A shocking new record of 383 aid workers killed in 2024 must be a wake-up call to protect all civilians in conflict and crisis and call time on impunity, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Tuesday, on the World Humanitarian Day.
Most of the aid workers killed were national staff serving their communities, and they were attacked in the line of duty or in their homes. An additional 308 aid workers were wounded, 125 kidnapped and 45 detained in the same year, OCHA said.
The 31% surge in aid worker deaths compared to 2023 was driven by the relentless conflicts in Gaza, where 181 humanitarian workers were killed, and in Sudan, where 60 lost their lives. Violence against aid workers increased in 21 countries in 2024 compared to the previous year, according to OCHA.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in his message marking World Humanitarian Day that “attacks on humanitarian workers are an attack on humanity,” stressing that aid staff remain the last lifeline for more than 300 million people caught in conflict or disaster.
He also warned that the funding base sustaining humanitarian relief efforts is rapidly shrinking, even as threats against aid providers escalate.
World Humanitarian Day is observed annually on August 19, commemorating the 2003 bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad that killed 22 humanitarian workers. The Sources QNA
