UN says 281 aid workers killed in conflict so far in 2024 – Firstpost

This year, 281 aid workers have been killed worldwide, making 2024 the deadliest year for humanitarians, the UN humanitarian chief said on Friday.

“Aid workers are being killed at an unprecedented rate, their courage and humanity met with bullets and bombs,” said Tom Fletcher, the new United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator.

With more than a month to go until the end of 2024, “a grim tipping point has been reached,” he said, after 280 humanitarians were killed in 33 countries in all of 2023.

“This violence is unacceptable and devastating to relief operations,” Fletcher said.

“States and parties to conflict must protect humanitarian personnel, respect international law, prosecute those responsible and end this era of impunity.”

Israel’s devastating war in Gaza has swelled the numbers, his office said, with 333 aid workers killed there – most from the UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees, UNRWA – since the October 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas that sparked the war.

OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke told reporters in Geneva that 243 UNRWA staff had been killed in the war so far.

Beyond Gaza, aid workers have been subjected to abduction, injury, harassment and arbitrary detention in a number of countries, the agency said, including Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan and Ukraine.

Most of the deaths involve local staff working with non-governmental organizations, UN agencies and the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, Fletcher’s office said.

“Violence against aid workers is part of a wider trend of harming civilians in conflict zones,” it warned.

“Last year, there were more than 33,000 civilian deaths in 14 armed conflicts – a staggering 72% increase compared to 2022.”

Laerke said the new humanitarian killing figures “defy understanding”.

“These frontline workers … to be killed (while) really doing everything humanity has to offer is outrageous and should hopefully make people sit up and take notice.”

The UN Security Council adopted a resolution last May in response to increased violence and threats against aid workers.

The text called for recommendations from the UN chief – to be presented at a council meeting next week – on measures to prevent and respond to such incidents and increase protection of aid workers and accountability for abuses.