The United Nation (UN) has raised concerns over continue increase in death toll of aid workers, appealing that all parties embrace cease fire and end the war fighting globally.
UN said that over half of the 280 aid worker died IN 2023 WHILE providing services to victims of Isreal and Palestine war.
According to UN, the rise in deaths, mainly due to Israeli air attacks in Gaza between October and December last year, represents a 137 percent increase compared with 2022, when 118 aid workers were killed.
The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Monday, stated that aid workers were killed in 33 countries in 2023, describing the year as the “deadliest on record for the global humanitarian community”.
But this year, according to the global organisation, may be higher than the previous after 172 aid workers died between 1st of January to August 7th, 2024.
Marking World Humanitarian Day, leaders of humanitarian organisations are sending a joint letter to UN General Assembly member states, calling for an end to attacks on civilians, enhanced protection for aid workers, and accountability for those responsible.
Aside from the Palestine ward, UN noted that violence in Sudan and South Sudan have also contributed to the death toll, both in 2023 and in 2024.
Meanwhile, several humanitarian workers continue to be detained in Yemen while providing care for war victims by the fighters.
The UN’s acting emergency relief coordinator, Joyce Msuya, in a statement made available to newsmen, said that “the normalisation of violence against aid workers and the lack of accountability are unacceptable, unconscionable and enormously harmful for aid operations everywhere”.
She also demanded that “people in power should act to end violations against civilians and the impunity with which these heinous attacks are committed”.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, also mentioned that 207 of its staff members have been killed in Gaza since the beginning of the war in October last year.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, also called for the rule of law to be upheld, and for those who have committed wrongdoing to be held accountable for their actions
At least 289 aid workers including 207 UNRWA team members and 885 health workers lost have been killed in Gaza since the war started 10months ago.
