"Impunity for crimes against aid workers must end," OCHA tells Security Council

Briefing to the Security Council on the protection of civilians in armed conflict by Lisa Doughten, Director, Financing and Partnerships Division for OCHA, on behalf of Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator

New York, 21 November 2024

As delivered

Thanks!

Mr. President, Members of the Security Council,

I want to thank the United Kingdom for convening this meeting, and for giving us the opportunity to brief you on the protection of humanitarian and United Nations personnel, premises and assets.

This is a deeply personal issue for me, for the United Nations, and for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the global humanitarian community we represent.

Over the years, many of us working for the UN or in the humanitarian sector have lost colleagues and friends – people who devoted their lives to supporting their fellow human beings in their time of need.

But the past two years in particular have been devastating.

In 2023, we lost 280 aid workers across 20 countries, according to the Aid Worker Security Database. This is a shocking 137 per cent increase from 2022. But as we will hear from Abby Stoddard, this year has been even worse.

Numerous other aid workers have been injured, kidnapped, attacked and arbitrarily detained in countries including Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Lebanon, Mali, Myanmar, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine and Yemen.

Much of the unprecedented surge in aid worker casualties is due to the situation in Gaza.

Since 7 October, more than 330 humanitarian workers have lost their lives. Most of them were UNRWA staff. Some were with their families in their homes; others were at work in UNRWA offices and shelters.

These numbers signal a disturbing lack of regard for the lives of civilians and humanitarian and UN workers. There is no situation in recent history that compares.

So, as we gather today, seeking specific actions that the Security Council and the wider UN membership could take to increase the protection of aid workers, my first message is this: Please help protect my colleagues in Gaza.

Reducing violence and ensuring that all parties respect international humanitarian law and protect civilians are priorities. Without these measures, discussions about the safety of UN and humanitarian personnel in Gaza are, at best, unrealistic.

Mr. President, 

Despite the very real dangers, humanitarian and UN personnel continue to show incredible commitment to “stay and deliver” wherever people are in need.

As of October, global humanitarian operations have provided life-saving aid to more than 116 million people worldwide this year.

I want to salute this remarkable achievement - it underscores the resourcefulness, resilience and courage of humanitarian workers in the face of extraordinary challenges.

But as the Secretary-General reminded us on this year’s World Humanitarian Day: “Celebrating humanitarians is not enough. We must all do more to protect and safeguard our common humanity.”

The UN, humanitarian agencies and non-governmental organizations are doing everything they can to significantly enhance our security risk management.

As a result, aid workers can now reach more people in need in increasingly complex environments. Member States' political and financial support for the UN Department of Safety and Security is indispensable for this important work.

However, when parties to conflict choose to target humanitarian workers, or choose to ignore their obligations under international law to spare them, then no amount of security management will help those workers. 

We therefore once again welcome the Security Council’s decision to tackle this issue head on by adopting resolution 2730 in May this year.

In that resolution, you requested the Secretary-General to recommend ways to strengthen the protection of humanitarian and UN personnel.

Today, Mr. President, I want to present the Security Council with three critical areas for action: Clear condemnation of attacks against aid workers, ensuring accountability, and more support for victims and survivors of harm. These areas were identified following extensive consultations with our humanitarian partners.

First: Clear condemnation for attacks against aid workers.

Our partners want to see renewed, unequivocal political support from the Security Council and Member States for aid workers and their safety.

They want you to use diplomatic and economic pressure to force respect for international law. They demand, as does the Secretary-General, an end to arms transfers to anyone violating international law.

They want you to support principled humanitarian action and contribute to a conducive environment for aid operations.

This includes effective humanitarian exemptions across sanctions regimes and counterterrorism legislation. This means unequivocally rejecting and countering misinformation, disinformation and hate speech that targets UN and humanitarian organizations and staff; and challenging gratuitous campaigns and legal proceedings against UN and humanitarian personnel, such as the unacceptable recent targeting of UNRWA.

Second: Accountability.

Our partners are concerned by the lack of accountability for perpetrators of crimes against humanitarian workers, and how this emboldens further offences.

They want to see more systematic and universal accountability for serious violations.

They want Member States to fight impunity with political will and action, including through legislation that ensures accountability for crimes against humanitarian workers – both international and domestic.

And they want the Security Council to do more to ensure accountability, including encouraging international cooperation to facilitate investigations and prosecutions, and where national jurisdictions fail, to establish international mechanisms or refer matters to the International Criminal Court.

Third: More support for humanitarian workers who are the victims and survivors of harm.

Our partners want the international community to adopt a survivor-centred approach that allows survivors to directly participate in global discussions, including here at the Security Council.

They also call for reparations and legal aid for survivors and families. Our partners urgently ask for mental health support and trauma counselling for survivors. This is essential for national and locally recruited staff, who account for more than 95 per cent of survivors and face unimaginable personal losses.

Mr. President,

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions – the cornerstone of international humanitarian law, which is now under unprecedented strain.

As we look to the next steps on resolution 2730, we urge this Council to champion action that protects humanitarian and UN personnel; ensures accountability for those who harm them; and helps survivors and families to rebuild their lives.

This is a call to reaffirm that respect for international law is non-negotiable. Impunity for crimes against aid workers must end, and their voices deserve to be heard at the highest levels, including here in this chamber.

Together, let us transform our collective commitments into meaningful actions that safeguard the people at the heart of humanitarian efforts and, through them, the millions of lives they strive to save.

Thank you.