Attacks on aid workers hit record high in 2025, UN says
The toll rose from 833 a year earlier, and U.N. officials blamed armed drones and repeated attacks in conflict zones.
- On Wednesday, World Humanitarian Day, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported 907 aid workers were killed, injured, or kidnapped in 2025, marking a record for violence against humanitarian staff.
- Gaza remained the deadliest location for aid workers for the third consecutive year with 186 killed, while Sudan saw fatalities rise for the fifth year in a row with 71 humanitarian staff deaths.
- Weaponized drones are increasingly targeting aid workers and civilians, with 2025 recording 350 humanitarian deaths, 322 injuries, and 235 kidnappings across all attack types globally.
- Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, called the violence "utterly unacceptable" and urged member states to uphold international humanitarian law and hold perpetrators accountable.
- So far in 2026, 82 aid workers have been killed, 97 injured, and 39 kidnapped worldwide. The UN's Act for Humanity campaign spotlights the people behind these statistics through stories of fallen workers and bereaved families.
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A total of 907 "humanitarian personnel" were "killed, injured or abducted" in 2025, reports the United Nations on Wednesday.
"The year 2025 has once again set a sad record in terms of violence against humanitarian workers, with 907 humanitarian personnel killed, injured or abducted," the institution writes in a press release. According to these figures, from the database of the Humanitarian Outcomes Reference Research Centre, the death rate is slightly lower than that of the year 2024, during which 377 humanitarian workers were killed. Since the beginning of 2026, 82 …
According to UN 2025, attacks on humanitarian aid workers reached a high level. 907 aid workers were killed, injured or abducted last year. It was particularly dangerous in the Gaza Strip.
The danger for helpers increases: in 2025, more than 900 workers were attacked by relief organizations, one reason being the increased use of armed drones.
Gaza was the most dangerous area to carry out humanitarian aid work last year, according to a UN report.
Africa: World Humanitarian Day 2026 - Aid Workers Under Fire As Armed Drones Transform War-Making
(Geneva/New York, 19 August 2026): 2025 set another grim record for violence against aid workers, with 907 colleagues killed, injured or kidnapped, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said today on World Humanitarian Day.
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