World Humanitarian Day: Call for greater protection for aid workers

Razan al-Najjar, 21, paramedic shot dead by IDF while assisting an injured civilian in Gaza

Today is World Humanitarian Day, held every year on 19 August to pay tribute to aid workers who risk their lives in humanitarian service, and to rally support for people affected by crises around the world. In 2017, at least 313 aid workers in 22 countries, were victims of violent attacks according to latest global figures.

Anne Street, Head of Humanitarian Advocacy at CAFOD, said that this year's World Humanitarian Day is especially meaningful for the organisation that she works for:

"CAFOD works with partners and with local and national staff in some of the most complex and dangerous places in the world - Syria, Yemen, South Sudan and DR Congo, to name a few countries. And in the last year alone, several members of our partners and sister agencies have died delivering lifesaving aid to communities traumatised by war and violence, or a natural disaster.

"The safety and security of local staff is paramount to ensuring aid reaches people in need. The international community, including members of the Caritas family and the Charter for Change, has a duty to provide local and national aid workers with the support and resources they require, in order to deliver programmes safely and without fear for their lives.

"After the television cameras have gone, and a humanitarian crisis no longer dominates the international news headlines, it is the local aid workers who will still be on ground supporting traumatised communities and providing essential aid for the longer-term."
.2018 has seen fatal attacks on Christian Aid partners in South Sudan and Gaza.

Christian Aid's Senior Adviser for Humanitarian Policy and Advocacy, Jane Backhurst, said: "World Humanitarian Day highlights the need for concrete steps to protect all civilians caught up in violence: this includes aid workers.

"At Christian Aid, we are committed to delivering our relief operations through our local partners. They are usually the first to respond to conflicts in their countries, and are therefore vital to ensuring emergency aid gets to people who most need it."These staff are embedded in populations affected by crisis: their proximity gives them more humanitarian access, but it also leaves them more vulnerable to deadly acts of violence. From South Sudan to Afghanistan, Gaza to Nigeria, our partners risk their lives daily to provide life-saving assistance to their fellow citizens in insecure contexts. We are incredibly grateful for their sacrifice and service."

Last month, in Afghanistan, a suicide bomb was detonated just 15-20 metres from where two Christian Aid workers were standing. In April, a staff member from Christian Aid's local partner UNIDO was shot and killed near Leer in South Sudan, where they had been working in a health facility.

Approximately 100 aid workers have been killed in the country since December 2013: predominantly South Sudanese nationals.

In June, 21-year-old Razan al-Najjar, a volunteer medic for Christian Aid's partner the Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS), was killed on duty in Gaza. Razan was shot by Israeli Forces as she gave medical assistance to injured protesters. In the two months prior, 30 PMRS paramedics were injured throughout the Gaza Strip, while assisting civilians hurt during protests to end the nearly 12-year closure of Gaza.

Jane Backhurst said: "Local aid workers move between having 'humanitarian status' when on duty to having 'civilian status' when off-duty. Whether humanitarian worker or civilian, they should have additional protection under international humanitarian law: in reality they are the majority of frontline responders - not western NGOs - and they are first in the line of danger. That's why we need to prioritise their safety and security.

CAFOD, Trochaire and Christian Aid and among the Charter for Change signatories who issued a joint statement calling for better protection for local and national NGO staff, ahead of World Humanitarian Day.