UN: Gaza deadliest region for aid workers

Gaza has emerged as the most dangerous region for humanitarian aid workers, with 186 aid workers killed there in 2025, according to a United Nations report. The grim statistic was shared by UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric during a daily press briefing in New York on World Humanitarian Day.

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The Secretary-General noted the increasing dangers faced by humanitarian aid workers, stating that 350 were killed, 322 injured, and 235 abducted last year.

Dujarric highlighted the increasing dangers faced by aid workers globally, noting that 350 were killed, 322 injured, and 235 abducted in the past year. So far in 2025, 82 aid workers have been killed worldwide, 97 injured, and 39 abducted. The report also pointed out that humanitarian workers are increasingly becoming targets of armed drones.

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Gaza is the deadliest region, with 186 humanitarian aid workers killed in 2025.

World Humanitarian Day, observed on August 19, commemorates the anniversary of the 2003 bombing of the UN office in Baghdad, which killed 22 humanitarian aid workers. The UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, conveyed his profound respect for the work of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

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The Secretary-General can express his serious concern about this sanctions decision, as well as other sanctions decisions against other International Criminal Court employees.

Separately, Dujarric expressed the Secretary-General's "serious concern" regarding the U.S. decision to impose sanctions on the President of the ICC, Tomoko Akane, and other ICC staff. Guterres holds the court's work in high regard.

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The Secretary-General has great respect for the work carried out by the Court.