New York
In anticipation of World Humanitarian Day on August 19th, the United Nations has issued a warning regarding the persistently high number of casualties among aid workers in 2023. According to provisional data from the Aid Worker Security Database research team at Humanitarian Outcomes, this year has witnessed the loss of 62 humanitarian workers due to conflicts worldwide. Additionally, 84 workers have sustained injuries, and 34 individuals have been abducted. Last year saw a total of 116 humanitarian workers losing their lives. South Sudan stands out as a region with the highest level of insecurity, maintaining this troubling distinction for several consecutive years. There have been 40 attacks on aid workers, resulting in 22 fatalities, reported up to this week. Sudan ranks closely behind, with 17 attacks on humanitarians and 19 reported fatalities throughout this year. These statistics surpass figures reminiscent of the period between 2006 and 2009, during the height of the Darfur conflict. Other instances of aid worker casualties have been documented in regions such as the Central African Republic, Mali, Somalia, and Ukraine. Last year, 444 aid workers were subjected to attacks, while the preceding year recorded 460 instances of attacks, leading to the tragic loss of 141 humanitarians. This year’s World Humanitarian Day carries special significance as it marks the 20th anniversary of the 2003 suicide bomb attack on the UN headquarters in Baghdad, Iraq, which claimed the lives of 22 UN staff members. This dark day also saw around 150 additional individuals, both local and international aid workers engaged in Iraq’s reconstruction, being injured. Reflecting on this somber occasion, the UN’s humanitarian chief, Martin Griffiths, expressed the mixed and enduring emotions that World Humanitarian Day and the Canal Hotel bombing evoke for him and countless others.
