Anjali Sharma
GG News Bureau
UNITED NATIONS, 18th Aug. UN warned on Thursday that conflict and insecurity in countries such as South Sudan and its neighbour to the north resulting 2023 a year of high death tolls and and injuries for aid workers in the field.
World body gave a grim forecast ahead of World Humanitarian Day, commemorated annually on 19 August.
OCHA stated over 62 aid workers have been killed, 84 have been wounded and 34 kidnapped.
It cited provisional data from the independent research organization Humanitarian Outcomes. Last year, the death toll reached 116.
South Sudan remains the most dangerous place to be a humanitarian. 40 attacks and 22 fatalities have been reported there as of 16 August, UN reported
Sudan is a close second, with 17 attacks and 19 fatalities to date, surpassing numbers not seen since the height of the Darfur conflict between 2006 and 2009.
Central African Republic, Mali, Somalia and Ukraine had aid worker casualties have been recorded in 2023.
In 2022, 444 aid workers were attacked while 460 were attacked in 2021, resulted in 141 deaths.
In 2023 commemoration of World Humanitarian Day also marks 20 years since the suicide bombing of the UN Headquarters in the Canal Hotel in Baghdad, Iraq.
Some 22 staff were killed in the attack, among Sérgio Vieira de Mello, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and head of the UN Mission in the country.
Over 150 local and international aid workers were injured.
OCHA chief, Martin Griffiths said “World Humanitarian Day and the Canal Hotel bombing will always be an occasion of mixed and still raw emotions for me and many others.”
“Every year, nearly six times more aid workers are killed in the line of duty than were killed on that dark day in Baghdad, and they are overwhelmingly local aid workers. Impunity for these crimes is a scar on our collective conscience,” he added.
UN and its humanitarian partners aim to help 250 million people in crises around the world this year, or 10 times more than in 2003.
OCHA reported that efforts have grown but so have the dangers they face, including rising geopolitical tensions, blatant disregard of international humanitarian law, deliberate attacks and widespread disinformation.
Through the #NoMatterWhat campaign, humanitarians are underlining their commitment to deliver aid despite the challenges.
The campaign highlights how they will continue to support communities in need – no matter who, no matter where, and #NoMatterWhat.
It is being organized by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
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