World Humanitarian Day is observed every year on August 19 to honour humanitarian workers and stand with people affected by crises around the world. But the United Nations is warning of growing risks to those delivering aid, as humanitarian workers continue to be killed, injured, kidnapped and otherwise targeted.

According to the Aid Worker Security Database, 907 humanitarian workers were killed, injured or kidnapped in 2025, up from 833 the previous year. Of those, 350 were killed, slightly below the record 387 deaths recorded in 2024. A further 322 aid workers were injured and 235 were kidnapped.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres described the level of violence against aid workers as "appalling" and called on governments to uphold international humanitarian law and ensure those responsible are held accountable.

"Serving others has become more dangerous than ever," Guterres said ahead of UN commemorations in New York and Geneva, where flags were due to be flown at half-staff in honour of humanitarian workers killed in the line of duty.

UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher has also warned that the growing availability of inexpensive and adaptable armed drones is adding to the dangers facing aid workers.

Drone attacks in Goma in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo in March killed at least three people, including a French aid worker, while humanitarian convoys in Sudan and Ukraine have also come under repeated attack.

Gaza remained the deadliest location for humanitarian workers in 2025, with 186 killed, marking the third consecutive year it has held that tragic distinction, followed by Sudan with 71 deaths. The UN Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA, has separately reported that at least 393 of its staff members have been killed since the Israel-Gaza war began in October 2023.

Former UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini has called for a high-level investigation into the deaths of agency staff.

Equally, Oxfam's global humanitarian policy lead, Bushra Khalidi, urged stronger measures to protect aid workers, warning that the attacks amount to an assault on humanitarian action itself.