Lisa Doughten was addressing Ambassadors at a Council briefing on preventing and responding to attacks against humanitarian and UN personnel, in line with resolution 2730 (2024), adopted in May.
Targeted and collateral violence
Abby Stoddard is a partner and director at Humanitarian Outcomes, which compiles the Aid Worker Security Database.
She said 30 years ago, fatal attacks on aid workers were not common.
Back then, the main threats they faced were accidents and illnesses, but “today, it is violence – both collateral and targeted – which claims more aid worker lives than any other work-related cause.”
She noted that 2023 was the deadliest year ever recorded, with 280 fatalities, but 2024 has already exceeded that “awful total”.
Ms. Stoddard echoed the calls made for greater protection and accountability.