by MTHULISI SIBANDA
JOHANNESBURG – AT least 383 aid workers killed globally in 2024, indicating a 31 percent surge from the previous year.
An additional 308 workers were wounded, 125 kidnapped and 45 detained in the past year.
The 31 percent 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, with state actors the most common perpetrators.
The first eight months of 2025 show no sign of a reversal of the trend as 265 aid workers have been killed as of August 14, according to provisional data from the Aid Worker Security Database.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs disclosed the statistics on Tuesday (today), on World Humanitarian Day.
“Even one attack against a humanitarian colleague is an attack on all of us and on the people we serve,” said Tom Fletcher, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator.
He said the attacks on this scale, with no accountability, were an indictment of international inaction and apathy.
“As the humanitarian community, we demand – again – that those with power and influence act for humanity, protect civilians and aid workers and hold perpetrators to account.”
The UN Security Council adopted resolution 2730 in May 2024, reaffirming the obligation on parties to conflict and member states to protect humanitarian personnel.
It called for independent investigations into violations but the lack of accountability remains pervasive.
The global #ActForHumanity campaign has been relaunched with added urgency.
“Violence against aid workers is not inevitable. It must end,” Fletcher concluded.
– CAJ News
