UN Security Council 'strongly condemns attacks and all forms of violence' against humanitarian personnel
With still over a month to go into the year, 2024 has already set the record for being the deadliest year for humanitarian aid workers, according to the United Nations (UN).
This year, 281 aid workers have been killed, the highest toll on record.
“Humanitarian workers are being killed at an unprecedented rate, their courage and humanity being met with bullets and bombs,” said Tom Fletcher, the new UN under-secretary-general for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator.
“This violence is unconscionable and devastating to aid operations.”
The 2024 number eclipsed the 280 aid worker deaths total that the UN recorded in 2023, according to the UN.
For this year, the war in Gaza has driven the surge in casualties, with at least 333 humanitarian personnel killed since Oct. 7, 2023. Most were staff members of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, according to the UN.
And 10 national staff were killed in Gaza this month alone, UN said, citing data from its Aid Worker Security Database.
The vast majority of casualties are national staff working for UN agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the Red Crescent and Red Cross movement, with 268 national staff and 13 international staff killed.
“These numbers today will no doubt send shockwaves around our humanitarian community, especially on the front lines of the response,” OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke told reporters on Friday at a briefing in Geneva.
However, aid workers are facing dangers even outside of Gaza.
“They are working courageously and selflessly in places like Gaza, Sudan, Lebanon, Ukraine and other conflicts,” Mr. Laerke said, noting that with 2024 not yet over, the death toll has already surpassed last year’s record of 280 deaths.
“Threats to aid workers extend beyond Gaza”, he noted, explaining that there are “high levels of violence, kidnappings, injuries, harassment and arbitrary detention reported in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Sudan, Ukraine and Yemen, among other countries”.
UN Security Council ‘strongly condemns’ attacks on aid workers
Last year saw more than 33,000 civilian deaths in 14 armed conflicts – a 72 per cent increase from 2022. Despite these challenges and dangers, humanitarian organizations continue to deliver vital assistance, reaching nearly 144 million people in need last year, according to the UN.
In response to this crisis, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2730 (2024), which mandates the Secretary-General to recommend measures to prevent attacks on aid workers and enhance protection for humanitarian personnel.
In the resolution, the Security Council “strongly condemns attacks and all forms of violence, including sexual and gender-based violence, threats, and intimidation, against humanitarian personnel and United Nations and associated personnel, including national and locally recruited personnel, and their premises and assets, including humanitarian supplies, facilities and transports, in violation of international humanitarian law.”
“In particular urges parties to armed conflict to respect the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution in the conduct of hostilities and refrain from attacking, destroying, removing or rendering useless objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population,” said the council.
The recommendations in the resolution will be presented at a Security Council meeting on Nov. 26.
