The Sunday Times (London)
Sunday
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
The legacy of violence
Many people may not know today is World Humanitarian Day, with its theme of "Civilians are #NotATarget". This could hardly fall at a more opportune time as so many across the world still are; in Syria and in Africa, and in the very recent past in the Balkans.
It is too easy for us to forget the horrors of previous generations and play politics with the past. Growing division at home and abroad reminds us that we must never be complacent about the need for greater unity.
As an immigrant to Britain, born to Armenian parents displaced by the genocide of 1915, I am only too keenly aware of the devastating effect that period had on the people who survived and their descendants.
The legacy of conflict continues to shape those who survive it. But we all have two choices in the aftermath of violence: either remain a victim or, once surviving and thriving, to continue the cycle of gratitude and giving.
On today of all days, I am hopeful victims and those who work to protect them, in and out of government, around the world, will make the right choice.
Professor Lord Darzi, Imperial College London and member of the selection committee for the Aurora prize for Awakening Humanity, the largest individual prize in the world for humanitarianism
