UN: 280 aid workers killed globally in 2023 — up by 137%

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) says aid workers on the frontlines of the world’s conflicts were killed in “unprecedented numbers” last year.

OCHA disclosed this in a statement to commemorate the 2024 World Humanitarian Day on Monday.

The UN agency said 280 aid workers were killed in 33 countries last year, a 137 percent increase compared to 2022, when 118 aid workers were put to death.

Over half of the 2023 deaths were recorded between October and December — the first three months of the renewed Israeli-Hamas hostilities in Gaza.

The UN agency also described Sudan and South Sudan as “global hotspots”.

“2024 may be on track for an even deadlier outcome,” OCHA said.

At least 172 aid workers have been killed, according to the provisional count from the security database as at August 7.

In all these conflicts, most of the casualties were among national staff, according to the UN agency.

In Nigeria, according to the database, two workers were killed, five were kidnapped, and one was injured in 2023.

This year, eight workers were reported dead, while nine were kidnapped and another nine wounded.

Marking the annual World Humanitarian Day at the UN Human Rights headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, family and friends of aid workers called for the protection of frontline staff “considering the increasingly dangerous circumstances”.

“The normalization of violence against aid workers and the lack of accountability are unacceptable, unconscionable, and enormously harmful for aid operations everywhere,” Joyce Msuya, acting under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, said.

“Today, we reiterate our demand that people in power act to end violations against civilians and the impunity with which these heinous attacks are committed.”

The World Humanitarian Day is observed every August 19 to honour aid workers who have lost their lives to the cause.