Pope calls for prayers for humanitarians risking their lives

By Lisa Zengarini

As the international community marks World Humanitarian Day (WHD) on August 19, Pope Francis has invited everyone to pray for humanitarian workers, “especially those who have died or been injured helping people affected by wars and disasters.”

United Nations Day has been observed around the world every year since 2008 to honour all volunteers who risk their lives to provide humanitarian assistance around the world, and to commemorate those who have died or been injured while working for humanitarian causes and needs.

In a message posted on X on Monday, Pope Francis said: “Humanitarians show that we can be”All my brothers by taking care of others.

2024: The deadliest year for humanitarians

As armed conflicts increase in many parts of the world, the death toll among humanitarian workers is also increasing dramatically.

2024 will likely be the deadliest year on record for aid workers, especially those based in their own countries. 192 aid workers have already been killed this year, 119 of whom were local staff.

Record number of humanitarian deaths in Gaza

As Caritas Internationalis, the Catholic Church’s charity, points out, this dramatic increase is largely due to those killed in Gaza following Hamas attacks on Israel’s southern border on October 7, with a total of at least 274 aid workers killed in the past 10 months.

The number of aid workers killed in the past ten months in the Gaza Strip alone is more than the total number of aid worker deaths worldwide in the two years between 2021 and 2022.

Caritas also tragically lost two national aid workers in the Gaza Strip: Viola, a laboratory technician, was killed along with her husband and young daughter in the Israeli raid on the St. Porphyrios Orthodox Church in Gaza in October, and Issam Abedrabbo, a dedicated pharmacist and father, aged 35, was killed along with two of his sons, leaving an orphaned daughter.

These deaths are far from accidental, says Jean-Yves Terlinden, director of international cooperation and humanitarian action at Caritas Belgium, recalling that Israeli forces have carried out at least eight strikes on convoys and premises of humanitarian workers in Gaza since October 2023.

“These attacks,” he noted, “occurred despite the fact that humanitarian agencies had provided their contact details to Israeli authorities to ensure their protection.”

According to Caritas Internationalis, this unprecedented loss of aid workers “has been compounded by a humanitarian system increasingly affected by political priorities.”

He highlighted the continued military support from the EU and the US, “including bombs that have resulted in the deaths of civilians and humanitarian workers in staggering numbers, as well as other forms of material support.”

Caritas urges US and EU to respect international humanitarian law

The Catholic charity network therefore urged some EU member states to “live up to their values ​​as principled humanitarian actors and avoid being complicit in violations of international humanitarian law” by renouncing all military support to actors who violate it.

“Without this divestment, humanitarian diplomacy will continue to be undermined by States that on the one hand condemn violations of IHL and on the other provide military and economic support to parties that commit these violations of IHL,” the statement said.

Caritas also pointed out that it is increasingly national humanitarian workers who are at risk. A 2024 report by the Humanitarian Outcomes and Global Interagency Security Forum reveals that the number of casualties among national and local organisations has been increasing steadily over the past seven years and, in 2022, surpassed that of international NGOs.

Need for more media coverage

However, the deaths of national aid workers, many of whom are employed directly by donors and international organisations or work as close partners of these organisations, receive significantly less media coverage than that of international aid workers.

Caritas Internationalis therefore called on the EU to take effective measures and provide more financial resources to ensure the safety of local staff, to ensure accountability for those killed in the line of duty and to “give increased media and political attention to the situation of local aid workers”.

“In this way,” the statement concludes, “we can help protect those who dedicate their lives to helping others in their own community.”

Aid workers killed in DRC

Other critical areas where humanitarians have paid a high price this year, alongside civilians, include the conflict-torn eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where six aid workers were killed and 11 abducted between January and June this year, with more than 200 incidents directly targeting humanitarians on the ground.

In a message on the occasion of Monday’s commemoration, the humanitarian coordinator in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bruno Lemarquis, deplored that “despite the gravity of these murders and this suffering, the world has not shown sufficient indignation in the face of this catastrophic situation.”

He also noted that while the United Nations and local and international NGOs remain more committed than ever to providing the necessary assistance to those affected by these crises, the Humanitarian Response Plan for 2024 is only 35% funded to date, meaning that hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people are being left behind and therefore in need of more donations.

Call to action

World Humanitarian Day was established five years after the bombing of the Canal Hotel in Baghdad, Iraq, in 2003 that killed 22 aid workers, including the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello.

The theme chosen for this year’s celebration is “Act for Humanity” and is a call to action.

“We must act to protect civilians and aid workers from violence; we must act against impunity for attacks on aid workers and civilians,” said Mr. Lemarquis. “When we fail to protect civilians and aid workers, we fail to uphold basic human rights principles, we fail to help people in distress.”