Aid workers around the world are in greater danger than ever. Will a new UN declaration protect them?

Aid workers face more difficult and dangerous conditions in carrying out their work than ever before. The United Nations declared 2024 the worst year on record, with 385 aid workers killed in 20 countries. That was, in turn, almost 100 more deaths than in 2023.

As Deputy UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Joyce Msuya briefed the UN Security Council:

We have become numb to this violence. Being shot at is not – I repeat, NOT – part of our job.

In 2025, 300 aid workers have been killed as of September. Most these deaths were driven by unrestricted warfare in Gaza that has since been classified a genocide, followed by Sudan and South Sudan. The use of drones, praised for their precision, was responsible for killing seven aid workers in the World Central Kitchen convoy in Gaza, including Australian Zomi Frankcom.

Attacks on international aid workers attract high levels of attention and calls for accountability. However, the overwhelming majority of deaths and injuries are local aid workers who leave behind families and dependants often reliant on their income.

Why the global initiative matters

More than 100 states have signed the Australian-led declaration to protect aid workers at this week’s UN General Assembly meeting in New York.

While some may be sceptical of the power of a declaration at this time, it nonetheless offers a glimmer of hope for humanity in an otherwise highly contested and polarised geopolitical environment.

Attacks on aid workers have not only increased, they have become more brutal. This is due to unrestricted warfare being normalised, including new patterns of harm from remotely controlled drones killing aid and healthcare workers across Palestine, Ukraine, Myanmar, Sudan, Mali, Sudan and Ethiopia.

The glaring lack of legal accountability for increasing deliberate attacks and targeting of aid workers has enabled impunity. If it weren’t for the work of a few dedicated actors, including the Aid Work Security database and Legal Action Worldwide, we wouldn’t even know how many aid workers had been killed, injured, detained – and denied justice.

Accountability starts with reliable data and reporting. It must be followed by timely, impartial investigations and justice through national and international mechanisms.

Protecting aid workers is vital for protecting civilians

Soaring global conflict and declining respect for international law have contributed to record aid worker death tolls since 2023. In 2024, nearly half of aid worker deaths were in Gaza.

The multilateral system – including the laws, norms and institutions that support it – faces its greatest test since the creation of the UN in 1945. This includes the laws and norms designed to ensure aid workers can safely and quickly reach civilians in war zones. As Foreign Minister Penny Wong says,

We know that to protect civilians, we must also protect aid workers who deliver the food, water and medicine civilians need to survive.

The normalisation of unrestricted warfare alongside dramatic shifts in US foreign policy is stretching the institutions, laws and norms designed to protect civilians and those sent to help them. Aid workers have shouldered this burden quietly, reluctant to speak out due to fear of punitive measures from those who would deny them access to the civilian populations they serve.

The increase in attacks on aid workers also points to antagonism to the presence of aid workers in war zones, and their independent assessment and reporting of the terrible toll war takes on people’s lives.

This is why reinforcing member states’ commitment to international law obligations and fundamental humanitarian norms is vital at this time.

Beyond declaration to protection

Renewed political commitment by member states to protect aid workers and reinforce existing obligations under international law is both welcome and urgently needed.

The effectiveness of the initiative will be seen in pursuing accountability for aid worker attacks internationally and domestically. It will also be evident in how well it can address the longstanding impunity that has enabled the escalating danger of aid work.

And it will be further measured by whether local aid workers on the frontlines receive the necessary technical and financial support to reduce the rising threats they face.