UN Marks Deadliest Year For Aid Workers

Aid workers on the frontlines of the world’s conflicts are being killed in unprecedented numbers, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said as it marked World Humanitarian Day, Wednesday.

With 280 aid workers killed in 33 countries last year, 2023 marked the deadliest year on record for the global humanitarian community.

This outrageously high number represents a 137 per cent increase compared to 2022, when 118 aid workers were killed.

2024 may be on track for an even deadlier outcome. As of 7 August, 172 aid workers have been killed, according to the provisional count from the Aid Worker Security Database.

More than half of the 2023 deaths were recorded in the first three months – October to December – of the hostilities in Gaza, mostly as a result of airstrikes. Since October, more than 280 aid workers – the majority of them staff members of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) – have been killed in Gaza alone.

Extreme levels of violence in Sudan and South Sudan have contributed to the tragic death toll, both in 2023 and in 2024.

In all these conflicts, most of the casualties are among national staff.

Many humanitarian workers also continue to be detained in Yemen.

“The normalization of violence against aid workers and the lack of accountability are unacceptable, unconscionable and enormously harmful for aid operations everywhere,” said Joyce Msuya, Acting Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. “Today, we reiterate our demand that people in power act to end violations against civilians and the impunity with which these heinous attacks are committed.”

On this World Humanitarian Day, aid workers and those supporting their efforts around the globe have organized events to stand in solidarity and spotlight the horrifying toll of armed conflicts, including on humanitarian staff. In addition, a joint letter from leaders of humanitarian organizations will be sent to the Member States of the UN General Assembly asking the international community to end attacks on civilians, protect all aid workers, and hold perpetrators to account.

Everyone can add their voice by joining and amplifying the digital campaign using the hashtag #ActforHumanity.