World Humanitarian Day

A humanitarian emergency begins when health systems break down. When hospitals are damaged, medicines run out or outbreaks spread unchecked, communities face life threatening risks. In those moments, humanitarian response steps in, bringing care, resources and hope when it matters most. And together with partners, the World Health Organization (WHO) who works to protect health, reduce suffering and support recovery. Because every act of care helps rebuild what crisis has broken.

In less than two years, Gaza has been turned to rubble. Homes, schools, hospitals, markets – the systems that keep cities alive – now destroyed. Entire towns have been flattened. International law is clear: civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected. Those with power and influence: #ActForHumanity.

Starvation must NOT be used as a tactic of war. It is prohibited under international humanitarian law. The destruction of agricultural land leads to severe food shortages, acute hunger, malnutrition and long-term economic hardships. It devastates the livelihoods of rural communities, forces people from their land and exacerbates food insecurity in war zones. This World Humanitarian Day , join us in urging those with power and influence to protect farms and food sources. Follow the conversation with the hashtags: #ActForHumanity , #19 August ; #WorldHumanitarianDay .

Under international humanitarian law, aid workers and supplies are protected. Attacking them deprives people of life-saving assistance. We urge those with power and influence to #ActForHumanity by ensuring safe, rapid and unimpeded passage of aid for people in need.

This year’s Aid Worker Security Report comes at a major inflection point for international humanitarian assistance and during an alarming new peak of violence against humanitarians. The 2025 edition – our 15th since data tracking began – was almost not produced after the Aid Worker Security Database (AWSD), lost its US government funding when the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was dismantled. The funding crisis now rocking the sector comes on top of escalating conflicts and a steep erosion of respect for humanitarian norms and the laws of war by state actors – amplified in some places by public smear campaigns against aid organisations. The conflicts in Gaza and Sudan continue to drive the greatest numbers of aid worker casualties, but incidents were on the rise in other contexts as well, with historically high numbers seen in Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Lebanon, Nigeria, Somalia, Ukraine, and Yemen. The loss of funding, security...

  A continuing surge in violence  Attacks against aid workers continued to climb steeply in 2024 (and in the first half of 2025), along with the number of victims and deaths. The AWSD recorded an all-time high of 568 major violent incidents against aid workers (killings, kidnappings, and woundings) in 2024 – a 36% increase over 2023. It was the second consecutive year to set records for both the number of victims and fatalities, which rose by 37% and 31% respectively. Major violent incidents occurred in 40 countries in 2024, an increase from 33 in 2023. When arrests and detentions by state authorities are included, the number of countries rises to 42, underscoring both the geographic spread of insecurity and the growing role of state actors in obstructing humanitarian operations.  The violence showed no signs of letting up in the first half of 2025. As at 30 June, the provisional data suggests the numbers are on track to break records again, barring dramatic shifts in the...