EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and crisis management commissioner Hadja Lahbib have warned that aid workers are being killed, kidnapped and wounded at an “alarming rate” ahead of World Humanitarian Day on 19 August.
A total of 82 aid workers have been killed so far in 2026, while 39 have been kidnapped and 97 wounded, their joint statement informed.
Attacks on humanitarian personnel, hospitals and civilian objects are “violations of international humanitarian law” — the rules of war intended to protect civilians and those providing assistance, it added.
The two officials said crises were continuing in multiple places, citing Sudan, Gaza and Ukraine. Humanitarian access in Sudan is “routinely blocked”, they said, while “destruction and suffering continue on a catastrophic scale” in Gaza.
They pointed out that Russia’s war in Ukraine has created humanitarian needs beyond Ukraine’s borders, disrupting food supply chains and worsening hardship in parts of Africa and the Middle East.
The statement also listed the Horn of Africa, the Sahel, Afghanistan and Myanmar as places where humanitarian crises are continuing.
EU support for aid workers under attack
Kallas and Lahbib said the European Commission would continue “humanitarian diplomacy” to push for rapid, safe and unimpeded access for relief efforts. It also said emerging technologies are “radically transforming warfare”, creating new risks for civilians and further testing respect for international humanitarian law.
They highlighted the EU’s “Protect Aid Workers” rapid-response programme, which it said provides immediate support to local humanitarian workers under attack. Local aid workers account for 90% of those targeted.
The programme assisted 782 aid workers across 25 countries in 2025.
