World Humanitarian Day

  2026 ECOSOC Humanitarian Affairs Segment - Economic and Social Council, 32nd Plenary Meeting Related Sites and Documents:  Learn more . Watch the 2026 ECOSOC Humanitarian Affairs Segment - Economic and Social Council, 32nd Plenary Meeting! 02:15:46 Economic and Social Council

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...

  The steep reductions in humanitarian programming following the defunding have altered the security landscape for aid agencies, exposing new vulnerabilities and amplifying existing ones. In many contexts, the abrupt withdrawal of services has created resentment among affected people, while downsizing has increased exposure for the organisations and individuals that remain. These dynamics are compounded by the erosion of acceptance – driven in part by harmful narratives, misinformation, and disinformation – that is increasingly shaping threat perceptions and behaviours towards aid actors. Rising tensions following abrupt closures and loss of vital services  Provisional data for 2025 includes a small number of major security incidents with evidence of a direct link to defunding-related programme closures or downsizing. The true number is likely higher; many local organisations are unwilling to report such incidents, and others fall outside AWSD’s inclusion criteria because no a...

   Annual observance of World Humanitarian Day at the Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland. On 19 August 2003, a bomb attack on the Canal Hotel in Baghdad, Iraq, killed 22 humanitarian aid workers, including the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello. Five years later, the General Assembly adopted a resolution designating 19 August as World Humanitarian Day (WHD). Since then, WHD has become OCHA's annual flagship campaign. Each year, WHD focuses on a theme, bringing together partners from across the humanitarian system to advocate for the survival, well-being and dignity of people affected by crises, and for the safety and security of aid workers. This year, we call for an end to the attacks on humanitarians and civilians and impunity under International Humanitarian Law . During the occasion, we will  show the importance, effectiveness and positive impact of humanitarian work.   We urge those in power to #ActForHumanit...

Warring sides must allow and facilitate the safe, rapid and unimpeded delivery of aid to people in need. On Tuesday’s World Humanitarian Day, join us in calling for urgent action to ensure the protection of civilians — including aid workers — in conflict zones.—  United Nations OCHA