News Center- A record 383 aid workers were confirmed killed worldwide in 2024, nearly half of them in Gaza, the U.N. humanitarian office said Tuesday to mark World Humanitarian Day, annually observed on August 19.

According to the UN, 308 aid workers were wounded, 125 kidnapped and 45 detained in 2024.

“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.

265 aid workers have been killed as of August 14, 2025 , according to provisional data from the Aid Worker Security Database.

The UN’s World Health Organization (WHO) said it verified more than 800 attacks on healthcare in 16 territories so far this year with more than 1,110 health workers and patients killed and hundreds injured.

“Each attack inflicts lasting harm, deprives entire communities of lifesaving care when they need it the most, endangers healthcare providers and weakens already strained health systems,” the WHO said.