This explosion of violence reached an unprecedented level last year, due in particular to the war in the Gaza Strip. And the year 2024 could end with an outcome that is “even more deadly,” according to the organization.
:quality(50)/2023/07/06/64a68815cd1a7_placeholder-36b69ec8.png)
Published
Reading time: 1 min
:quality(50)/2024/08/19/000-364q9de-66c2e17d96a53935261216.jpg)
Violence against humanitarian workers is “unacceptable, unacceptable” for the UN. The acting head of the United Nations humanitarian office (OCHA) denounced, on Monday, August 19, the trivialization of these acts as well as the record number of deaths, deplored within the international humanitarian community. In 2023, 280 humanitarians were killed, an increase of 137% compared to 2022.
On the occasion of World Humanitarian Day, Joyce Msuya deplored “the normalization of violence against humanitarian workers” And “the fact that no one is accountable.” According to figures used by OCHA in its statement, more than half of the deaths recorded in the past year were humanitarian workers killed in Gaza during the first three months of the war between Israel and Hamas, a toll ahead of those recorded in South Sudan and Sudan. Since October alone, more than 280 aid workers have been killed in this Palestinian territory, the majority of them employees of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, the United Nations said.
As the war enters its eleventh month, “2024 could well be on track for an even deadlier outcome”the UN is still alarmed. The leaders of several humanitarian organizations are therefore preparing to send a joint letter to the UN member states to demand “an end to attacks on civilians, the protection of all humanitarian workers and accountability for those responsible”adds Ocha, specifying however that the number of kidnapped humanitarians has reached its lowest figure since 2022.
