time. For 25 years, the Polish Medical Mission has been doing everything possible to bring aid to those in need in war-torn countries.
The International Day of Peace is a date in the calendar that encourages reflection and reassessment. In various parts of the world, people continue to suffer due to armed conflicts. Between 1989 and 2022, 3,300,000 people died as a result of war—some due to hunger, injuries, and diseases that doctors, lacking medicines and medical supplies, could not treat.
Armed conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, Ethiopia, Gaza, and Ukraine represent just a small portion of the tragedies caused by war. Beyond the immediate military threat, wars leave people in need of professional help long after the direct danger has passed. They often face hunger, malnutrition, lack of sanitation, clothing shortages, and limited access to medical care.
This is the current situation in the Gaza Strip. The enclave is lacking water, electricity, hygiene products, and basic medicines. Medical professionals are sometimes forced to amputate injured limbs in both children and adults—simply to prevent infection and save lives. Under normal hospital conditions, such tragedies wouldn’t occur, as proper treatment and patient recovery would suffice. We are helping both patients and the medical staff on the ground. In the hospital in Deir al-Balah, medical teams, co-organized by our Jordanian partner JHAS (Jordan Health Aid Society), are working tirelessly. We have also provided medical supplies, infant formula, and warm clothing in collaboration with our local partner, the Palestinian Medical Relief Society. This assistance was made possible thanks to the support of our donors.
Right across the Polish border, in Ukraine, Russian attacks continue to devastate hospitals, schools, supermarkets, and critical energy infrastructure. In areas near the front lines, there are still people who, for various reasons, cannot or choose not to leave their country. There, even minor chronic illnesses pose serious threats. We ensure that aid reaches those in need. In the Sumy, Kyiv, and Kharkiv regions, mobile clinics—established in partnership with FRIDA Ukraine—are providing medical care to seniors, pregnant women, children, and all others in need of help.
The situation is also dire in Ethiopia, where during two years of armed conflict (2020-2022), as many as 600,000 civilians lost their lives, making it the bloodiest conflict in recent years. According to UN data, more than 24 million people in Ethiopia are in need of aid. We are present there, providing assistance in hospitals (including St. Luke’s Hospital in Wolisso and rural health centers in the South-West Shoa region), saving the lives of the youngest. Aware that in conflict zones, it’s not just bombs that pose a threat but also diseases, injuries, hunger, and malnutrition, we stay in touch with local partners to deliver the exact help needed at any given moment. Let’s hope that the next International Day of Peace will find the world in a better state.
