This year could be even deadlier, says group
The year 2023 proved to be the deadliest year for aid workers all over the world, according to the United Nations (UN).
Overall, 280 aid workers from a total of 33 different countries lost their lives. That number is up from the 118 recorded in 2022, reported the Toronto Star, citing data from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
“2023 was the deadliest year on record for humanitarians. Honouring them on #WorldHumanitarianDay is not enough,” said U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres via social media platform X. “In Gaza, in Sudan & many other places, aid workers are attacked, killed, injured & abducted. We demand an end to impunity so that perpetrators face justice.”
And this year could prove to be even deadlier for aid workers the world over, according to OCHA.
This year “may be on track for an even deadlier outcome,” with 172 aid workers killed as of Aug. 7, reported the Toronto Star, citing a provisional account from the Aid Worker Security Database.
More than 280 aid workers have been killed in the war in Gaza, now in its 11th month, mainly in airstrikes, according to the report.
Earlier this year, a Canadian-American dual citizen was among those World Central Kitchen (WCK) workers who were killed by Israel’s airstrikes in Gaza. Jacob Flickinger, 33, was travelling with the WCK team in a deconflicted zone in two armored cars branded with the WCK logo and a soft skin vehicle, the group explained.
A breach of policy and a mistaken observation ultimately paved the way for the airstrike that killed seven WCK workers in Gaza, Israel later reported.
