The UN says 383 aid workers were killed in 2024, the deadliest year recorded.
Officials condemned attacks as a shameful global failure, urging accountability and stronger protections for humanitarian staff.
The United Nations has revealed that 383 humanitarian workers lost their lives in 2024, the highest toll ever recorded, describing the situation as a “shameful indictment” of global indifference. The organization also warned that this year’s numbers remain deeply troubling.
According to data released on World Humanitarian Day, the 2024 figure represented a 31 percent increase compared to the previous year. The sharp rise was attributed mainly to ongoing wars, with Gaza accounting for 181 deaths and Sudan 60.
The UN noted that state actors were the leading perpetrators of these attacks. Most of the victims were local staff members, targeted either while carrying out their duties or even in their own homes. In addition to those killed, 308 aid workers were injured, 125 kidnapped, and 45 detained during the year.
UN Emergency Relief Coordinator and humanitarian affairs chief Tom Fletcher condemned the attacks, stressing that every assault on humanitarian workers undermines global relief efforts.
“Even one attack against a humanitarian colleague is an attack on all of us and on the people we serve. Attacks on this scale, with zero accountability, are a shameful indictment of international inaction and apathy,” he said, urging world leaders to ensure the protection of civilians and aid workers while holding perpetrators responsible.
Provisional statistics from the Aid Worker Security Database show that at least 265 aid workers have already been killed in 2025, as of August 14.
The UN reiterated that such attacks violate international humanitarian law and jeopardize essential lifelines for millions caught in crises. Fletcher emphasized that “violence against aid workers is not inevitable. It must end.”
Separately, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported more than 800 verified attacks on health care facilities across 16 territories this year, resulting in over 1,110 deaths among health workers and patients, with hundreds more injured.
“Each attack inflicts lasting harm, deprives entire communities of life-saving care, endangers providers, and weakens already strained health systems,” the WHO said.
World Humanitarian Day, observed annually on August 19, honors the memory of UN rights chief Sergio Vieira de Mello and 21 colleagues killed in the 2003 bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad.
