Try to answer this simple question sincerely to yourself. Would you rather eat only pizza for the rest of your life, or never eat pizza again?
The question looks simple. But taking a decision on it demands courage. Eating only pizza for the rest of your life is not healthy. It will send you to your grave early. Meanwhile, if there is no food and you refuse to eat pizza, which is the only food available, you are surely going to die.
This is the exact same scenario that people living in conflict zones around the world are facing. Many of them have to make the difficult choice: stay in their homes and die from hunger or bombardments, or take a perilous journey in order to get refuge somewhere else. It may not be pizza, but the comparison caught your attention…
According to the United Nations, a record number of 130 million people are in need of aid, due to conflict or disaster this year. It is the largest humanitarian disaster that has faced the world since World War II.
In Syria, for example, the civil war being fueled by the United States and its allies has forced more than half of the country’s 22 million people from their homes. Corporate media will estimate the death toll, since the war began in 2011, at 280,000. However, recently, the United Nations special envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura estimated that the actual death toll from the war could be as high as 400,000, or more.
However, in all these sufferings, the United Nations says it is being under funded to deal with the situation. According to the world governing body, with only 3 months remaining in the year, the organization has received less than a third of the funding it requires to meet this year’s most urgent humanitarian needs. This has severely limited the organization’s response to the crisis.
Due to the overwhelming nature of the situation, the United Nations has now launched an online game to get the attention of citizens worldwide, on the humanitarian disaster currently facing us.
The game is in the form of a quiz, in which simple but difficult questions are asked. The players need to answer the questions, and by doing so, get to understand the difficult situation people who are living in conflict zones, face.
The game is called “Would You’d Rather?” It was launched on World Humanitarian Day, a day meant to honor aid workers who risk their lives saving others. The game places players in the shoes of people living in conflict zones. It forces players to make tough choices that people in emergency situations often face, such as: Would you rather struggle in a refugee camp, or risk your life crossing the sea?
In September 2015, a disturbing photo of Alan Kurdi, a Syrian refugee who got drowned in a Turkish beach, went viral on the Internet. It showed the risk those who decide to leave their homes, face. In August 2016, a photo of Omran Daqneesh, another Syrian boy, went viral after his home was hit by an airstrike. This also illustrates the dangers those who decide not to leave their homes, face.
Even in places where some of these unfortunate people are seeking refuge, they are not all that safe. For example, in many refugee camps, residents are living in dire conditions. Women in Germany’s many refugee camps have reported feeling unsafe, with some avoiding walking to the toilets at night for fear of harassment, or being raped.
The United Nations is therefore urging people to tweet their country’s leader to demand they take action and provide further funding to help end the disaster.
“In crises around the world, from Syria to South Sudan, people are forced to make impossible choices, risking violence for food or risking drowning in search of a safe haven. We call on all global citizens to show solidarity, use their voice and demand that world leaders take action,” the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Stephen O’Brien said in a press release.
You can take the ‘Would You Rather’ quiz here. Learn more about World Humanitarian Day on the website, or if you want to take action, start by tweeting your country’s leader to demand they step up to help.
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