Brussels: Europe and the Arabs

When disasters strike, crises erupt and conflicts arise, humanitarian workers are among the first to arrive on the scene to provide emergency assistance to those affected. This selfless call to provide relief - but also hope - to the most vulnerable must be honored and protected.

However, we cannot forget the acute danger that humanitarian workers face while carrying out their duties in war zones and environments where their safety is not guaranteed. It is unfortunate that 2023 was the deadliest year on record for aid workers, and 2024 is likely to follow the same horrific trend. According to a European statement issued in Brussels by the European Commission and the Office of the European Coordinator for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on the occasion of the celebration of World Humanitarian Day scheduled for today, Monday. “We have said year after year that humanitarian workers must be protected at all costs, without exception. But in this increasingly volatile world, words alone are not enough.

It is time for action.

That is why the European Union has created the Humanitarian Workers Protection Initiative to help local humanitarian workers who have fallen victim to attacks or other security incidents while carrying out their duties through legal assistance and rapid financial grants. This mechanism, the first of its kind, has distributed 25 grants to humanitarian workers in need of support, worth over €240,000, since February 2024.

While attacks on international aid workers often make the headlines, local staff are most at risk of being killed, kidnapped or injured while carrying out their duties. Through this mechanism, we aim to create a safety net for local aid workers who often have limited resources and cannot rely on the protection of large international organizations.

The majority of applications received through the platform come from the occupied West Bank and Gaza, where a humanitarian catastrophe has been unfolding before our eyes over the past ten months. In places like these, where every day is a struggle for survival for every civilian, the life-saving work of the humanitarian community makes a huge difference.

While “Protecting Aid Workers” fills an important gap in the humanitarian field, much more remains to be done. In recent years, we have witnessed a devastating trend by a number of States towards blatant disrespect for the basic norms of international humanitarian law in the conflicts in which they are involved. This calls for decisive action by the international community as a whole to defend international humanitarian law as part of the foundation of the rules-based international order.

World Humanitarian Day is a reminder to each of us that protecting aid workers is not just a right thing to do, it is a legal obligation under international humanitarian law. And a reminder that the alternative to upholding international humanitarian law is impunity and a spiral of abuses for which civilians and aid workers will pay a heavy price.