Overview
- The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported on Wednesday that 907 aid workers were killed, injured or kidnapped in 2025, including 350 deaths, marking a record level of attacks for the year.
- Gaza was the deadliest setting for the third year in a row with 186 aid workers killed in 2025 while Sudan was the second deadliest with 71 fatalities.
- OCHA highlighted the rise of inexpensive, weaponized drones as a key driver of civilian and aid-worker casualties, noting that drones caused roughly 80% of civilian deaths in parts of Sudan in early 2026 and that drone strikes hit cities such as Goma and convoys in Ukraine.
- Kidnappings and serious injuries rose in 2025 with 235 aid workers taken and 322 injured, and the database also recorded hundreds of detentions by state actors that have restricted humanitarian access.
- UN leaders and aid groups are demanding investigations, stronger compliance with international humanitarian law and accountability for perpetrators as fund cuts, access limits and growing danger threaten relief delivery and the safety of local and international staff.