UN: Last year, a record number of support workers died in issues all over the world, and this year may be even bloodier, according to the UN.
In 33 nations, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 280 support workers died in 2023, more than double the number of 118 in the previous year. More than half of the incidents from last year were recorded in the first three months of the Israel-Gaza conflict, which started in October, the company claimed, primarily as a result of attacks.
The company predicted that this year “may get on track for an even more fatal outcome,” with 172 aid workers dead as of August 7.
More than 280, the majority of them with the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, have been killed in Gaza thus far, according to OCHA. According to the report, “extreme levels of violence in Sudan and South Sudan” also contributed to the dying burdens both this year and next year.
The UN’s acting disaster relief consultant, Joyce Msuya, said in a statement that” the normalization of violence against aid workers and the lack of accountability are intolerable, inexcusable and excessively harmful for aid operations everyday”.
She urged “people in power to put an end to the impunity with which these horrible attacks are carried out” in a statement.
