UN Warns of 'Unacceptable' Level of Violence Against Aid Workers

The United Nations has condemned the "unacceptable" surge in violence targeting humanitarian workers worldwide, a crisis that claimed a record 280 lives in 2023 alone. The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) voiced grave concerns that this alarming trend is only worsening, with the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza potentially contributing to even higher casualties this year.

On World Humanitarian Day, marked every August 19 to commemorate the deadly 2003 attack on the UN headquarters in Baghdad, Joyce Msuya, acting director of OCHA, called out the escalating violence as "unacceptable, unconscionable, and enormously harmful for aid operations everywhere." The rising threat to aid workers, she said, is further exacerbated by a lack of accountability for those responsible.

According to data from the Aid Worker Security Database, 2023 was the deadliest year on record for the global humanitarian community, with a staggering 137 percent increase in fatalities compared to 2022, when 118 aid workers were killed and over half of the 2023 deaths—163 lives lost—occurred in Gaza during the first three months of the Israel-Hamas war, primarily due to airstrikes. 

Other conflict zones also posed significant risks to humanitarians, with South Sudan and Sudan emerging as particularly dangerous. In South Sudan, civil strife claimed 34 aid workers' lives, while 25 were killed amid the brutal war between rival generals in Sudan. Other high-risk countries for aid workers included Israel and Syria, each reporting seven deaths; Ethiopia and Ukraine, each with six; Somalia, with five; and Myanmar and the Democratic Republic of Congo, with four each. Across all conflicts, the majority of fatalities were among local staff, who often bear the brunt of the violence.

Despite the staggering number of deaths in 2023, OCHA warns that 2024 may prove even deadlier for aid workers. By August 9, 2024, 176 aid workers had already been killed globally, signaling a deeply troubling trajectory. The Israel-Hamas war remains a crucial driver of these fatalities, with over 280 aid workers killed in Gaza since the start of the conflict in October 2023, most of them employees of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

In response to this mounting crisis, leaders from various humanitarian organizations issued a letter to UN member states on Monday, calling for immediate international action to end attacks on civilians, protect aid workers, and hold perpetrators accountable.

As the world reflects on World Humanitarian Day, which honors the lives lost in service to humanity, the UN and aid organizations call for stronger protections and justice for those who risk their lives to help others in the world's most dangerous places.

Follow Running News Today’s Google News channel for the latest updates on this issue.

---