Sir, – Today is World Humanitarian Day, a day that honours aid workers who lost their lives in the delivery of assistance to people in conflict, disaster and crisis. It also highlights the scale of humanitarian needs and the impact of disasters on civilian populations.
The date was chosen as it is the anniversary of the 2003 bombing of the Canal Hotel in Baghdad – the headquarters of the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq – which killed 23 people, most of them aid workers.
Last year 350 aid workers were killed, the second highest death toll since the Aid Worker Security Data Base was established in 1997. Gaza remained the deadliest context for aid workers in 2025, accounting for 186 deaths – 68 per cent of whom died as a result of aerial bombardment.
In Sudan continued intense conflict drove up fatalities for the fifth year in a row, with a record 71 aid workers killed, mostly from small arms fire.
RM Block
Other highly insecure contexts last year included Ukraine, Ethiopia, Syria, Haiti, Chad, and Cameroon, where the most common means of violence were kidnappings and aerial bombardment – terrifying attacks on unarmed civilians.
Humanitarian workers should never be a target. Behind each statistic is an aid worker who has put their life on the line to assist others. These are not just tragic losses of life for their families, friends and colleagues, but often a targeted effort to instil fear and attempt to deter organisations, like Concern, who respond to humanitarian crises in the most fragile contexts.
There are more than 252 million people in urgent need of humanitarian assistance and protection – 13 million more than when the 2026 Global Humanitarian Overview was launched last December. The numbers of people in need are rising at a time when funding for international aid is being cut.
In the face of such overwhelming need, attacks on humanitarian workers are seriously disrupting and endangering the delivery of vital assistance. Safe access to humanitarian aid by conflict affected populations is expressly provided for under International Humanitarian Law.
The Irish Government will highlight the humanitarian consequences of ongoing conflicts during its European Council presidency, including through the organisation of a meeting in conjunction with the European Union’s directorate general for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Operations, which will address issues around the protection of humanitarian personnel. This meeting is a reflection of Irish Aid’s strong commitment to humanitarian aid and those who deliver it.
Governments must do all they can to protect those who deliver humanitarian assistance, and to ensure that those who attack aid workers are held accountable. Failure to do so will further entrench a culture of impunity and enable the dangerous cycle of harm (and suffering) to continue. – Yours, etc,
DOMINIC CROWLEY,
Chief executive officer,
Concern Worldwide,
Dublin 2.
