Record 383 Aid Workers Killed in 2024, UN Reports
Geneva: In 2024, a record 383 aid workers lost their lives, a 31 per cent surge from the previous year, with the relentless conflict in Gaza driving this grim toll, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) revealed during a solemn World Humanitarian Day ceremony here today. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher reported that 520 aid workers, predominantly from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), have been killed in Gaza since October 2023, making it the deadliest region for humanitarians for the second consecutive year. Beyond the fatalities, 308 aid workers were wounded, 125 kidnapped, and 45 detained globally in 2024, with the majority being national staff serving their own communities, often attacked in the line of duty or in their homes.
Despite these perilous conditions, humanitarian teams reached over 116 million people worldwide last year, delivering critical support such as food, education, medical care, and community protection. Speaking from Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza, veteran United Nations aid worker Olga Cherevko paid tribute to her colleagues’ unwavering resolve, many of whom have endured repeated displacement and profound personal losses yet continue to serve without basic necessities like electricity, food, or supplies. She expressed deep frustration over the obstacles to delivering aid at scale, including dangerous or impassable routes and missions delayed for 12 to 18 hours, which severely limit the ability to provide timely assistance. Reflecting on her work, Cherevko noted the powerlessness she sometimes feels, knowing the potential of humanitarian efforts when enabled, both in Gaza and other global crises.
The alarming rise in violence against aid workers shows no signs of slowing, with provisional data from the Aid Worker Security Database reporting 265 aid worker deaths as of August 14, 2025. At the Geneva ceremony, United Nations deputy human rights chief Nada Al-Nashif condemned the attacks as a stark violation of international law, including the Geneva Conventions and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. She emphasised the urgent need for accountability to address the impunity surrounding these acts, which have escalated sharply in recent years.
World Humanitarian Day, observed annually on August 19, commemorates the 2003 bombing of the Canal Hotel in Baghdad, which claimed the lives of 22 aid workers, including United Nations Special Representative Sergio Vieira de Mello. Established by a 2008 United Nations General Assembly resolution, the day unites partners across the humanitarian system to advocate for the survival, well-being, and dignity of crisis-affected populations and to ensure the safety and security of aid workers. This year’s commemoration, led by OCHA, centres on ending attacks on humanitarians and civilians and upholding International Humanitarian Law, with a call to those in power to “Act for Humanity.”
– global bihari bureau
