United Nations: Unprecedented number of attacks against aid workers in 2025

The United Nations said today, Wednesday (August 19, 2026), that relief workers were subjected to an unprecedented number of attacks last year, attributing this to reasons including the increasing use of armed drones, and described this situation as “horrific.”

The Aid Worker Security Database, a platform funded by Canada and Australia that collects major security incidents affecting workers in this field, indicates that about 907 humanitarian relief workers were killed, injured or kidnapped during 2025, compared with 833 the previous year.

The number of deaths among them reached 350, a slight decrease from the record number of 387 killed in 2024. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the level of violence as horrific and urged countries to respect the laws of war and hold those responsible accountable. “Working in the service of others has become more dangerous than ever,” he said.

This came ahead of a ceremony that the United Nations intends to organize on the occasion of World Humanitarian Day, with flags being flown at half-mast in New York and Geneva in honor of those who died. Tom Fletcher, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, said that the proliferation of low-cost drones and flexible use in conflicts has increased the risks.

In March, drone attacks hit the city of Goma in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing at least three people, including a French aid worker, while aid convoys in Sudan and Ukraine were repeatedly hit. The database showed that Gaza topped, by a large margin, the list of the most dangerous areas for humanitarian workers during the year 2025 after 186 relief workers were killed, while Sudan came in next place.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said at least 393 of its staff had been killed there since the war between Israel and Gaza began on October 7, 2023. Israel, which is fighting the Hamas movement in Gaza that is classified as a terrorist organization by Germany, the European Union, the United States and other countries, said it was doing everything it could to avoid any civilian casualties.

Bushra Al-Khalidi, Oxfam's global humanitarian policy officer, called for greater protection for relief workers, saying, "We are witnessing an attack on humanitarian work itself."