Aid workers on the front lines of the world's conflicts are being killed in unprecedented numbers, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Monday, marking World Humanitarian Day. At least 280 aid workers were killed in 33 countries last year, making 2023 the deadliest year on record. 2024 could be on track to be even deadlier.
“This outrageously high number represents a 137 percent increase compared to 2022, when 118 aid workers were killed”, OCHA said in a statement.
Most of the humanitarian workers killed in 2023 - 163 - were killed by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in the Gaza Strip. The overwhelming majority of recorded killings and attacks on aid workers in Gaza and other conflict zones targeted national staff.
The year 2024 may be on track for an even more deadly outcome. This year's toll - in terms of deaths, injuries, and abductions - is already staggering. Yet, warring parties continue to disregard laws designed to protect civilians, including humanitarian workers, as well as civilian objects.
As of August 19, 2024, 187 aid workers have been killed, according to a preliminary count by the Aid Worker Security Database (AWSD). 121 - two-thirds - of them in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT).
“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, in a statement.
“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."
More than half of the 2023 deaths occurred between October and December in Gaza, mostly as a result of Israeli airstrikes. Since October, more than 285 aid workers have been killed in Gaza alone, most of them staff of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
According to AWSD, extreme levels of violence in Sudan and South Sudan contributed to the tragic death toll in 2023. South Sudan has ranked highest in terms of insecurity for several consecutive years. Ongoing civil and intercommunal violence there resulted in 34 aid worker deaths in 2023 - the second-largest contributor to last year's unprecedented death toll. The war that erupted in neighboring Sudan in April 2023 resulted in 25 aid worker deaths by the end of 2023.
The other seven most dangerous countries for humanitarian and development workers are Israel and Syria (7 each), Ethiopia and Ukraine (6 each), Somalia (5), and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Myanmar (4 each). In all these conflicts, the majority of victims are national staff.
91 aid workers were abducted in 2023, down from 185 in 2022.
On this World Humanitarian Day, aid workers and those who support their efforts around the world have organized events to show solidarity and highlight the terrible toll of armed conflict, including on humanitarian workers.
Moreover, a joint letter from more than 400 humanitarian organizations will be sent to member states of the UN General Assembly, calling on the international community to end attacks on civilians, protect all aid workers, and hold perpetrators accountable.
“This World Humanitarian Day, our staff and volunteers around the world will stand in solidarity to spotlight the horrifying toll of armed conflicts on their colleagues and on all civilians, particularly children,” the letter said.
"The brutal hostilities we are seeing in multiple conflicts around the world have exposed a terrible truth: We are living in an era of impunity."
The humanitarian organizations deplore that attacks that kill or injure civilians, including humanitarian and health workers, are "devastatingly common."
“Yet despite widespread condemnation, serious violations of the rules of war too often go unpunished. This status quo is shameful and cannot continue,” they say.
The aid agencies call on all states, parties to armed conflict and the wider international community to end attacks on civilians and take active steps to protect them - and the critical civilian infrastructure on which they rely - to protect all aid workers, including local and national staff, and to hold perpetrators accountable.
“Those who commit violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) cannot go unpunished,” their letter said.
The latest verified casualty statistics are based on data from the Aid Worker Security Database (AWSD). Launched in 2005, the AWSD tracks major incidents of violence against aid workers, with incident reports from 1997 to the present. The database is a project of Humanitarian Outcomes and is supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Further information
Full text: World Humanitarian Day: UN demands action as aid worker deaths hit record high, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), press release, published August 19, 2024
https://www.unocha.org/news/world-humanitarian-day-un-demands-action-aid-worker-deaths-hit-record-high
Full text: Protect civilians and aid workers: A global call on World Humanitarian Day, Open Letter to the Member States of the UN General Assembly, on behalf of the IASC Principals, signed by 413 humanitarian organizations around the world who are calling for the protection of civilians, including their staff, published August 19, 2024
https://www.unocha.org/news/protect-civilians-and-aid-workers-global-call-world-humanitarian-day
Website: Aid Worker Security Database (AWSD)
https://www.aidworkersecurity.org
Website: World Humanitarian Day
https://www.worldhumanitarianday.org/