World Humanitarian Day 2025
As every year on 19 August, today marks World Humanitarian Day, a date to remember those who work in crisis contexts.
The year 2024 ended with the deaths of more than 380 humanitarian workers, the highest figure since records began. To this must be added those who have been injured, kidnapped or detained. So far in 2025, the numbers suggest that this trend is set to rise. Gaza continues to be the place where the highest number of humanitarian workers have lost their lives —156 deaths have already been reported—, alongside journalists and civilians, whose death toll has already exceeded 60,000. South Sudan and Sudan remain other contexts where humanitarian personnel face serious risks.
Added to this is the current situation of a humanitarian system at a crossroads due to funding cuts, with the well-known case of the United States —which covered 45% of global humanitarian appeals and 70% in regions such as Latin America and the Caribbean— as well as other major donors such as France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the European Union. Needs are rising, with an estimated 300 million people in need, but resources allocated to assistance are not.
On this day, the call to action is to protect humanitarian personnel —with particular attention to national staff, who account for 98% of fatalities— and the civilians they serve, by allocating and safeguarding the funding for the vital resources they are said to support. Beyond physical risks, humanitarian personnel face growing criminalization of their work and media attacks that distort it. In contexts such as Haiti, Yemen and Palestine, they are detained, interrogated and accused of collaborating with terrorism simply for assisting people in crisis. Increasingly, humanitarian organizations are targeted by coordinated disinformation campaigns that undermine their work and credibility.
Attacks against humanitarian workers disrupt essential aid and protection, with assaults on personnel causing total blockages of supplies and pushing humanitarian response to the limit. Despite the gravity of these acts, impunity has become the norm: there are no trials or sanctions for recent attacks, despite resolutions and international efforts to strengthen the protection of humanitarian personnel.
Marking its 25th anniversary, the Institute for Studies on Conflicts and Humanitarian Action (IECAH) once again stands with the global call for stronger protection, accountability, and decisive action. Leaders must uphold and enforce the laws that safeguard humanitarian operations and protect both civilians and aid workers in conflict zones. Every State and responsible actors have a responsibility to use its influence to prevent and stop violations of international humanitarian law. The problem is not the absence of rules, but the persistent failure to implement and uphold them.
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