GENEVA: The United Nations paid tribute Wednesday to humanitarian workers now battling the COVID-19 pandemic after a year in which they found themselves under greater attack than ever before.

The UN marked its World Humanitarian Day by remembering the 125 aid workers who were killed in 2019, and the hundreds of others who were wounded or kidnapped.

“The UN condemns these attacks, and it calls for accountability for perpetrators and justice for survivors. Relief workers cannot be a target,” said OCHA, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The day was to see a wreath-laying at the United Nations in Geneva, in a ceremony attended by UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet.

According to the Aid Worker Security Database compiled by the Humanitarian Outcomes research group, major attacks against humanitarians last year surpassed all previous years since records began in 1997.

In 277 separate incidents around the world, a total of 483 relief workers were attacked, of which 125 were killed, 234 wounded and 124 kidnapped.

The figure represents an 18 percent increase in the number of victims compared to 2018.
Most of the attacks occurred in Syria, followed by South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Afghanistan and the Central African Republic.