UN reports 137% increase in aid worker deaths
The United Nations has reported a 137% increase in aid worker deaths in 2023 whilst 2024 has been described as the “worst year” on record worldwide.
According to AfricaNews on April 3rd, the United Nations expressed their concern just days after the bodies of 15 aid workers were discovered buried in a mass grave in Gaza.
The aid workers are thought to have been killed by Israel whilst carrying out vital work just days before.
“Humanitarian workers are being killed in unprecedented numbers. According to available data, 2024 was the worst year on record, with 377 aid workers killed across 20 countries. This was almost 100 more fatalities than in 2023, which already saw a 137 percent increase from 2022,” said Joyce Msuya, assistant secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and deputy emergency relief coordinator.
Bodies recovered from the grave included members of the Palestine Red Crescent Society, The Civil Defence, and one was a UN aid worker.
“These attacks are designed to prevent the UN from helping the most vulnerable, and to prevent them from bearing witness. Impunity for attacks on humanitarian personnel has become the new normal. A pervasive normal. An accepted normal. One perpetuated not only by non-state actors, but also by governments and their proxies,” said Gilles Michaud, Under-Secretary-General for Safety and Security.
The United Nations is mourning the deaths of the aid workers, at the same time the UN’s Humanitarian Chief, Tom Fletcher has demanded a stop to the killings.
AfricaNews, Maghrebi, UN News
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