The United Nations (UN) on Monday condemned the “unacceptable” record-high level of violence against humanitarian workers. The statement noted that 280 aid workers were killed last year in 33 countries.

“The normalization of violence against aid workers and the lack of accountability are unacceptable, unconscionable and enormously harmful for aid operations everywhere,” Joyce Msuya, Acting Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator of the UN, said in the statement.

Citing the Aid Worker Security Database, the UN number of aid workers in killed 2023 represents a 137 percent increase compared to 2022, when 118 aid workers were killed.

The UN stated that more than half of the 2023 deaths were recorded in the first three months of the Israel-Hamas War, mostly as a result of airstrikes. In light of the escalation of hostilities in Gaza, the UN warned the Israel-Hamas War is potentially fueling even higher numbers of deaths of aid workers and civilians this year. As of August 7, the provisional number of murdered aid workers has already reached 172.

In addition, South Sudan, plagued by civil strife, and Sudan, embroiled in a war between rival generals since April 2023, are the next gravest contributors to the death toll, with 34 and 25 deaths respectively. Amidst the dire situation, the UN reiterated in the statement its demand to end violations against civilians and to hold the perpetrators accountable.

António Guterres, Secretary-General of the UN also criticized countries for ignoring and trampling the International Humanitarian Law, the law that protects civilians and humanitarian during wartime. “[H]umanitarian workers are being attacked, killed, injured and abducted alongside the civilians they support,” said Guterres.

The International Humanitarian Law (IHL) in place today is mostly based on the protocol to the Geneva Conventions adopted in 1977. It serves to protect the victims of armed conflicts and regulate hostilities based on a balance between military necessity and humanity. In general, the IHL is divided into two sets of rules, with the first centred on respect for the dignity and life of a person and humane treatment, and the second centred on respect for the proportionality of conduct of armed conflict. For instance, warring parties must ensure operations and the weapons they choose to use would minimize or avoid civilian casualties

The UN marks World Humanitarian Day on August 19 each year in commemoration of the death of 23 people in the 2003 bombing of UN offices at the Canal Hotel in Baghdad. The day serves to honor the commitment of humanitarians in high-risk crises and to mourn the aid workers who sacrificed for humanity.

On this year’s World Humanitarian Day, the leaders of multiple humanitarian organizations and UN agencies also sent a letter to UN member states calling for the end of “an era of impunity.”