The first eight months of 2025 have continued to reflect a troubling pattern, with 265 humanitarian workers killed by 14 August, as reported on World Humanitarian Day.
Violent incidents against humanitarian personnel, resources, and missions breach international regulations and compromise the essential support for countless individuals in conflict and disaster-stricken areas.
“Every assault on a humanitarian peer is an assault on us all and those we aid,” stated Tom Fletcher, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), in Geneva.
In New York City, the UN marked the anniversary of the 2003 bombing of its Baghdad headquarters, which resulted in 22 deaths, with a memorial service attended by some survivors.
Protect aid workers
“Humanitarians offer hope amidst hopelessness,” remarked Mr. Fletcher during the World Humanitarian Day 2025 Commemoration in Geneva. “They inject humanity into inhumane conditions.”
Yet, aid workers face persistent threats.
In 2024, most victims were local staff serving their communities, targeted either during duty or at home.
Since October 2023, 520 aid workers, predominantly from the UN Palestine refugee agency UNRWA, have been killed in Gaza, marking it as the deadliest place for aid workers for the second consecutive year.
OCHA called on Member States to ensure the safety of civilians and humanitarian staff and to hold the offenders responsible.
Despite these risks, “humanitarians will not retreat,” asserted Mr. Fletcher.
Humanitarians in the Middle East
Civilians and aid workers across the Middle East “are suffering deaths, injuries, and assaults in alarming numbers,” stated UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinators in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), Syria, Yemen, and Lebanon in a joint statement on Tuesday.
Since August 2024, over 446 humanitarian personnel have faced fatality, injury, abduction, or detention in these regions. “The global community is failing humanitarian workers and those they serve,” the statement declared.
The officials reiterated their appeal for adherence to international humanitarian and human rights laws, urging global actors to “protect those who protect humanity.”
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