Record number of aid workers faced violent attacks in 2025

A record number of aid workers faced violent attacks last year, partly driven by the increased use of armed drones, the United Nations humanitarian office has said.

According to an Aid Worker Security Database, a platform that compiles major incidents affecting humanitarian workers, 907 aid workers were killed, injured or kidnapped in 2025 alone.

Of those, 350 were killed, down slightly from a record 387 in 2024.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the level of violence “appalling” and urged states to respect the rules of war and hold perpetrators accountable.

“Serving others has become more dangerous than ever,” he said in a statement on Wednesday.

UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said the proliferation of cheap and adaptable armed drones in conflicts has increased the risks.

In March, drone attacks hit Goma in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing at least three people including a French aid worker, while aid convoys in Sudan and Ukraine have been repeatedly hit.

Gaza was by far the most deadly place for aid workers in 2025, with 186 humanitarians killed there last year, the database showed, followed by Sudan.

In a post on X, Ramiz Alakbarov, the humanitarian coordinator of the UN Palestinian refugee agency, said “humanitarian workers are not a target and humanitarian assistance must be fully facilitated.”

UNRWA’s former chief Philippe Lazzarini said earlier this year he was seeking a high-level panel to investigate staff deaths.

Attacks on humanitarian workers are happening as funding for their work is increasingly being cut. In a statement, the European Commission said it would continue its donor obligations, adding “every aid worker killed is not only a personal tragedy; it is also a failure by the international community to uphold its most basic commitments.”

Bushra Khalidi, global humanitarian policy lead at Oxfam, called for greater protections for aid workers, saying: “We’re witnessing an assault on humanitarian action itself.”