UN humanitarian chief calls for protection of aid workers, civilians in conflict

The top UN official for humanitarian affairs on Friday called for the protection of aid workers and civilians in armed conflict.

U.N. humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock speaks during a pledging conference of Congo at the European headquarters of the UN in Geneva, Switzerland, Friday, April 13, 2018. [File Photo: AP/Jamey Keaten]

Mark Lowcock, the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, made the appeal on the occasion of World Humanitarian Day, which falls on Aug. 19.

Last year, 139 aid workers were killed, 102 were wounded and 72 were kidnapped in the line of duty. This marked the fifth consecutive year in which more than 100 humanitarians lost their lives on the job, and it was the highest recorded annual death toll since 2013, when 156 humanitarians were killed, said Lowcock in a press release.

"It is unconscionable that civilians and the aid workers who are trying to help them are killed and maimed in conflict zones with utter impunity. We need this to end."

In 2017, three out of four of the 43,000 people reportedly killed or injured by explosive weapons were civilians, a 38 percent increase from 2016, said Lowcock.

Governments and non-state armed groups have clear legal obligations to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, protect aid workers and ensure the safe and unimpeded passage of supplies in armed conflict, he said. "It is imperative that we hold men with guns and power accountable when civilians and aid workers are illegally targeted."

In addition to the continued #NotATarget campaign, Lowcock's UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Wednesday launched a petition with world leaders for the protection of civilians and aid workers in armed conflict.

In the petition, OCHA asked parties to conflict to avoid the use of explosive weapons in populated areas. It also demanded states ensure that civilians in conflict zones can access medical care and humanitarian assistance, and enable humanitarian and health workers to work in safety.

States should ensure better protection and assistance of people forcibly displaced within their country and uphold their human rights, and should condition their arms exports on respect for international humanitarian and human rights law, it said.

The UN Security Council should not accept attacks on children as the "new normal" of armed conflict, it said.

The petition was launched prior to next month's gathering of world leaders in New York for the annual UN General Assembly General Debate.

Citizens across the world are asked to "sign" the petition with their selfies through a website that innovatively transforms the 2D selfies into 3D portraits of solidarity.

Citizens' 3D faces will be displayed on an installation at the UN headquarters in New York. The installation will remain in place throughout next month's General Debate of the UN General Assembly.

"The thousands of faces that make up the living petition will be on display to remind world leaders of their legal obligation to protect civilians in conflict," said Lowcock.

Aug. 19 was designated as World Humanitarian Day by the UN General Assembly in 2008 to mark the bombing that targeted the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq on Aug. 19, 2003. The blast at the Canal Hotel in Baghdad killed 22 people, including the world body's top envoy in Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello.