The United Nations strongly criticized the 'unacceptable' levels of violence against humanitarian workers, which have become routine, after a record 280 were killed globally in 2023. The UN also cautioned that the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza could lead to even more fatalities this year.
'The normalization of violence against aid workers and the lack of accountability are unacceptable, unconscionable, and hugely detrimental to aid operations worldwide,' stated Joyce Msuya, the acting director of the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), on World Humanitarian Day.
OCHA reported that 2023 was the deadliest year on record for the global humanitarian community, with a 137 percent increase from 2022, when 118 aid workers were killed. The Aid Worker Security Database, which has tracked these figures since 1997, was cited in the statement. The UN noted that 163 of the 2023 deaths occurred in Gaza during the initial three months of the Israel-Hamas war, primarily due to air strikes. South Sudan and Sudan, embroiled in civil conflicts, followed with 34 and 25 deaths respectively.
Other conflict zones in the top 10 include Israel and Syria with seven deaths each; Ethiopia and Ukraine with six each; Somalia with five; and Myanmar and the Democratic Republic of Congo with four each. Most of the fatalities in these conflicts were local staff, not foreign visitors.
'We demand an end to impunity so that perpetrators face justice,' UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres declared. Despite the 'outrageously high number' of aid worker deaths in 2023, OCHA warned that 2024 could be even deadlier. As of August 9, 176 aid workers had been killed worldwide, according to the Aid Worker Security Database. Since October, over 280 aid workers have been killed in Gaza, mostly employees of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, according to OCHA.
In response, leaders from multiple humanitarian organizations and UN agencies sent a letter to UN member states on Monday, calling for an end to 'an era of impunity.' 'Attacks that kill or injure civilians, including humanitarian and health-care personnel, are devastatingly common,' the letter stated, signed by groups such as the World Food Programme and the International Committee of the Red Cross. 'Yet despite widespread condemnation, serious violations of the rules of war too often go unpunished.'
Each year, the United Nations commemorates World Humanitarian Day on August 19, marking the anniversary of the 2003 attack on its Baghdad headquarters. The bombing resulted in 22 deaths, including that of Sergio Vieira de Mello, the UN special representative to Iraq, and injured around 150 local and foreign aid workers. On this occasion, the United States expressed its gratitude to humanitarian workers and reaffirmed its commitment to supporting their efforts.
