Don't Look Away: World Humanitarian Day 2024
Published: Aug 12, 2024 Reading time: 4 minutesThis week, ahead of World Humanitarian Day on 19 August, we spotlight the efforts of humanitarian workers and the risks they take to support people in crisis. 2023 marked the deadliest year on record for humanitarian workers, with 2024 on track to be even worse.
In 2023, 595 aid workers were victims of major security incidents, which claimed the lives of 280 people and resulted in 224 being injured and 91 kidnapped.
A significant number of these incidents take place in countries affected by conflicts or prone to climate hazards where specific areas, communities and groups of people can become hard to reach. Humanitarian access to people in these areas may be made difficult due to physical and logistical constraints, such as damage to roads and bridges; security constraints, such as ongoing violence and fragmentation of actors; as well as bureaucratic and administrative constraints.
As the number of attacks on aid workers increases year upon year, on a path towards normalisation, the communities they serve continue to suffer. This year, we join the UN OCHA-led campaign #ActforHumanity, to spotlight these injustices and advocate for the safety and protection of those who risk their lives to deliver assistance and for the millions trapped in crisis, who deserve unwavering support and action.
At People in Need (PIN), we strive to respond quickly and effectively in hard-to-reach areas, as the impacts of climate–related disasters and conflict can have severe humanitarian consequences for isolated communities.
We operate directly, as well as in cooperation with partners, in some of the most challenging environments globally. We currently work in nine out of the 18 countries identified by the ACAPS Humanitarian Access Overview as having "extreme" or "very high" access constraints, including four countries with extreme access challenges. One such country with extreme access challenges is Ukraine, where we have been working in highly insecure areas with active conflict including along the frontlines. Additionally, in response to climate-related disasters, we strive to provide immediate assistance, directly as well as through partners, in remote and hard-to-reach areas, for instance in the mountainous regions of Nepal and Afghanistan or in isolated areas of Mongolia.
Navigating access constraints in challenging contexts
Beyond physical, environmental and bureaucratic constraints, groups of people may also be cut off from assistance and services as a result of being actively denied this entitlement, having their movement restricted, or being isolated as a result of cultural norms, discrimination and social stigma. To reach such groups, we believe in supporting innovative and often community-led approaches to assist those who need it most.
Finding ways to reach marginalized and isolated groups
In 2023, out of the 595 aid worker victims of major security incidents, 569 were national staff.
Despite the increasing challenges, humanitarian workers around the world continue to employ creative and courageous measures to deliver assistance and ensure that it reaches the most vulnerable populations. Today, we stand together in the call to demand an end to attacks against humanitarians and the impunity with which they are committed. It is time for those in power to end impunity and #ActForHumanity.
World Humanitarian Day Background: On 19 August 2003, a bomb attack on the Canal Hotel in Baghdad, Iraq, killed 22 humanitarian aid workers, including the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello. Five years later, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution designating 19 August as World Humanitarian Day (WHD).
Since 2012, six of our Syrian colleagues have been killed whilst working to support their communities. In June 2015, the worst tragedy in our history struck when nine of our Afghan colleagues were killed in an attack. We continue to work in Syria and Afghanistan in their memory.
