World Humanitarian Day 2025: we respond with humanity
Today, 19 August, marks the anniversary of the attack on the United Nations headquarters at the Canal Hotel in Baghdad, Iraq, in which 22 humanitarian workers were killed. Five years later, the United Nations General Assembly chose 19 August as World Humanitarian Day, a day dedicated to all humanitarian workers killed or injured in the course of their work and to the populations affected by conflicts.
Today, 22 years after that tragic episode, the risks for civilians and humanitarian workers have increased enormously.
Conflicts are currently on the rise worldwide, whether we are talking about wars between states or internal conflicts, and the number of men, women and children who are not only collateral victims of the clashes but who are, unfortunately, increasingly often the targets of attacks, continues to grow enormously.
In 2024, more than 25,000 civilians were killed, 51% more than the previous year, and more than 36,000 were injured, 81% more than in 2023.
It was also a disastrous year for humanitarian workers: 383 workers lost their lives during conflicts. And there have already been 265 in 2025.
In Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan and many other war zones, international humanitarian law is systematically violated: homes, schools, hospitals, churches, mosques and civilian infrastructure continue to be bombed, despite repeated appeals from humanitarian organisations and United Nations agencies, and too often without consequences for those responsible.
Despite the risks, however, we do not stop and remain alongside people in need of urgent care and protection.
Today, on World Humanitarian Day, as on every day of the year, we strongly call for a general mobilisation to defend international humanitarian law and civilian populations.
Today, every day, it is essential to respond with humanity.