World Humanitarian Day 2023

(Jakarta, August 17, 2023): Ahead of World Humanitarian Day on August 19, the United Nations today warned that 2023 will be a year of high humanitarian casualties.

20 years after the deadly attack on the UN in Iraq, humanitarians remain committed to helping, #NoMatterWhat, despite the growing risks.

So far this year, 62 humanitarians have been killed in crises around the world, 84 injured and 33 kidnapped, according to provisional data from the Aid Worker Security Database research team at Humanitarian Outcomes. Last year's death toll stood at 116.

South Sudan ranks highest in terms of insecurity for several years in a row. Forty attacks on humanitarian actors and 22 deaths were reported on August 10.

Sudan came second, with 17 attacks on humanitarians and 19 deaths reported so far this year. These numbers surpass those not recorded since the height of the Darfur conflict between 2006 and 2009.

Other humanitarian casualties were recorded in the Central African Republic, Mali, Somalia and Ukraine. Last year, 444 aid workers were attacked. The previous year, 460 humanitarians were attacked, resulting in 141 deaths.

This year's World Humanitarian Day also marks 20 years since the 2003 suicide bomb attack on the UN headquarters at the Canal Hotel in Baghdad, Iraq, which killed 22 UN staff. Around 150 more people - local and international aid workers helping to reconstruct Iraq - were also injured on that dark day.

The challenges facing Indonesia as a hazard-prone country will remain. Our social capital to work together (gotong royong) is key to further improving the nation's resilience to disasters of various scales and magnitudes. Social conflicts, extreme weather events and other climate-related risks and residual impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic will continue to require a holistic and coordinated approach from the humanitarian community, government partners, civil society and vulnerable communities.

Despite security and access challenges, all layers of humanitarians campaigned this year to highlight their ongoing commitment to deliver for the communities they serve, no matter who, where and #NoMatterWhat.

In the face of skyrocketing humanitarian needs, the UN and its partners aim to help nearly 250 million people in crisis around the world - 10 times more than in 2003.

The commemoration of World Humanitarian Day highlights the importance of multi-stakeholder cooperation in humanitarian efforts to continuously adapt to create a better world.

This year's commemoration of World Humanitarian Day on 19 August 2023 is jointly organized by UN OCHA, in collaboration with other UN agencies in Indonesia, the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture, BNPB, and the Ministry of Social Affairs with the support of other government stakeholders, NGOs, interfaith organizations, and in collaboration with PT Integrasi Transit Jakarta.

Media contact:

Ronaldo Reario, UNOCHA, 0852-1994-2819

Siska Widyawati, UNIC, 0878-8488-5489