Declaration for the Protection of Humanitarian Personnel
It has never been more dangerous to be an aid worker.
2024 was the deadliest year on record for humanitarian personnel, and 2025 is on track to be worse. When humanitarians cannot operate safely, aid does not flow.
Despite the crucial role humanitarian personnel play in providing life-saving assistance, attacks on them are rising.
Humanitarian personnel operate in some of the most dangerous and volatile regions of the world. Threats to aid workers are fast becoming a feature of conflicts across the globe – including Sudan, Ukraine, Gaza, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Myanmar.
This is unacceptable.
They are not merely numbers. Each represents a life dedicated to others – delivering food to families, providing medical care in conflict zones, and offering support and protection to those when they are at their most vulnerable.
The vast majority are local people, serving their own communities in times of extraordinary need.
Protecting aid workers means protecting civilians. When humanitarians cannot operate safely in one place, their work is compromised everywhere.