Selfie petition at UN aims to highlight need to protect aid workers and civilians in conflict zones
The ‘living petition’ will be on display to remind world leaders of their legal obligation to protect civilians in conflict, the UN’s Mark Lowcock says
London — Thousands of selfies are to be displayed on a 3D installation at the UN in New York to highlight the plight of millions caught in conflict worldwide and demand protection for those trying to help them, the world body said on Friday. The UN is asking people around the world to add their names to a petition calling on global leaders to protect civilians and aid workers — not with a pen but by submitting a selfie online. The 3D images will be projected onto a mirrored glass structure at the UN building in what it is calling the first "living petition" to date. "It is unconscionable that civilians and the aid workers who are trying to help them are killed and maimed in conflict zones with utter impunity," said Mark Lowcock, head of the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs. "We need this to end." In 2017, 139 aid workers were killed, more than 100 wounded and 76 kidnapped while doing their jobs, according to the annual Aid Worker Security Report compiled by in...
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