On World Humanitarian Day, CARE Asks: Why Is It Dangerous To Be an Aid Worker?

In 2008, 122 humanitarian workers were killed. That's three times more than in 1998, marking a sharp increase in the past decade in the number of aid workers killed in the line of duty each year.

"To respect those who have died, and who work in challenging, dangerous environments every day, we must take a serious look at why aid workers are being targeted," said Jonathan Mitchell, CARE International's emergency response director. "The days are gone when driving in a white jeep with a humanitarian logo was a guarantee of safety. Today, aid has become a target. The world needs to take a step back. Just like you would never attack a hospital, you should never attack a humanitarian worker."

With governments and militaries increasingly using development work to win the "hearts and minds" of people in conflict situations, aid workers have become the preferred and easy target of militant groups looking to strike at governments or armies. Soldiers carry guns and travel in armored convoys; aid workers do not.

The deaths often don't make the headlines. Increasingly, aid workers killed are national staff, who don't grab the world's attention in the same way as a killing of a foreign worker. In 2009 alone, four national staff working for CARE projects have been killed in conflicts: three in the conflicts in Gaza and northern Sri Lanka, and a teacher working in a CARE-funded school in Afghanistan, killed in an air-raid in April.

While aid agencies must look first to our own operations to ensure we are adhering to humanitarian principles, there are issues affecting the entire humanitarian system that must be resolved in order to reverse the trend of attacks on aid workers.

• Integrated missions must reflect humanitarian principles: U.N.-integrated missions that combine peacekeeping, diplomatic missions and humanitarian operations can be necessary, however, there is a risk that that they can undermine the independence of aid agencies and the neutrality of aid workers if not properly implemented. Therefore, CARE is working to promote more consideration of humanitarian perspectives and principles in the design of peacekeeping operations and integrated missions.
• Clearly distinguish between civilian and military operations: Some governments use humanitarian aid as an instrument of their foreign policy, as in the case of the Provincial Reconstruction Teams in Afghanistan. Development projects are not only less effective if implemented by militaries that may not have sufficient expertise, but soldiers acting as aid workers blur the lines between military operations and civilian aid efforts. This situation increases the risk of aid workers being seen as parties to the conflict and, therefore, legitimate targets.
• Ensure humanitarian access: States and other groups around the world must guarantee the conditions of safe access to allow aid organizations to provide humanitarian assistance to those in need. Parties to a conflict restricting access to affected communities deny people the right to assistance and can seriously endanger the humanitarian mission and the aid workers carrying it out.

On World Humanitarian Day, CARE joins the humanitarian community in paying tribute to aid workers who have lost their lives in working to provide assistance to the world's most vulnerable, and affirms our commitment to helping those in need. We urge all parties to enable humanitarian workers to do their work without fear of being targeted.

"Many of us in the aid community have lost close friends in conflicts or disasters around the world," said Mitchell. "Instead of running from places few people would dare to go, they stayed, and worked, and helped others in need. We feel their absence every day. To truly honor them, it is our responsibility to do everything we can to prevent others, civilians or aid workers, from being targeted. And we must continue their work of providing humanitarian assistance to people in need around the world."

To find out more, please visit the United Nation's World Humanitarian Day Web site.