UN official: 2023 “deadliest” year for humanitarian workers; 2024 expected to be “worse”

Shafaq News/ On Monday, Claudio Cordone, Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Iraq for Political Affairs and Electoral Assistance, reported that 2023 was the “deadliest” year on record for humanitarian workers, warning that 2024 could be worse.

“We of course have a particular reason to commemorate this day here in Baghdad. The memory and the wounds, some invisible, of the attack on the Canal Hotel are still raw. We lost 22 colleagues on that day in 2003, only five days after UNAMI was established by the Security Council,” Cordone said during his speech marking the anniversary of the Hotel bombing.

“The then Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Sérgio Vieira de Mello, was among those who lost their lives. More than 100 others were injured or impacted in other ways,” he added.

On World Humanitarian Day, which marks the anniversary of the hotel bombing, Cordone expressed his honor that some survivors were present, continuing to serve with the UN and work for their country.

“Please join me in paying a special tribute to them.”

Moreover, he pointed out that humanitarian workers from the UN, along with those from local and international NGOs, are being killed, injured, and abducted, alongside the civilians they support, who continue to bear the brunt of conflicts everywhere.

“International humanitarian law is being trampled upon. More than ever before, atrocities are being documented, sometimes with pride by the very perpetrators, and yet, impunity prevails just about everywhere.”

As for the Israeli war on Gaza, Cordone confirmed, “In our region, in Gaza, we have seen the highest number of UN staff killed in a single conflict. Among them are 207 of my former colleagues at UNRWA, killed together with over 40,000 Palestinians in a ferocious war in which all sides are violating international law, and it is a war that may yet escalate into a regional conflagration.”

In this context, he emphasized the need for support for institutions like the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court, which are established to ensure accountability for states and individuals involved in the most severe violations of international law.

“We demand that those who order or commit violations of international law be held to account.”