Gaza Remains World's Deadliest Zone for Aid Workers for Third Consecutive Year, UN Report Reveals

Gaza continues to hold the grim distinction of being the deadliest location for humanitarian personnel, accounting for over half of all aid worker fatalities globally last year, according to a UN report published on Wednesday for World Humanitarian Day. Data from the UN’s Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) indicates that more than 350 aid workers lost their lives worldwide in 2025, while over 900 suffered from acts of violence.

Within Gaza, 186 aid workers were killed—68 per cent of them resulting from aerial bombardment—securing the enclave's position as the most dangerous area for the third consecutive year, OCHA reported. Sudan followed as the second deadliest region with 71 fatalities, predominantly caused by small arms fire. Meanwhile, the Democratic Republic of Congo experienced a doubling of violence against humanitarian personnel in 2025, with 97 individuals targeted. Additional high-risk nations included Ukraine, Ethiopia, Syria, Haiti, Chad and Cameroon, where kidnappings and aerial bombardments represented the most prevalent threats.

“More than 1,000 aid workers have been killed in just three years, and that is utterly unacceptable,” stated Tom Fletcher, OCHA's Emergency Relief Co-ordinator. Globally, kidnappings executed by non-state actors and criminal groups nearly doubled compared to 2024 to reach 235 incidents, alongside a rise in serious injuries. Furthermore, the Aid Worker Security Database documented 280 instances of detention and arrest involving state actors in 2025. Yemen, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar and Palestine collectively represented 75 per cent of these state-enforced detentions, with Yemen alone accounting for one-third of all detained personnel.

Road travel proved to be the most perilous setting last year, responsible for 27 per cent of all violent encounters, while offices, compounds, and project sites accounted for another 20 per cent. This trend highlights a persistent failure among warring factions to respect humanitarian operations and infrastructure. Mr Fletcher noted that the proliferation of inexpensive armed drones has further magnified these dangers. “The technology may change, but the laws of war do not,” he remarked in a statement for World Humanitarian Day, recalling incidents such as the March drone strikes in Goma in the eastern DRC that killed at least three individuals, including an aid worker, as well as recurring attacks on aid convoys in Sudan and Ukraine.

“Serving others has become more dangerous than ever,” UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres observed prior to memorial ceremonies for World Humanitarian Day. Flags at UN headquarters in New York and Geneva flew at half-mast to commemorate the fallen personnel. World Humanitarian Day is observed annually on August 19 to commemorate the 2003 bombing of the UN's headquarters in Baghdad, which claimed the lives of 22 UN staff members, including the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello.