UN News Today 22 November 2024 |

Deadliest year for humanitarian workers, says UN’s emergency relief chief

The year isn’t yet over but 2024 is already the deadliest on record for humanitarian personnel worldwide.

That’s the worrying news from the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, which said that there have been 281 recorded aid worker deaths this year.

The war in Gaza continues to drive up the number of humanitarians killed while serving those in need, said OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke:

“The latest entry into the aid worker security database for this November is 10 national staff killed in Gaza. Since 7 October last year, at least 333 aid workers have been killed in Gaza alone; most were staff members of UNRWA and our colleagues.”

The vast majority of those killed this year were national staff working for the UN, civil society and the Red Crescent and Red Cross movement.

The UN’s new Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, has condemned all killings of aid workers; he’s also called on States and parties to conflict to protect humanitarians, uphold international law, prosecute those responsible, and call time on what he’s called this era of impunity.

Lebanon: UN peacekeeping force reports rocket strike injuries

Four UN peacekeepers are in hospital after a rocket attack earlier on Friday, the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (or UNIFIL) has said. Their injuries are not life-threatening.

In a statement, UNIFIL said that two 122-millimetre rockets had been likely launched by Hezbollah or affiliated militia groups.

They impacted a bunker and a logistics area used by the international military police and caused “significant damage”, the Force said.

Meanwhile, as Lebanon marked Independence Day on Friday, UN humanitarians condemned the killing of more than 3,600 people in the country since the escalation of violence linked to the war in Gaza.

This number includes more than 230 children. A further 15,000 have been injured at least, according to the Lebanese authorities.

Here’s Ivo Freijsen, UNHCR Representative in Lebanon:

“In recent weeks, Israel dramatically intensified its airstrikes and ground incursions, and this has deepened the humanitarian catastrophe that has affected civilians. The past few weeks have been the deadliest and the most devastating for Lebanon and people in decades.”

According to the UN World Health Organization, one in 10 hospitals in Lebanon “has ceased operations” or reduced services, amid continuing attacks on healthcare, personnel and ambulances.

Nearly 330 healthcare workers have also been killed in Lebanon since 8 October last year, and almost one in every two attacks on healthcare has been fatal.

COP29: Wealthy nations mull $250 billion climate finance assistance deal

A draft finance deal has been circulating at the COP29 climate talks in Baku in which rich countries are expected to commit $250 billion a year to help vulnerable nations cope with our warming planet.

The text calls for the overall climate financing goal to reach “at least $1.3 trillion by 2035”, but leaves out specifics about how these funds will be raised to accelerate the global switch to renewable energy.

Civil society climate and environment advocates responded negatively to the draft, including 350.org, which described the development as an “insult”.

“Rich countries are basically gambling with the lives of people in the developing nations and small islands,” said the group’s Namrata Chowdhary.

Lidy Nacpil – from the Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development – pointed out that “climate finance should not come in the form of loans (from richer nations to poorer ones) because this adds to their growing debt burden.

In 2009, dozens of wealthy nations committed collectively to mobilize $100 billion per year by 2020 for climate action in developing countries.

Daniel Johnson, UN News

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