World Humanitarian Day: #ActForHumanity by UN News, OCHA, ICRC, WHO, agencies 11:28am 19th Aug, 2025   Aug. 2025    A Call to #ActForHumanity    On the 19th of August, we mark World Humanitarian Day — a time to honor those who step into crises to help others, and to stand with the millions of people whose lives hang in the balance.    This year the message is clear: the humanitarian system is stretched to its limits; underfunded, overwhelmed and under attack.    Where bombs fall and disasters strike, humanitarian workers are the ones holding the line keeping people alive, often at great personal risk. But more and more those who help are becoming targets themselves.    In 2024 alone over 380 humanitarian workers were killed. Some in the line of duty, others in their homes. Hundreds more have been injured, kidnapped or detained, and there is reason to fear 2025 could be worse.    Too often the world looks away, even when these attacks violate international law. The laws meant to protect aid workers are ignored. Those responsible walk free. This silence and lack of accountability cannot continue.    The system is failing not just humanitarian workers, but the people they serve. We’re not at a crossroads anymore. We’re standing at the edge. Needs are rising. Funding is falling. Attacks on aid workers are breaking records.    To pull us back from that edge, this World Humanitarian Day we’re relaunching #ActForHumanity with sharper urgency demanding protection, accountability and action. It’s time to turn global outrage into real pressure on those in power, asking them to:    Protect humanitarian workers and the civilians they serve. Uphold international humanitarian law. Fund the lifelines we claim to support.    If we can’t protect the people who save lives, what does that say about us? If we let this continue, we risk losing not just a system but our sense of humanity.    Leaders ignored last year’s call. This year, we relaunch #ActForHumanity. Let's rally public pressure on those in power to uphold the laws that safeguard humanity, and to protect civilians and humanitarian workers in conflict zones.    Demanding governments, parties to conflict and world leaders uphold international law, end impunity, and #ActForHumanity.    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.    19 August 2025    World Humanitarian Day: Attacks on aid workers hit another record, humanitarians call for urgent action. (OCHA)    A shocking new record of 383 aid workers killed in 2024 must be a wake-up call to protect all civilians in conflict and crisis and call time on impunity, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said today, on World Humanitarian Day.    Most of the aid workers killed were national staff serving their communities, and they were attacked in the line of duty or in their homes. An additional 308 aid workers were wounded, 125 kidnapped and 45 detained in the same year.    “Even one attack against a humanitarian colleague is an attack on all of us and on the people we serve,” said Tom Fletcher, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. “Attacks on this scale, with zero accountability, are a shameful indictment of international inaction and apathy. As the humanitarian community, we demand – again – that those with power and influence act for humanity, protect civilians and aid workers and hold perpetrators to account.”    The 31 per cent surge in aid worker deaths compared to 2023 was driven by the relentless conflicts in Gaza, where 181 humanitarian workers were killed, and in Sudan, where 60 lost their lives. Violence against aid workers increased in 21 countries in 2024 compared to the previous year, with State actors the most common perpetrators.    The first eight months of 2025 show no sign of a reversal of the disturbing trend: 265 aid workers have been killed as of 14 August, according to provisional data from the Aid Worker Security Database.    Attacks on humanitarian workers, assets and operations violate international humanitarian law and undermine the lifelines that sustain millions of people trapped in war and disaster zones.    The United Nations Security Council adopted resolution 2730 in May 2024, which reaffirmed the obligation on parties to conflict and Member States to protect humanitarian personnel and called for independent investigations into violations. But the lack of accountability remains pervasive.    On this World Humanitarian Day, aid workers and their supporters commemorate those killed and stand in solidarity with those serving people in need, demanding urgent protection for civilians and aid operations.    The global #ActForHumanity campaign is relaunched with added urgency, calling on the public to stand with humanitarians, demand protection and support the lifelines they provide.    http://www.un.org/en/observances/humanitarian-day http://www.worldhumanitarianday.org/ http://www.unocha.org/news/world-humanitarian-day-attacks-aid-workers-hit-another-record-humanitarians-call-urgent-action http://www.unocha.org/news/protect-civilians-and-aid-workers-global-call-world-humanitarian-day http://www.unocha.org/world-humanitarian-day http://unocha.exposure.co/he-gave-everything-for-others http://healthcluster.who.int/newsroom/news/item/19-08-2025-an-urgent-call-to-action-from-the-global-health-cluster http://www.msf.org/what-cost-killing-humanitarians http://www.ifrc.org/article/world-humanitarian-day-2025-urgent-call-honor-respect-and-protect-those-who-actforhumanity http://www.ifrc.org/get-involved/campaign-us/stand-us-protect-humanity http://www.icrc.org/en/statement/ihl-only-as-strong-as-leaders-will-uphold-it http://www.caritas.org/2025/08/world-humanitarian-day-honouring-the-fallen-defending-the-living/ http://www.acaps.org/en/thematics/all-topics/humanitarian-access    June 2025    Humanitarians in action: delivering even amid extreme challenges. (OCHA)    Despite facing extreme underfunding and escalating attacks, humanitarians provided a literal lifeline for millions of people around the world throughout the first months of 2025, in support of the communities they serve, and with local and national actors at the forefront of every response.    Around the world, communities continued to provide the first line of support for one another in times of crisis, from mutual aid efforts through the Emergency Response Rooms in Sudan to community-led kitchens in Gaza, Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), and solidarity shown by receiving communities to those fleeing violence whether within their own country or across borders.    These efforts were supported by the work of local and national organizations who—despite having to restrict their services and reduce their presence—continued to deliver for those in urgent need.    Since 2025 began, humanitarian agencies—from local and national actors through to international non-governmental organizations (NGO) and United Nations entities—have saved lives and upheld the dignity of people impacted by crises, amid enormous challenges.    In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), following the explosion of violence in the east which displaced at least 660,000 people from January to March 2025, humanitarian actors responded despite the extreme constraints, including acting early to anticipate a cholera outbreak, supported by the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).    In Myanmar, within one month of the devastating earthquakes which struck on 28 March 2025, humanitarian partners had reached at least 600,000 people with water, sanitation and hygiene support, nearly half a million people with food assistance, and more than 100,000 people with emergency shelter and essential household items. Partners in Myanmar also dispatched as mobile medical teams, delivering medical supplies, reuniting separated children with their families and supporting survivors of gender-based violence.    In Sudan, after horrifying violence and insecurity engulfed Zamzam and Abu Shouk displacement camps in April 2025 and forcing the displacement of over 400,000 people, humanitarian partners activated an operational response plans to reach the new arrivals: between 4 and 8 May 2025, 335,000 people received emergency food assistance and 67,000 received emergency nutrition supplies.    Across the border in Chad, UNHCR and its partners worked with authorities to authenticate the medical certificates of Sudanese refugee doctors so they could practice in Chad, providing them with a livelihood and the means to continue help people.    In Haiti, where violence has escalated dramatically and one in every eight children is displaced, humanitarian partners have provided safe spaces and psychosocial support for children in displacement sites and hard-to-reach areas of Port-au-Prince and delivered 4.2 million hot meals to almost 450,000 students, almost 68 per cent of which were prepared with locally sourced products.    In Yemen, which remains one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises, 134 humanitarian actors supported an average of 4 million people per month with life-saving protection and assistance in the first quarter of 2025.    UN agencies and humanitarian partner organisations supported displaced communities in 27 countries, delivering life-saving assistance under some of the most challenging conditions. In Ukraine, coordinating the movement of over 83,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs), ensuring access to essential services and safety. In Burkina Faso and Yemen, assessments identified critical service gaps, enabling targeted interventions to prevent violence—particularly against displaced women and girls.    The ability of humanitarians to deliver when enabled to do so was showcased during the ceasefire in Gaza, Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), between 19 January and 18 March 2025. During this time, partners delivered winterization kits to 60,000 children (compared to 10,000 prior to the ceasefire); supported 25 UN-subsidized bakeries (compared to 5 before the ceasefire); and brought 78,000 tonnes of aid into Gaza (compared to 23,000 prior to the ceasefire).    This was followed by the imposition by Israel of an 11-week total aid blockade, during which humanitarian partners continued to deliver whatever aid they could under the most difficult and complex circumstances.    The tireless efforts of humanitarian actors to deliver to people in crisis in a principled manner in the first months of 2025 highlights the ability and commitment of the humanitarian system to assist people in the world’s gravest emergencies, even in the most adverse circumstances.    As global geopolitics shift, it is vital we support principled humanitarian action to reach people in most urgent need. This action is grounded in the work of local and national partners who know their communities best, and leveraging the tools, systems and capacities of the international humanitarian community in support of their efforts.    http://humanitarianaction.info/document/hyper-prioritized-global-humanitarian-overview-2025-cruel-math-aid-cuts/article/humanitarians-action-delivering-even-amid-extreme-challenges http://humanitarianaction.info/ http://www.unocha.org/latest/news-and-stories    22 May 2025    International Framework to Protect Civilians during Armed Conflict Unraveling, speakers warn UN Security Council, urging enforcement of existing Laws. (UN News)    2024 Deadliest Year on Record for Humanitarians, as Civilian Deaths Soared    United Nations officials and humanitarians alike warned that the international framework created to protect civilians during armed conflict is itself under attack during a day-long debate in the UN Security Council today on that topic, as many speakers stressed that civilians will continue to suffer if existing laws are not enforced.    “The short version — the scaffolding built last century to protect us from inhumanity is crumbling; those who will die as a result need us to act,” stated Thomas Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. In 2024, the UN recorded more than 36,000 civilian deaths in 14 armed conflicts, with the real number likely far higher.    He detailed the plight of civilians today: dead, deprived of essential services, forcibly displaced, subjected to “rampant” sexual violence or suffering from “alarming” levels of conflict-driven hunger. “2024 was also the deadliest year on record for humanitarians,” he added.    Spotlighting an unravelling of international law — “despite the lessons of history and clear legal commitments” — he underscored that this jeopardizes the protection architecture that took decades to build.    “There is, though, another path,” he said — provided States act to “salvage what they have built”. This requires that they ensure respect for international law and support efforts to fight impunity. He said they also must acknowledge that, even when parties comply with the law, “the scale of civilian harm can be devastating”, which necessitates strong policy and operational measures to protect civilians. “Let us be remembered not for the warnings we gave, but for the action we took,” he urged.    Next, Sima Bahous, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women), emphasized: “In the past year, we have seen bombed maternity wards, blockaded medical supplies and massive funding cuts.” In Afghanistan — where 90 per cent of women lack access to essential healthcare services — a woman dies from preventable pregnancy-related complications every two hours. And, with bans on female workers and shrinking access to care, maternal deaths are projected to rise by 50 per cent in 2026.    Meanwhile, in Gaza, over 28,000 women and girls have been killed since October 2023, she noted, adding: “Tens of thousands have given birth under bombardment and siege, without anaesthetics, postpartum care or clean water.” Urging the Council to treat reproductive violence as a distinct category of harm and hold perpetrators accountable, she added that “trauma compounds over time”. In Gaza, 75 per cent of women suffer from depression; women in Afghanistan describe living in “open-air prisons” and domestic violence is rising in Ukraine.    “Where is the political courage to stop the killing?”, asked Mirjana Spoljaric Egger, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). “If you do not defend the rules of war today, you are accepting a world where wars are fought with increasing barbarity and disregard for our shared humanity,” she underscored.    “In today’s conflicts, you do not have to pull the trigger to be complicit in the consequences,” she added, stressing that the fourth Geneva Convention contains clear, unambiguous protections for civilians in times of armed conflict.    She therefore urged the Council to prevent any permissive signals that international humanitarian law can be ignored, that life-saving aid can be denied or that principled humanitarian action can be replaced. Peace starts with treating the wounded, reconnecting separated families, ensuring the provision of life-saving aid and sparing civilian populations and infrastructure from harm.    “It is in the darkest moments that our commitment to protecting civilians is most tested and needed,” she said, declaring: “It is possible to protect civilians in war.”    Doing so is especially necessary in the context of children, emphasized Janti Soeripto, President and Chief Executive Officer of Save the Children, as they are “uniquely vulnerable to the effects of war”.    Recalling the words of one of her organization’s healthcare workers in Somalia, describing what happens when children suffer acute malnutrition, she said that “the skin becomes attached to the bone, the child becomes a skeleton” and cries all day “until it stops doing that”. Children, she continued, are also more likely to die from blast injuries: “The blast is more likely to penetrate their small bodies, and they have less blood to lose.”    Observing that humanity faces a “moment where many competing visions of the future are battling for supremacy” and “not an erosion, but an assault” on its values, she said that humanitarians are often asked for technical solutions to inherently political problems.    “Yes, we need support to get food, medicine and schooling to children trapped in conflict,” she acknowledged, but added that it is also necessary for Member States “to do your job”. When civilians suffer because a State makes a political choice to disregard the laws of war, that choice is based on a calculation that the international community will not enforce the law. “We urge you to act,” she concluded.    http://news.un.org/en/news/topic/humanitarian-aid    19 Aug. 2024    Protect civilians and aid workers: A global call on World Humanitarian Day    Open Letter to the Member States of the UN General Assembly, on behalf of the Inter Agency Standing Committee Principals, signed by 413 humanitarian organizations around the world who are calling for the protection of civilians, including their staff:    This World Humanitarian Day, our staff and volunteers around the world will stand in solidarity to spotlight the horrifying toll of armed conflicts on their colleagues and on all civilians, particularly children.    The brutal hostilities we are seeing in multiple conflicts around the world have exposed a terrible truth: We are living in an era of impunity. Attacks that kill or injure civilians, including humanitarian and health-care personnel, are devastatingly common. Yet despite widespread condemnation, serious violations of the rules of war too often go unpunished.    This status quo is shameful and cannot continue.    In 2023, tens of thousands of civilians were killed or injured in armed conflict, with fatalities among humanitarian workers doubling compared to the previous year.    The toll in 2024 – the number of deaths, injuries, detentions and kidnappings – is already staggering. The overwhelming majority of recorded attacks on aid workers are inflicted on national staff. Women-led organizations and female humanitarian staff face unique and often increased risks, just because they are women. The impact on the mental health of civilians and humanitarian workers has reached unprecedented levels.    And yet parties to conflict continue to flout laws meant to protect civilians, including humanitarian workers, and civilian objects.    This year, on World Humanitarian Day, we appeal to all States, parties to armed conflict, and the wider international community to:    End attacks on civilians and take active steps to protect them – and the critical civilian infrastructure they rely on.    Protect all aid workers, including local and national actors, and their premises and assets and facilitate their work, as called for in UN Security Council Resolution 2730 adopted this May.    Hold perpetrators to account. Those who commit violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) cannot go unpunished.    We should not have to wait for an annual moment such as World Humanitarian Day to remind all parties to armed conflict, and all States, of their obligations under IHL. Adherence to IHL must happen every day irrespective of occasion. It is non-negotiable and is not subject to exceptions.    It is vital that all parties to armed conflict and all States adhere to their obligations and leverage their influence to ensure respect for the rules of war and minimize human suffering.    Fulfilling these obligations requires more than mere declarations – it demands immediate and decisive actions. Turning a blind eye when humanitarian workers are targeted only emboldens those who seek to hinder their work.    This only serves to increase food insecurity, childhood malnutrition, involuntary displacement and the spread of infectious diseases and other threats. The immediate effects of these will not only be limited to areas of conflict but often spread far beyond.    We will continue to stay and deliver in humanitarian crises around the world – but the situation requires us to take a united stand to call for the protection of our staff, volunteers and the civilians we serve.    http://www.unocha.org/news/protect-civilians-and-aid-workers-global-call-world-humanitarian-day Visit the related web page
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