EVENTS: On August 19th, the Annual observance of World Humanitarian Day 2025 at the Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland. Last year on WHD, we demanded protection for humanitarians in conflict zones. Resolutions were passed, promises were made. But nothing changed on the ground. The rules and the tools exist. Security Council resolution 2730 sets a path. A major political declaration is on the way. What we need now is the will – and the courage – from all with power or influence to #ActForHumanity.
Wreath-laying by Mr. Atul Khare, Under-Secretary-General, Department of Operational Support (accompanied by survivors of that bombing).
Message of the United Nations Secretary-General for World Humanitarian Day 2025.
Humanitarian workers are the last lifeline for over 300 million people caught in conflict or disaster.
Yet, funding for that lifeline is drying up.
And those who provide humanitarian aid are increasingly under attack.
Last year, at least 390 aid workers - a record high - were killed across the world.
From Gaza to Sudan to Myanmar and beyond.
International law is clear: humanitarians must be respected and protected. They can never be targeted.
This rule is non-negotiable and is binding on all parties to conflict, always and everywhere.
Yet red lines are crossed with impunity.
Governments have pledged action – and the Security Council has laid out a path to protect humanitarians and their lifesaving work.
The rules and tools exist. What is missing is political will – and moral courage.
On this World Humanitarian Day, let’s honour the fallen with action:
To protect every aid worker – and invest in their safety.
To stop the lies that cost lives.
To strengthen accountability and bring perpetrators to justice.
To end arms flows to parties that violate international law.
Together, let us say in one voice: An attack on humanitarians is an attack on humanity.
And let’s #ActForHumanity
Secretary-General António Guterres.
Remarks by Mr. Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator at the World Humanitarian Day 2025 Commemoration Ceremony.
Dear survivors, families – especially the families – Excellencies and colleagues:
We are here to grieve and honour those we have lost. They are the best of us.
Humanitarians carry hope where there is despair.
They are selfless in a selfish world. They seek to mend what others seek to break. They bring humanity where there is inhumanity.
Yet from that day in Baghdad till now, the best of us are under attack.
Last year, more than 380 humanitarians were killed – not dead, killed – the highest ever recorded. Hundreds more wounded, kidnapped, detained.
In Gaza, 520 aid workers – mostly UNRWA staff – killed since October 2023, the deadliest place for humanitarians for the second year running. This number doesn’t even touch the hundreds of staff who have lost family members, like my colleague Saed Al Ghamri, whose wife Ola was killed in our guesthouse.
In Sudan, 60 colleagues lost their lives – over double the year before. These include my colleague Sadig [Andosa], killed in El Fasher in November.
Already this year, hundreds more names. Each a family, each with a story.
This is more than a statistical spike. It is a stain – the normalization of violence against this community. Each attack on a colleague is an attack on all of us and we do not accept it. Enough.
Zero accountability, an indictment of international inaction and apathy. The Member States must not accept it. Enough.
As a humanitarian movement, we demand the protection of civilians and aid workers and we demand that perpetrators are held to account.
Humanitarians will not retreat, despite these dangers.
Last year, despite the risks, we reached more than 116 million people. Families fed, children in school, sick people cured, communities protected. We will not let down those we serve. It is our way of honouring those who died in 2003 and who have been killed since. But you, the international community, must also not let us down.
So, we grieve again those we’ve lost, and those we’ll continue to lose. We honour those who defy the dangers. We demand their protection and an end to impunity. And we commit afresh to this mission, whatever the risks.
Thank you.
Remarks by Mr. Ramesh Rajasingham, Head and Representative of OCHA Geneva and Director of the Coordination Division at the commemoration service for fallen humanitarian workers on World Humanitarian Day 2025.
Survivors, families, Excellencies, colleagues:
I would like to express here my appreciation to Australia and Ambassador Walsh for this initiative and for the important leadership and support you have brought to the protection of aid workers.
19 August is always a hard day. I remember exactly where I was in 2003 when I heard about the bombing of the Canal Hotel in Baghdad. That day, 22 humanitarians were killed, including my former boss, Sergio Vieira de Mello. It was a wound to the humanitarian community that has never healed.
Every year since, on World Humanitarian Day, we gather to honour those we have lost – and to stand with those who continue bringing hope to the world’s hardest and most dangerous places.
But remembrance is not enough. Because today is not only about looking back. It is about confronting a present reality that is unacceptable.
Last year alone, 383 humanitarians were killed – another record. Hundreds more were wounded, kidnapped, or detained. Already this year, the toll is rising again.
We lost 181 colleagues in Gaza – many from UNRWA – who kept classrooms open and food lines running even as the very schools and shelters where they worked were bombed.
We lost 60 colleagues in Sudan, more than double the year before – killed as they tried to deliver medicine, food, and water to those in desperate need.
These are not just statistics. These are fathers, mothers, sons, daughters. Friends, mentors, teammates. They had names. They had families waiting for them at home. And, for the vast majority of them – home was in the same country where they were killed. They are among the thousands of local staff of UN agencies and NGOs who carry the biggest risk, pay the highest prize, yet whose names often go unheard.
These events are not recent. I remember a close colleague and friend who was pulled out of his Landcruiser and executed by armed men. But, what was a rare event in that period, has now become a weekly occurrence and humanitarian innocence is all but lost.
Let us be clear: these attacks are often not accidents of war. Many are deliberate acts. And they continue because the world allows them to continue. Impunity is pervasive. Our calls for justice are too often met with silence, or, even worse, accusations of culpability.
Last year the Security Council passed Resolution 2730, reaffirming the duty to protect humanitarian personnel and hold perpetrators to account. But resolutions mean little if no one enforces them. Words do not save lives. Silence does not protect aid workers. Action does.
That is why remembrance is only a part of our duty today. The other major part is demand. Demand for protection. Demand for accountability. Demand for change. Because the killing of aid workers is not an unfortunate side-effect of war. It is an outrage. It is an attack on humanity itself.
And it isn’t only the bullets and bombs. Humanitarians are being strangled by bureaucratic blockades, by relentless underfunding, by smear campaigns that spread lies and hatred online. Their families scroll through social media and see them vilified for the very work that keeps others alive.
Yet despite it all, humanitarians continue to step forward. Last year, more than 116 million people received aid because colleagues refused to give up. Children had classrooms. Families had food on the table. Displaced communities had shelter and clean water.
This is what humanitarianism means. Not a slogan, not an abstract principle – but lives saved, hope restored, dignity defended.
So today, as we remember those we have lost, let us also honour those still carrying hope. And let us not leave this place without a pledge.
The campaign we relaunch today – #ActForHumanity – is not a hashtag. It is a demand. A demand for protection. For accountability. For action.
To our colleagues in Gaza, in Sudan, in every crisis where humanitarians are risking their lives: we see you. We grieve with you. We stand with you. And we will fight for your protection.
To the families of those who never came home: we cannot fill the space they leave behind. But we can promise this – their names will not be forgotten, and their sacrifice was never in vain.
Because violence against humanitarians is not inevitable. It is a choice – a choice made by people. And together, we must make a different choice. A choice to defend humanity. A choice to end impunity. A choice to act.
Thank you.
Remarks by the Executive-Director of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on World Humanitarian Day 2025.
On World Humanitarian Day, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) joins United Nations agencies and humanitarian organizations in calling for the urgent protection of aid workers and an end to the rising violence against them worldwide. IOM is urging stronger, coordinated, and decisive political action from Member States to halt this alarming trend.
“International humanitarian law explicitly protects humanitarian workers, yet attacks continue with impunity. We see this play out everywhere: convoys attacked, facilities damaged, and aid corridors cut off or rendered unsafe,” said IOM Director General Amy Pope. “When humanitarians are silenced, it’s the people in greatest need who are left without life-saving support. We need to see urgent political will and real accountability to stop these indefensible attacks.”
This year’s World Humanitarian Day comes as the cost for those delivering aid reaches devastating levels. In 2024, attacks killed 383 humanitarian workers, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). In 2025, as of August 15, 265 humanitarian workers have been killed, with at least 202 more wounded, kidnapped, detained or arrested. At the current rate, 2025 is on track to becoming one of the deadliest years on record.
The rise in attacks is unfolding against a backdrop of growing displacement and escalating needs that have left millions dependent on humanitarian assistance. By the end of 2024, conflict and violence had forced 73.5 million people from their homes, according to the 2025 Global Report on Internal Displacement.
IOM and other humanitarian actors are often the first to respond in high-risk environments, and international humanitarian law requires the protection of both civilians and those who deliver life-saving assistance. IOM joins the United Nations and humanitarian partners in calling on all states to use their influence to prevent and end these violations.
"Humanitarians risk their lives every day to help people in need. On World Humanitarian Day, let's honor their service and sacrifice by doing more to protect them now and in the future,” DG Pope said.
Statement by UN Women on World Humanitarian Day 2025.
Dear survivors, families – especially the families – Excellencies and colleagues:
We are here to grieve and honour those we have lost. They are the best of us.
Humanitarians carry hope where there is despair.
They are selfless in a selfish world. They seek to mend what others seek to break. They bring humanity where there is inhumanity.
Yet from that day in Baghdad till now, the best of us are under attack.
Last year, more than 380 humanitarians were killed – not dead, killed – the highest ever recorded. Hundreds more wounded, kidnapped, detained.
In Gaza, 520 aid workers – mostly UNRWA staff – killed since October 2023, the deadliest place for humanitarians for the second year running. This number doesn’t even touch the hundreds of staff who have lost family members, like my colleague Saed Al Ghamri, whose wife Ola was killed in our guesthouse.
In Sudan, 60 colleagues lost their lives – over double the year before. These include my colleague Sadig [Andosa], killed in El Fasher in November.
Already this year, hundreds more names. Each a family, each with a story.
This is more than a statistical spike. It is a stain – the normalization of violence against this community. Each attack on a colleague is an attack on all of us and we do not accept it. Enough.
Zero accountability, an indictment of international inaction and apathy. The Member States must not accept it. Enough.
As a humanitarian movement, we demand the protection of civilians and aid workers and we demand that perpetrators are held to account.
Humanitarians will not retreat, despite these dangers.
Last year, despite the risks, we reached more than 116 million people. Families fed, children in school, sick people cured, communities protected. We will not let down those we serve. It is our way of honouring those who died in 2003 and who have been killed since. But you, the international community, must also not let us down.
So, we grieve again those we’ve lost, and those we’ll continue to lose. We honour those who defy the dangers. We demand their protection and an end to impunity. And we commit afresh to this mission, whatever the risks.
Thank you.
Mr. Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator.
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Remarks by Mr. Ramesh Rajasingham, Head and Representative of OCHA Geneva and Director of the Coordination Division at the commemoration service for fallen humanitarian workers on World Humanitarian Day 2025.
Survivors, families, Excellencies, colleagues:
I would like to express here my appreciation to Australia and Ambassador Walsh for this initiative and for the important leadership and support you have brought to the protection of aid workers.
19 August is always a hard day. I remember exactly where I was in 2003 when I heard about the bombing of the Canal Hotel in Baghdad. That day, 22 humanitarians were killed, including my former boss, Sergio Vieira de Mello. It was a wound to the humanitarian community that has never healed.
Every year since, on World Humanitarian Day, we gather to honour those we have lost – and to stand with those who continue bringing hope to the world’s hardest and most dangerous places.
But remembrance is not enough. Because today is not only about looking back. It is about confronting a present reality that is unacceptable.
Last year alone, 383 humanitarians were killed – another record. Hundreds more were wounded, kidnapped, or detained. Already this year, the toll is rising again.
We lost 181 colleagues in Gaza – many from UNRWA – who kept classrooms open and food lines running even as the very schools and shelters where they worked were bombed.
We lost 60 colleagues in Sudan, more than double the year before – killed as they tried to deliver medicine, food, and water to those in desperate need.
These are not just statistics. These are fathers, mothers, sons, daughters. Friends, mentors, teammates. They had names. They had families waiting for them at home. And, for the vast majority of them – home was in the same country where they were killed. They are among the thousands of local staff of UN agencies and NGOs who carry the biggest risk, pay the highest prize, yet whose names often go unheard.
These events are not recent. I remember a close colleague and friend who was pulled out of his Landcruiser and executed by armed men. But, what was a rare event in that period, has now become a weekly occurrence and humanitarian innocence is all but lost.
Let us be clear: these attacks are often not accidents of war. Many are deliberate acts. And they continue because the world allows them to continue. Impunity is pervasive. Our calls for justice are too often met with silence, or, even worse, accusations of culpability.
Last year the Security Council passed Resolution 2730, reaffirming the duty to protect humanitarian personnel and hold perpetrators to account. But resolutions mean little if no one enforces them. Words do not save lives. Silence does not protect aid workers. Action does.
That is why remembrance is only a part of our duty today. The other major part is demand. Demand for protection. Demand for accountability. Demand for change. Because the killing of aid workers is not an unfortunate side-effect of war. It is an outrage. It is an attack on humanity itself.
And it isn’t only the bullets and bombs. Humanitarians are being strangled by bureaucratic blockades, by relentless underfunding, by smear campaigns that spread lies and hatred online. Their families scroll through social media and see them vilified for the very work that keeps others alive.
Yet despite it all, humanitarians continue to step forward. Last year, more than 116 million people received aid because colleagues refused to give up. Children had classrooms. Families had food on the table. Displaced communities had shelter and clean water.
This is what humanitarianism means. Not a slogan, not an abstract principle – but lives saved, hope restored, dignity defended.
So today, as we remember those we have lost, let us also honour those still carrying hope. And let us not leave this place without a pledge.
The campaign we relaunch today – #ActForHumanity – is not a hashtag. It is a demand. A demand for protection. For accountability. For action.
To our colleagues in Gaza, in Sudan, in every crisis where humanitarians are risking their lives: we see you. We grieve with you. We stand with you. And we will fight for your protection.
To the families of those who never came home: we cannot fill the space they leave behind. But we can promise this – their names will not be forgotten, and their sacrifice was never in vain.
Because violence against humanitarians is not inevitable. It is a choice – a choice made by people. And together, we must make a different choice. A choice to defend humanity. A choice to end impunity. A choice to act.
Thank you.
Mr. Ramesh Rajasingham.
Remarks by the Executive-Director of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on World Humanitarian Day 2025.
On World Humanitarian Day, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) joins United Nations agencies and humanitarian organizations in calling for the urgent protection of aid workers and an end to the rising violence against them worldwide. IOM is urging stronger, coordinated, and decisive political action from Member States to halt this alarming trend.
“International humanitarian law explicitly protects humanitarian workers, yet attacks continue with impunity. We see this play out everywhere: convoys attacked, facilities damaged, and aid corridors cut off or rendered unsafe,” said IOM Director General Amy Pope. “When humanitarians are silenced, it’s the people in greatest need who are left without life-saving support. We need to see urgent political will and real accountability to stop these indefensible attacks.”
This year’s World Humanitarian Day comes as the cost for those delivering aid reaches devastating levels. In 2024, attacks killed 383 humanitarian workers, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). In 2025, as of August 15, 265 humanitarian workers have been killed, with at least 202 more wounded, kidnapped, detained or arrested. At the current rate, 2025 is on track to becoming one of the deadliest years on record.
The rise in attacks is unfolding against a backdrop of growing displacement and escalating needs that have left millions dependent on humanitarian assistance. By the end of 2024, conflict and violence had forced 73.5 million people from their homes, according to the 2025 Global Report on Internal Displacement.
IOM and other humanitarian actors are often the first to respond in high-risk environments, and international humanitarian law requires the protection of both civilians and those who deliver life-saving assistance. IOM joins the United Nations and humanitarian partners in calling on all states to use their influence to prevent and end these violations.
"Humanitarians risk their lives every day to help people in need. On World Humanitarian Day, let's honor their service and sacrifice by doing more to protect them now and in the future,” DG Pope said.
Miss Pope, Director at IOM.
Statement by UN Women on World Humanitarian Day 2025.
On this World Humanitarian Day, we honour every humanitarian who risks and -- all too often -- loses their life to help others. We honour the women leaders and local responders who stand on the frontlines, often facing double peril: targeted for the work they do, and for who they are. We pay tribute to those killed, and salute those who keep showing up in the face of danger.
This year’s call to #ActForHumanity is more urgent than ever. The humanitarian landscape is collapsing under escalating violence, dwindling resources, and broken promises of protection.
The past year marked a devastating chapter for humanitarian workers, with more lives lost than ever before and attacks surging significantly. These deaths are not accidents. They stem from systemic failures: impunity for those who break the rules of war, eroded respect for humanitarian principles, and a growing disregard for international humanitarian law.
The violence is compounded by unprecedented funding shortfalls. As at 12 August, only about 18 per cent of the Global Humanitarian Overview’s requirements have been met. Cuts to women responders are severe: a 2025 UN Women survey found that in 44 crisis settings, 72 per cent have laid off staff and over half have suspended programmes. This loss of capacity strips away essential services, increases violence against women, burdens them with heavier unpaid care work, and removes social protections that could prevent harm.
We cannot allow this to be normalized. We call on leaders to act, decisively, now to: Protect humanitarian workers – including women on the frontlines who face targeted violence – and the civilians they serve.
Fund the lifeline that sustains lives – ensuring resources reach women-led and local organizations that are often first to respond and last to leave.
Guarantee the full participation and leadership of women in humanitarian decision-making, recognizing their essential role in effective, inclusive response.
Act now. The world is watching. #ActForHumanity.
Statement by Jorge Moreira da Silva, UN Under-Secretary-General and UNOPS Executive Director, on World Humanitarian Day 2025.
On World Humanitarian Day, we pay tribute to the humanitarian workers who risk their lives everyday to deliver for people caught in crises around the world.
Their courage, compassion and unwavering commitment in the face of adversity embodies the very best of humanity.
Their work could not be more important, now more than ever.
When crises happen, UNOPS helps partners identify and address urgent needs, and helps communities recover and build resilience.
We live at a time of growing humanitarian needs: Our world is more violent now than at any time since the second world war. The climate crisis is wreaking havoc and natural disasters are becoming more intense, longer and more frequent.
And yet 2024 has been the deadliest year on record for humanitarians around the world.
In Gaza, Sudan, and many other places, humanitarian workers are increasingly caught in the crossfire, suffering injuries, abductions, and deaths, just as the people they are there to help.
The deliberate targeting of humanitarian personnel is a violation of international law.
Over the past two years, two of our UNOPS colleagues have been killed in Gaza. Our premises in Gaza have come under attack, at least twice.
We honor the memories of our colleagues and other fallen humanitarians.
We demand an end to attacks on humanitarians and on all civilians. Perpetrators must be held to account.
And we call on everyone to do more to protect and safeguard our common humanity.
To all humanitarian workers — thank you for your strength, dedication, and hope.
We salute you.
And we vow to continue your efforts, to help deliver life-saving assistance and bring dignity and hope to vulnerable communities.
This year’s call to #ActForHumanity is more urgent than ever. The humanitarian landscape is collapsing under escalating violence, dwindling resources, and broken promises of protection.
The past year marked a devastating chapter for humanitarian workers, with more lives lost than ever before and attacks surging significantly. These deaths are not accidents. They stem from systemic failures: impunity for those who break the rules of war, eroded respect for humanitarian principles, and a growing disregard for international humanitarian law.
The violence is compounded by unprecedented funding shortfalls. As at 12 August, only about 18 per cent of the Global Humanitarian Overview’s requirements have been met. Cuts to women responders are severe: a 2025 UN Women survey found that in 44 crisis settings, 72 per cent have laid off staff and over half have suspended programmes. This loss of capacity strips away essential services, increases violence against women, burdens them with heavier unpaid care work, and removes social protections that could prevent harm.
We cannot allow this to be normalized. We call on leaders to act, decisively, now to: Protect humanitarian workers – including women on the frontlines who face targeted violence – and the civilians they serve.
Fund the lifeline that sustains lives – ensuring resources reach women-led and local organizations that are often first to respond and last to leave.
Guarantee the full participation and leadership of women in humanitarian decision-making, recognizing their essential role in effective, inclusive response.
Act now. The world is watching. #ActForHumanity.
UN Women Americas and Caribbean.
Statement by Jorge Moreira da Silva, UN Under-Secretary-General and UNOPS Executive Director, on World Humanitarian Day 2025.
On World Humanitarian Day, we pay tribute to the humanitarian workers who risk their lives everyday to deliver for people caught in crises around the world.
Their courage, compassion and unwavering commitment in the face of adversity embodies the very best of humanity.
Their work could not be more important, now more than ever.
When crises happen, UNOPS helps partners identify and address urgent needs, and helps communities recover and build resilience.
We live at a time of growing humanitarian needs: Our world is more violent now than at any time since the second world war. The climate crisis is wreaking havoc and natural disasters are becoming more intense, longer and more frequent.
And yet 2024 has been the deadliest year on record for humanitarians around the world.
In Gaza, Sudan, and many other places, humanitarian workers are increasingly caught in the crossfire, suffering injuries, abductions, and deaths, just as the people they are there to help.
The deliberate targeting of humanitarian personnel is a violation of international law.
Over the past two years, two of our UNOPS colleagues have been killed in Gaza. Our premises in Gaza have come under attack, at least twice.
We honor the memories of our colleagues and other fallen humanitarians.
We demand an end to attacks on humanitarians and on all civilians. Perpetrators must be held to account.
And we call on everyone to do more to protect and safeguard our common humanity.
To all humanitarian workers — thank you for your strength, dedication, and hope.
We salute you.
And we vow to continue your efforts, to help deliver life-saving assistance and bring dignity and hope to vulnerable communities.
Jorge Moreira da Silva, UN Under-Secretary-General and UNOPS Executive Director.
PUBLICATIONS:
United Nations Secretary General’s Report on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict
provided by the UN Publication. Learn more
2025 Aid Worker Security Report provided by the Humanitarian Outcomes. Learn more
Rapid support for aid workers at risk provided by the Protect Aid Workers. Learn more
CALL TO ACTION:
When protection is denied and accountability is absent, our voices and actions must fill the void. Aid workers keep going into danger, through checkpoints, under fire. They show up. So must we.
United Nations Secretary General’s Report on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict
provided by the UN Publication. Learn more
2025 Aid Worker Security Report provided by the Humanitarian Outcomes. Learn more
Rapid support for aid workers at risk provided by the Protect Aid Workers. Learn more
CALL TO ACTION:
When protection is denied and accountability is absent, our voices and actions must fill the void. Aid workers keep going into danger, through checkpoints, under fire. They show up. So must we.
- Use your voice: Every post, tag and conversation build pressure for protection. Share, speak out and demand action using #ActForHumanity.
- Fund the lifeline: Humanitarians can’t deliver without safety or support. Help keep aid flowing and protect aid workers – especially local responders.
- Mobilize: Across cities, campuses and communities; people are taking a stand. Show leaders the world is watching.
- Create with purpose: Artists, storytellers, influencers – use your art, platforms and brands to stir emotion and inspire action. Make this message impossible to ignore.
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